A farmer frustrated with slow broadband speeds has launched his own business supplying superfast Internet to Britain’s most rural locations.
Richard Guy was tired of slow connection speeds at his remote farm near Salisbury, Wiltshire and so set about building a mast to harness mobile signals.
Using bits of wood and metal bracing, Guy assembled the makeshift tower that’s now born a potential tech empire.
Richard Guy has now launched a business selling connectivity solutions
His business, Agri-Broadband, specialises in connecting the most rural locations.
“We only had a 1 Mbps [megabits per second] speed, which means everything is far too slow,” said the father of two.
“Now I run at 69 Mbps, it runs everything perfectly.”
Solar panels power the mast and its 4G connection holds steady through weather conditions.
Wires relay its signal to properties nearby.
Guy's business now seeks to connect rural locations across the UK
The government is currently spending £780m on a rural broadband expansion scheme aiming to connect 95% of the UK population to superfast Internet speeds.
The scheme is testing innovative solutions across the UK. According to the government, rural hamlets and sparsely populated areas have average connection speeds as low as 5 Mbps.
Guy’s solution to the problem introduces speeds of as much as 70 Mbps.
Superfast broadband is now available to 75% of UK households.