評論
打印
Rural broadband
鄉村寬帶
Going underground
埋入地下
Frustrated country-dwellers build their own internet connections
無奈的鄉下居民自行建立網絡連接
Hold on—I'll try you on Skype
別掛，我再試試Skype
FUSION splicing is a technique network engineers use to string together optical fibres. It is not a skill that Christine Conder, a 60-year-old farmer's wife, ever expected to learn. But with borrowed tools and a little training most people can pick up the basics. “It's only like knitting,” she says.
熔接是網絡工程師用來把光纖接在一起的一門技術。年屆60的農家婦克里斯汀娜·康德從沒想到自己將會學習這門技術。但只要借來了工具，稍微培訓一下，大多數人都能掌握基本要領。康德說：“這就像編織活兒一樣?！?/div>
For years Mrs Conder and her neighbours in the Lune Valley, in rural Lancashire, waited for telecoms firms to upgrade their sluggish internet connections. In 2011 they decided to do it for themselves. Their organisation, called Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN), has sold shares worth more than ￡1m ($1.7m) to buy ducts and cables for volunteers to install. Because younger residents are commonly busy with jobs and families, local pensioners have done much of the digging, says Mrs Conder: “Some are getting sixpacks for the first time in years.”
康德夫人和她同住在蘭開夏郡鄉村半月谷的鄰居們等待電信公司來升級他們龜速的網絡連接已經多年了。2011年他們決心自己動手。他們組建的名為北方農村寬帶（B4RN）組織已賣出價值超過一百萬英鎊（一百七十萬美元）的股票來購買管道和電纜來供志愿者們安裝?？档路蛉苏f，由于年輕的居民通常都忙于工作和家庭，所以當地退休者承擔了大部分挖掘的工作?！坝行┤艘虼硕碱^一次練出了腹肌?！?/p>
Enthusiasts say that locally owned networks such as B4RN—also known as “altnets”—could eventually connect many thousands of rural communities. Going it alone looks particularly tempting to the unlucky 5-10% of Britons who are probably too far-flung to benefit from the more than ￡1 billion in subsidies that the government is giving BT, the former state telecoms monopoly, to extend its high-speed network outside Britain's towns. And whereas BT has focused on cranking up the speeds it delivers through existing copper telephone wires, most altnets are plugging houses directly into optical cables that can provide some of the fastest connections in the world.
熱衷者說像B4RN這樣的地方所有網絡（也被稱為altnets，自選網絡）最終將會連接成千上萬的農村社區。自己動手對于不走運的5—10%的英國人來說很有吸引力。政府為前國家電信壟斷公司BT在英國城鎮外延伸高速網絡提供超過1億英鎊的補助，而這部分英國人住得也許太過偏遠以至于不能從中受益。鑒于BT工作重心在于在已有的網線上提速，大多數的altnets都直接將寬帶牽入房屋，為他們提供世界上最快速的網絡連接之一。
To grow beyond a mere curiosity, though, Britain's altnets need more help. B4RN is a case in point. In two years its volunteers have laid 200km of cable, and wired up around 400 homes, without any taxpayer money. But to shore up the network they must now dig their cable under the River Lune. Until they raise more cash to dig a tunnel—perhaps as much as ￡50,000—that project is stalled.
然而要繼續發展證明不是一時興起，英國altnets需要更多幫助。B4RN就是一個恰當的例子。沒花納稅人一分錢，志愿者在兩年內鋪設了200千米的電纜，約400家已聯通。但想要支撐整個網絡。他們現在還需要在半月河河床下鋪設電纜。在他們籌備到足夠的錢——也許多達5萬英鎊——來挖隧道之前，這個工程將停滯不前。
Politicians are supportive, in principle. Last year the coalition government found ￡20m to help local initiatives solve just such problems. A lot of it went unspent. That is because many of the local authorities responsible for overseeing the rural roll-out have yet to confirm for certain which farms and villages will be left out of BT's state-subsidised work. Until they do, even miserly grants are suspended, for fear that some spots will end up with a double dose of public funds.
政治家們在原則上是支持的。去年聯合政府設立了兩千萬英鎊的基金來提高地方積極性以解決類似的問題。大量基金都還沒有被使用，因為很多監督農村轉出的地方機構還沒完全確定哪些農場和鄉村不在BT政府補貼工作網內。在這之前，因恐怕一些地區將會得到雙份公共資金，即便是小額支出也被暫停了。
MPs are livid. In early April politicians on the public accounts committee urged the government to make sure coverage plans are available for every postcode. BT has argued that it is still surveying some areas, and that publishing the most comprehensive forecasts would reveal its methods to rivals. Critics say its vagueness is designed to frustrate initiatives that threaten its incumbency. Lately it has grown more forthcoming. But local authorities are also hesitant to let on who will and who will not be included in the roll-out, at least while the details may change.
國會議員很憤怒。四月初，政府賬目委員會的政客們呼吁政府確認聯網計劃能覆蓋到每個地區。BT爭辯道他們還在調查某些區域，公布最全面的預測會把他們的方法泄露給競爭對手。評論家說BT的含糊其辭是設計好用來打擊地方積極性的，因為它們威脅到了BT的工作任務。最近預測變得更到位了，但地方機構也在猶豫要不要透露每個地區是否包含在轉出范圍內，畢竟有些細節變化會影響整個工作。
Mrs Conder says that B4RN will cross the river “no matter what it takes”. But thieves who made off with ￡14,000 of kit in December pinched a little of its confidence. Local bigwigs have not always helped—rail bosses have refused B4RN permission to lay fibre over a bridge they own.
康德夫人說B4RN“無論如何”都將過河。但12月份一伙攜價值14,000英鎊設備潛逃的竊賊使這個保證受到了些許打擊。地方權貴也并不一定提供幫助——鐵老大們拒絕許可B4RN鋪設的電纜跨越他們擁有的一架橋。
Her own connection, at least, will soon be up and running. Broadband firms would charge many thousands of pounds to bring ultra-fast internet to the farm; B4RN customers pay ￡150 to plug in. It has cost her much more in time and energy.
至少她自己的網絡連接很快就要開始正常使用了。寬帶公司將收取成千上萬英鎊將極速網絡引入農場來。而B4RN的顧客只需付費150英鎊來聯網。她花費更多的是時間和精力。譯稿：王穎 校對：邵夏沁
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