In this chapter
A regional West Midlands network
Our ambition is to roll out a regional 4G network across the West Midlands, growing from useful local deployments into a wider service for the region.
Choose sites that make a difference
Each site needs a clear reason to exist: people it can connect, a practical coverage area and a way to maintain it. Suitable radio equipment, spectrum access, backhaul, power and a workable installation all matter. I want expansion to follow real opportunities to help, with each deployment teaching us something useful for the next.
Bring more of the network closer
Our split gateway architecture gives us a path towards regional user-plane placement. A regional gateway can handle local traffic while shared control functions coordinate subscriber sessions. The design of its transport and Internet exit determines the route people actually use. This makes placement an engineering decision as well as a geographical one.
Grow the supporting platform too
We are preparing extra servers and mobile cores alongside our radio plans. More sites need enough signalling, forwarding, database and media capacity behind them. The upcoming Nuneaton pilot will help shape that work through real local use. I want the regional network to grow with its operational foundations, so affordability, reliability and practical support remain central as its footprint expands.
Our first macro style site in Nuneaton
We are preparing our first macro style site in Nuneaton, with free 4G Internet planned for the local area.
- NUNEATON
- Our first macro style sitePlanned deployment
- FREE 4G
- A local Internet pilotPlanned pilot
A practical deployment followed by public and Ofcom case studies.
Put the network to everyday use
This upcoming outdoor deployment will bring radio, backhaul and core together where buildings, distance and busy periods shape the experience. Free access will let local people take part without a subscription cost.
Learn from real conditions
We want to compare indoor and outdoor reception, useful speeds, responsiveness and device reconnection, while learning about installation and support.
Share the lessons
We plan case studies for the public and Ofcom covering the deployment, performance and practical lessons. I want Nuneaton to help other communities understand what a small independent network can do and guide our wider West Midlands plans.
What we want to learn in Nuneaton
Our Nuneaton case studies should explain how the network performed, where it helped and what we learned from operating it.
- COVERAGE
- Where it works
- PERFORMANCE
- How it feels
- RELIABILITY
- How it recovers
- LESSONS
- What we change
Coverage and connection
We will compare consistent locations and record device, time and indoor or outdoor setting. We will include signal strength, signal quality, upload, download, latency and packet loss.
Operation and recovery
We will record interruptions, their causes and restoration, including whether devices reconnect automatically. We will separate radio, backhaul, core and application behaviour.
Practical lessons
We will explain equipment choices, installation, power, transport and support needs while protecting personal information. I want the public and Ofcom case studies to give another community a useful starting point, with enough detail to understand both the benefits and the work involved.
Working towards national roaming
I want to secure some form of national roaming so that a Lodestar connection could remain useful beyond our own radio coverage.
- OUR SITES
- We build local radio coverage
- FEDERATION
- Developing cooperation between membersDeveloping cooperation
- NATIONAL
- A future wider roaming arrangementFuture ambition
A visited network, a home identity
A roaming phone uses another operator's radio access under an agreed arrangement. The home network helps recognise the subscriber and authorise service.
Bring the systems together
Authentication, routing, subscriber records, policy and charging need to cooperate. Data, voice, messaging and support each need an agreed scope.
Build towards wider usefulness
Our regional rollout develops our own coverage. Federation cooperation creates possibilities between participating communities. National roaming is a separate future goal involving wider providers. I want these strands to make affordable community connectivity increasingly practical as the necessary relationships and infrastructure develop.
Where we go from here
Our next stages serve the same purpose: make Lodestar more useful, more reliable and easier for others to learn from.
- GROW
Keep expanding our L2TP service
- EXPLORE
Look at the broadband market and our options
- STRENGTHEN
Add servers and extra mobile cores
- LEARN
Run the Nuneaton free 4G pilot
- EXPAND
Build regional coverage and pursue roaming
- TEACH
Publish full guides and welcome the next generation of network builders
Expand L2TP
Keep growing our L2TP service and improve the account, tunnel and support experience as more people join.
Explore the broadband market
We are looking at the broadband market and exploring how Lodestar could help more people get affordable, reliable connectivity. I want to understand the opportunities and what it would take to offer a useful service. This is an area we are exploring as we plan the next stage.
Strengthen the platform
Bring our fourth London server into the platform, then continue adding servers and mobile cores to create more capacity and practical recovery options.
Launch the Nuneaton pilot
Bring our first macro style site into free local 4G use and share public and Ofcom case studies.
Open the educational section
Publish full guides that help people understand, build, test and look after their own networks. I want learning telecoms to feel welcoming and fun, with clear explanations and practical examples that people can use for their own communities.
Grow across the region
Build towards West Midlands coverage, community teaching, federation cooperation and national roaming. There is a great deal ahead, and I will keep working every day towards affordable connectivity people can depend on.
Making space for community mobile
Building the technical platform has also made me care deeply about the practical route for small community networks to reach the people who need them.
Spectrum shapes what we can build
Radio spectrum is part of the foundation of a mobile service. Frequency, permitted power, interference protection and site conditions affect where a network can operate and the coverage it can provide. Affordable, workable access matters for a small operator trying to put useful local infrastructure in place.
Explore the value of lower frequencies
Our wider campaigning includes a proposal for coordinated LTE Band 71 trials around Coventry and a possible regional approach to 600 MHz spectrum. Lower frequencies can offer useful propagation and indoor coverage characteristics. This proposal is part of the work towards future opportunities and would need the appropriate authorisation before deployment.
Connect the argument to practical experience
I want our field work to make the discussion concrete. Nuneaton's planned pilot can help explain reception, capacity, costs and operating challenges in a real place. Sharing those results through public case studies and engagement with Ofcom can help people understand the contribution community networks could make. My aim is a practical route that lets small independent operators build responsibly and keep serving their communities over time.