Listed in alphabetical order, they are Lindsey Annison, Charlie Sands, John Wilson and Erol Ziya.

Lindsey Annison is the head of Digital Dales , an Internet and IT consultancy and seminar organiser based in the Yorkshire Dales.  Lins is a member of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, the UK Government's key advisory group on broadband and is deeply interested in helping to  bridge the rural/urban digital divide in the UK.  To this end, Lins  founded  EdenFaster  in 2002 to provide affordable broadband access via a community Wi-Fi network to the rural Eden Valley in Cumbria (see "Bringing the Net to Eden" )  EdenFaster received a ?150,000 funding grant from the North West Development Agency  to build a community Wi-Fi network. Lins was instrumental in creating the Association of Broadband Communities which has now merged with the Community Broadband Network and actively supports community networks across the country.

Charlie Sands worked as a Management Consultant in freight transportation from 1973 to 1982 for a consulting firm in Greenwich, CT, U.S.A. He moved to Houston, TX in 1982 to join a Fortune 500 international oil company as Manager of International Operations, chartering oil tankers and handling all of the operational matters related to buying, selling and delivering oil cargoes internationally. In 1986 he joined a Middle East based oil company as Vice President in charge of their Houston office, later moving to the London office in 1992 where he remained until 2001 when  he retired from the international oil business.

As a part-time activity outside of regular working hours, Charlie in October 1998 joined the Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications in the UK (CUT) which campaigned for reasonably priced unmetered (flat-rate) dial-up Internet access which at that time was metered by the minute by British Telecommunications. He solicited and won Tim Berners-Lee?s support and endorsement of the campaign and Charlie was drafted onto the CUT Committee, a group of seven individuals managing the campaign, eventually being elected  Moderator of the Campaign in 2000. CUT enjoyed popular support and won the backing of the news media, receiving an editorial endorsement from The Times, and support from Members of Parliament. By working closely with the British telecoms regulator OFTEL and AOL, CUT played a key role in bringing about the creation of FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) wholesale tariffs which provided a sound financial basis for sustainable flat-rate Internet dial-up access in the UK. The campaign was wound up in June 2001 when CUT declared victory having fully achieved its goals. The CUT website remains, archived for reference by other similar campaigns around the world. FRIACO has now been endorsed by the EU for adoption by all member states.

"Broadband is a means towards an end", says John, "its not about technology- its about what people DO with the technology". Asked about his motivations, he says, "I live in the South Wales coalfield, this is my "community first mile". Broadband will never happen for places like this unless we make it happen. We have seen the decline of the traditional industrial economy- we need to create new opportunities as active participants in the digital revolution. And the digital revolution is all about that - the empowerment of the end user, so that we may be producers of value to the new economy, wherever we are".

Erol Ziya was a founding member and public spokesman of the UK consumer organisation Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications (CUT). Throughout 1988 to 2001 it presented a thorough, credible and focused voice for Internet users  representing their interests to the Government,  industry and news media. CUT was highly influential in the creation of innovative wholesale unmetered dial-up products. During his time with CUT, Erol became an authority on unmetered access and the UK Internet infrastructure. He is currently a member of the UK Government?s advisory body on broadband, the Broadband Stakeholder Group, and runs his own consultancy Vision Matters.