By: MarkJ - 11 August, 2010 (12:58 PM) - Score: 5630 - Fixed Line Broadband
The UK Governments Minister for Communication, Culture and the Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, has officially switched on a new "super-fast" Vtesse Broadband internet service in the leafy rural village of Birch Green (Hertfordshire). Residents and businesses can now benefit from broadband ( FTTC ) ISP speeds of up to 40Mbps (Megabits per second).Birch Green is a "Final Third" community that is situated too far away from the local BT exchange to receive high-speed broadband services, which left many residents with download speeds of less than 2Mbps. Vtesse had previously announced the completion of its Birch Green network, alongside a second project in Hertingfordbury, at the start of July (here).
Aidan Paul, CEO of Vtesse Networks, said:
"Until now it’s been ‘Hobson’s choice’ for the people of Birch Green; slow broadband or no broadband. Our new super-fast service, which Ed Vaizey is officially turning on today, will change the way this community uses the internet, at last making it possible to do the things so many of us take for granted, like watching iPlayer, uploading photos to Facebook, emailing invoices to clients, or simply ordering groceries.
Having been broadband-deprived for so long, Birch Green now has access to one of the fastest broadband services in the UK, if not the world."
"Until now it’s been ‘Hobson’s choice’ for the people of Birch Green; slow broadband or no broadband. Our new super-fast service, which Ed Vaizey is officially turning on today, will change the way this community uses the internet, at last making it possible to do the things so many of us take for granted, like watching iPlayer, uploading photos to Facebook, emailing invoices to clients, or simply ordering groceries.
Having been broadband-deprived for so long, Birch Green now has access to one of the fastest broadband services in the UK, if not the world."
The service will be rolled out, over the next few months, to several other broadband "poor-spots" (ED: Oh no not another short-hand expression
) in Cornwall, Warwickshire and Cambridgeshire. Related homes and businesses will be able to choose from a choice of five services, each offering a range of upload and download speeds from just £20 per month.Vtesse also used the event to put extra pressure on Ed Vaizey. The ISP has ambitious plans to make its super-fast service available to millions of homes and small businesses throughout the UK. However this would require an acceleration of the current regulatory process and a review of the unfair Fibre Tax.
Telecoms operators still do not have equitable access to the poles, fibre and cabling ducts operated by BT and other utilities providers, adding to the expense of laying fibre to Final Third communities.
Furthermore, BT charges its competitors more for the use of sub-loop unbundling components than it charges itself. Finally, the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) administration of the fibre optic broadband tax acts as a disincentive to operators looking to extend their networks into new communities. Whilst none of these are new issues, progress towards resolution has so far been slow.
Aidan Paul, CEO of Vtesse Networks, added:
"As it currently stands, it’s simply too expensive to rollout super-fast broadband to Final Third communities on a grand scale. However, rather than asking for Government grants to help improve broadband access, all we want is a level-playing field. The current system is stacked against new market entrants, but if these barriers are removed, we’ll be much more likely to see an accelerated rollout of these services nationwide."
"As it currently stands, it’s simply too expensive to rollout super-fast broadband to Final Third communities on a grand scale. However, rather than asking for Government grants to help improve broadband access, all we want is a level-playing field. The current system is stacked against new market entrants, but if these barriers are removed, we’ll be much more likely to see an accelerated rollout of these services nationwide."
Vtesse notes that enabling Birch Green's 200 or so homes was only possible due to the village existing a short distance from their existing fibre optic network. Extending this kind of service beyond the providers current plans would simply not be economical, at least until a level playing field that does not discriminate against smaller providers has been established.
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Comments: 3
PhilTPosted: 11 August, 2010 - 2:09 PM
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"Furthermore, BT charges its competitors more for the use of sub-loop unbundling components than it charges itself"
- does this stand up to examination ? Under "equality of access" they aren't allowed to do that, but in any case it is a moot point as BT's FTTC is done by Openreach who already own the cabinets etc so they won't be charging anybody to use them.
Perhaps they are trying to say that BT's FTTC service is cheaper than they can rent the line, or something, but it isn't coming through clearly.
MarkJPosted: 11 August, 2010 - 2:36 PM
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Have a chat with Vtesse or Rutland Telecom to find out their experiences, there are definitely some problems that have been covered here before. Note, we didn't paraphrase what Vtesse said on that point, it's their own words for that remark.
PhilTPosted: 12 August, 2010 - 7:26 PM
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Vitesse are quite good at spin, while they may not like BT's charges I don't believe there is a valid comparator with what BT do internally.
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