CGI and Buckinghamshire Council Expand Ultrafast Broadband to Rural Sites
The Buckinghamshire Council in England has worked with global IT consultancy firm CGI to bring “ultra-fast rural broadband connectivity” to selected sites across the county by harnessing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology from Starlink (SpaceX), along with a free-to-use public wireless (WiFi) service.
The hybrid solution, delivered in collaboration with Onwave, adopts a similar approach to the one that CGI took in Norfolk last year (here). The deployment has been designed to connect poorly-served village halls in remote rural areas with an ultrafast broadband link that offers “high reliability, low latency, and secure connectivity.”
The sites that have benefitted from this are said to include those where fibre-optic internet links, which typically require physical cables to be laid underground or overground, does not currently reach and may not be able to tackle in the near future (due to the high costs and civil engineering challenges involved with deployment).
Advertisement
Martin Tett, Leader of the Council (Digital Portfolio Holder), said:
“Digital connectivity is central not only to the prosperity of Buckinghamshire as we look forward to the future, but also to the quality of life of most of our residents. CGI has partnered with us to develop a well-thought-out and innovative approach to supporting improved connectivity across our region, particularly in those communities that have previously proven hard to reach.”
Ian Dunbar, Senior VP of Consulting Services and Comms at CGI UK, said:
“This project supports Buckinghamshire Council’s programme for connecting rural communities, enhancing everyday life through digital connectivity. Having fast, stable, and reliable connectivity is necessary for Buckinghamshire to deliver key critical services to rural communities and CGI’s hybrid solution, using Low Earth Orbit satellite technology, significantly benefits industries located in remote areas – including agriculture and tourism.”
We should point out that Starlink’s broadband service can also be purchased and installed directly by individual businesses and homes – it’s not the cheapest of monthly rentals, but can still be a lifesaver for some of the remotest communities.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
« Virgin Media O2 UK Joins Lincolnshire’s New Street Works Charter
UK taxpayers’ money going to Elon Musk. Not a great look.
very good, every country wants to clone Musk, in fact..
So more money to EM!! Whey not build more capable networks such as actual 5G coverage or fttp?? This will bring jobs and money to the UK, people cannot survive on poor quality networks. But another government quango that is the msm is predictably silent but as the BBC says “not in the public good”.
If the taxpayer is going to continue having a stake in one satellite Internet provider, why are we giving our money to another satellite Internet provider – especially one owned by someone as irredeemable as Musk.