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Articles for Category Tag - Building Digital UK

A Need for 1Gbps Broadband by 2020 Could Deepen the UK Digital Divide

24th July, 2013 (38 Comments)

Telecoms analyst firm Point Topic has today published a short health check of the United Kingdom’s drive towards making superfast broadband (25-30Mbps+) speeds available across the country, which warns that the future demand for 1000Mbps (Gigabit) broadband connections will widen the digital speed divide between urban and rural areas. So is it time for FTTH?

UPD Rural Communities Report Says 2Mbps for All Target Must be the Priority

24th July, 2013 (2 Comments)

The government’s Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has today been criticised by a new select committee report for its late delivery of the Universal Service Commitment (USC), which aims to ensure that 100% can access a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps by 2015. The inquiry said this must now be “prioritised over increasing speeds“.

Farmers Angry After UK Considers Diverting their Subsidies to Broadband

22nd July, 2013 (11 Comments)

The UK government’s Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, has caused anger among farming communities by proposing to divert more than £300 million a year of their subsidies from Europe’s controversial 60bn Euro Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and to use it for improving rural broadband access.

UPDATE Hampshire UK Starting to Consider Full Superfast Broadband Cover

22nd July, 2013 (10 Comments)

The leader of Hampshire County Council (HCC) has called upon councilors to begin initial work on a new policy that could extend the availability of fixed line superfast broadband (25Mbps+) services well beyond the current 90% coverage target for the end of 2015.

UPD2 Altnet Opportunity as BT Give Only Slow Broadband to Elberton Village

19th July, 2013 (40 Comments)

Residents of the tiny rural Elberton farming village in South Gloucestershire (England) appear to have become one of the first communities to officially be told that they won’t get a superfast broadband connection from BT or via the state aid supported Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme.

UPDATE3 Public Accounts Committee Savages BT Over State Aid Broadband

18th July, 2013 (43 Comments)

Last night’s grilling of BT by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which works on behalf of the House of Commons to examine public expenditure, was surely an uncomfortable experience for the telecoms giants Group Strategy Director, Sean Williams, but at the same time it also helped to clarify a few vital points.

BT Begin £3m State Aid BDUK Superfast Broadband Rollout in Rutland UK

17th July, 2013 (3 Comments)

The Rutland County Council (RCC) in England has today confirmed that the first community (village) to get access to BT’s new superfast broadband (FTTC/P) service through its publicly funded £3 million Digital Rutland project is North Luffenham.

Progress as Gov and BT Move to Support Rival UK Rural Broadband Projects

16th July, 2013 (7 Comments)

The government’s culture secretary, Maria Miller MP, and BT have met local action groups (some of which were smaller ISPs) in an effort to resolve the impasse over which parts of the UK will not gain access to superfast broadband (25Mbps+). It’s currently hard for alternative operators to fill the gaps without first knowing where the gaps are.

Just 15 Superfast Broadband Delivery UK Contracts Left for BT to Sign

11th July, 2013 (7 Comments)

The government’s Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey, has confirmed that two thirds of the projects that were initially designed to help deliver superfast broadband (25Mbps+) services to 90% of the United Kingdom by 2015 are now underway and the remaining 15 contracts should be “agreed shortly“.

BT and Dorset UK Sign GBP32m Deal to Expand Fibre Broadband Cover

10th July, 2013 (0 Comments)

The Dorset County Council (DCC) in central southern England has today signed a new state-aid supported £31.75 million deal with BT to expand its fibre optic based (FTTC/P) broadband ISP services to cover 97% of the region within the next three and a half years (i.e. late 2017).

CBI Report Tells UK to Fix Rural and Urban Broadband Divide Before 2015

10th July, 2013 (1 Comment)

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which lobbies on behalf of some 240,000 businesses (around a third of the private sector workforce), has published a new Let’s Get Digital! report that calls on the government to stop “short-term thinking” and adopt a cross-party approach to solve the national roll-out of superfast broadband before 2015.

DCMS Detail 3 Options for Wireless Internet in Super-Connected UK Cities

9th July, 2013 (1 Comment)

The government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has today published a new document that outlines the three wireless connectivity options available for cities taking part in the troubled, state-aid supported £150m Super Connected Cities Programme (SCCP).

BT Sign £264m Superfast Broadband Upgrade Contract for Scotland UK

9th July, 2013 (4 Comments)

The government of Scotland has today signed a state aid supported £264 million deal with BT that will make “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) services available to 85% of local homes and businesses by the end of 2015 and around 95% by the end of 2017. As before we don’t know what proportion of those will get “superfast” (25Mbps+) speeds.

Timico CTO Calls for BT Split and National UK FTTP Broadband Network

9th July, 2013 (10 Comments)

The Co-Founder and CTO of UK ISP Timico, Trefor Davies, has called for “government intervention” to split off the “rural bits” of BTOpenreach’s network (BT can keep the urban bits that compete with Virgin Media) and to help rollout a truly national ultrafast fibre optic (FTTP) service to every home and business.

Birmingham to Blanket UK City Centre with Unlimited FREE WiFi Access

8th July, 2013 (0 Comments)

The Birmingham City Council (BCC) will shortly (15th July 2013) vote on a new scheme to help improve broadband coverage in the city by rolling out an “unlimited” free wireless internet (wifi) hotspot service across “key parts of the city centre“.

BT and BDUK Help First Norfolk UK Areas Go Live with Superfast Broadband

8th July, 2013 (2 Comments)

The £41 million state aid supported scheme to roll-out BT’s superfast broadband (FTTC/P) ISP network to more than 80% of Norfolk’s (England) premises by the end of 2015 has confirmed that the first communities are now live and more will soon follow.

UPDATE National Audit Office Scalds 2 Years Late Broadband Delivery UK Project

5th July, 2013 (9 Comments)

The National Audit Office (NAO), which is responsible for scrutinising the value for money of public spending in the United Kingdom, has described the government’s national £1.2bn superfast broadband roll-out scheme as “moving forward late“, lacking “strong competition to protect public value” and being underfunded.