PJS and I talked to Michael Mulquin, CEO of IS Communications, as to possible involvement with the Oakgrove Millennium Community – being built right next door.
Oakgrove is a long term development of 1850 dwellings at high density which will have an integral broadband infrastructure. Each millennium development has a theme and for this one it will be “the vision of the broadband enabled community”.
Current situation is that bids are being put in to obtain the contract from English Partnerships to be the lead developer. Each bid is accompanied by statements from potential technology partners. IS is looking for an expression of interest from us to accompany one of these bids.
There are a lot of reasons to be involved, both from the OU point of view and from our own. Our win, apart from obtaining some money, would be access to a real broadband enabled community and indeed a community that has yet to form. The potential for work into the supply of services to such a community would be unmatched. However, it is too early to speculate too much. If nothing else, there will likely be consultancy fees to help with bid preparation. Big wins might be having a key position in the effort to map the development of this community over time and/or pole position in any experimental work/projects that run off access to such an infrastructure.
PJS/PKS will continue to maintain this contact and will arrange for a letter of interest from the V-C to go into the proposal. The aim will be to make us as interesting as possible so that English Partnerships will notice and direct the successful developer our way, whatever the outcome of the bidding process
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