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Articles for Category Tag - Building Digital UK

BSG Warns Against Turning UK Home Broadband into a Utility Service

3rd March, 2015 (7 Comments)

The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), which advises the Government on matters of fast Internet connectivity, has warned that the recent calls for broadband to be officially identified as a utility service may be misguided.

Superfast Wales Reaches Half-Way Point with “Fibre Broadband” Rollout

2nd March, 2015 (38 Comments)

The UK Government’s Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey, has revealed that the Superfast Cymru project has now helped an additional 345,000 homes and businesses in Wales to receive BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network, which is roughly half-way to the current completion target of 690,000+ by the end of spring 2016 (96% coverage).

UPDATE N.Ireland Secures Another GBP17m to Extend Superfast Broadband

2nd March, 2015 (6 Comments)

The on-going Northern Ireland Broadband Improvement Project (NIBIP), which only began one year ago, appears to have been boosted by another £17 million investment in order to help bring BT’s faster “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) connectivity to an additional 38,000 premises.

New “Funded by UK Government” Plaques to Appear on Broadband Cabinets

2nd March, 2015 (25 Comments)

Major national infrastructure projects, specifically those like the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme that are being backed by public funding from the central Government of the United Kingdom, will soon be adorned by a new “Funded by the UK Government” plague and Union Jack flag. But not everybody is happy.

Audit Report Reveals Digital Scotland’s Superfast Broadband Speed Targets

26th February, 2015 (7 Comments)

A new report from Audit Scotland, which works to ensure that public money in Scotland is used properly, has revealed more details about the actual coverage, funding and broadband speed expectations of the country’s £410 Million Digital Scotland roll-out programme with BT.

UPDATE Property Developers in Cheltenham Told to Build Fast Broadband

23rd February, 2015 (8 Comments)

The Cheltenham Borough Council in Gloucestershire (England) will on Thursday consider a proactive motion that would require future planning applications for new developments to include provision for the delivery of “high-speed/super-fast broadband“, which is something that far too many new builds continue to overlook.

Durham Sign Extended BT and BDUK “Fibre Broadband” Rollout Contract

18th February, 2015 (48 Comments)

The Digital Durham project in England, which includes Gateshead, Tees Valley, Sunderland and currently aims to make BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network available to 98% of local premises by September 2016 (96% will get “superfast” speeds of 24Mbps+), has signed a second contract that should push the network coverage near to the magic 100% mark.

Welsh Government Tenders to Extend Superfast Business Broadband

17th February, 2015 (34 Comments)

The Welsh Government appears to have posted an official tender for their Superfast Cymru “Infill Project“, which will look to extend the reach of superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services to beyond the current target(s).

UK Lords Report Demands Universal Internet Access as a Utility Service

17th February, 2015 (7 Comments)

The House of Lords, specifically their Digital Skills Committee, has today published a new report and warned that the United Kingdom is at a “tipping point” because it hasn’t fully addressed the “significant digital skills shortage“. One of the proposed remedies for this is to define the Internet as a utility service, “available for all to access and use“.

BT Criticised for Approach to Devon and Somerset Broadband Contract

16th February, 2015 (12 Comments)

A new report suggests that the recently announced £45.5m extension to the Connecting Devon and Somerset project, which will make superfast broadband (24Mbps+) speeds available to even more local premises, very nearly didn’t go ahead after BT initially refused to bid. The move gave the council little option but to sign an exclusive deal with BT, instead of pursuing a more open tender.

Broadband to Benefit as EU Approve GBP3bn UK Rural Development Boost

13th February, 2015 (27 Comments)

The European Commission has approved a further 18 Rural Development Programmes (worth around £10.6bn between now and 2020), which among other things will be used to improve the competitiveness of the EU’s farming sector and upgrade broadband connectivity for rural areas. Some £2,568m of the total (3.56%) will be allocated by the EU to projects in England.

Cumbria UK Council Agree £5.6m Expanded Superfast Broadband Rollout

11th February, 2015 (0 Comments)

The Cumbria County Council has approved an additional public funding boost of £5.6m in order to expand the coverage of superfast broadband (24Mbps+) from the current target of 93% by 2015 to 95% by 2017. The contract will now go out to tender, although BT looks certain to win it.

UPD CityFibre Slams Broadband Connectivity in Wales as “not fit for purpose”

11th February, 2015 (24 Comments)

Fibre optic infrastructure developer CityFibre, which recently announced plans to build a new fibre optic Public Sector Network in the city of Newport (here), has criticised business broadband connectivity in Wales as being “not fit for purpose” because, they claim, the “copper networks that were laid generations ago” are still holding the country back.

UK Hopes for Relaxed EU State Aid Rules to Help Upgrade City Broadband

11th February, 2015 (0 Comments)

The Government’s Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey MP, has hinted of his tentative expectation that the European Commission might soon relax their rules governing the use of state aid in cities. Such a move would make it easier to upgrade urban broadband Internet infrastructure and there are signs that the EC might indeed be planning just such a U-turn.

BT Trials Wireless-to-the-Cabinet VDSL Broadband in the Village of Westow

10th February, 2015 (17 Comments)

BT has launched another trial of their VDSL2 based ‘up to’ 80Mbps Wireless-to-the-Cabinet (WTTC) broadband technology, this time via the small village of Westow that sits on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors in England.

BT FTTrN Superfast Broadband Tech Trial Goes Live in North Yorkshire

9th February, 2015 (14 Comments)

After a small delay some 16 premises in the tiny North Yorkshire village of Ulshaw have become the first in Northern England to get access to superfast broadband (24Mbps+) speeds thanks to BT’s trial of a new broadband technology called Fibre-to-the-Remote-Node (FTTrN). Now if they could just get the power supply issues fixed.

Oxfordshire UK Extends BT Fibre Broadband Rollout via New Contract

9th February, 2015 (5 Comments)

The state aid supported Better Broadband for Oxfordshire project, which is working with BT to extend superfast broadband access (24Mbps+) to 90% of the county by the end of 2015, has today signed a £5.1m extension contract that will expand this coverage to another 6,500 local premises.