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Articles for Category Tag - Building Digital UK

DEFRA Open UK £20m Rural Community Broadband Fund for More Bids

10th May, 2012 (3 Comments)

The UK governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has today opened up their £20 million Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF), which is designed to help lift thousands of farms and rural businesses into the modern internet age, for a second round of bids.

UK Government Complicates Superfast Broadband Definition with 30Mbps Target

8th May, 2012 (11 Comments)

The UK governments Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office has quietly complicated its existing definition of “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) by bringing it more into line with Europe’s Digital Agenda target of 30Mbps by 2020 (minimum download speed / Megabits per second), but the subtle change could prove tricky to apply.

27 UK Cities Shortlisted for Tiny GBP50m Pot of Ultrafast Broadband Funds

4th May, 2012 (6 Comments)

The UK governments Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has today published a shortlist of 27 smaller cities that will be able to bid for a slice of £50 million in public funding, which was set aside in the recent 2012 Budget to help roll-out “ultrafast” fibre optic based 80-100Mbps+ (Megabits per second) broadband services.

INTUG Challenges EU Claim that the UK Has Full Coverage of Basic Broadband

4th May, 2012 (6 Comments)

The International Telecoms User Group (INTUG), an association of business users of telecommunications services, has heavily criticised the European Commission (EC) after a new report claimed that the UK had “already achieved full coverage for basic broadband services” in time for their 2013 target (EU Digital Agenda).

LSE Identifies GBP1.1bn Shortfall in UK Governments Broadband Funding

3rd May, 2012 (6 Comments)

A new study from the London School of Economics (LSE) has estimated that the UK governments plan to make superfast broadband (24Mbps+) ISP services available to 90% of “people in each local authority area” by 2015 is now at risk due to a significant shortfall of £1.1 billion.

Europe Aims to Cut Superfast Broadband Rollout Costs by 25%

27th April, 2012 (15 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has today opened a new consultation that aims to cut the costs of broadband investment by 25% and thus make it cheaper to deploy new networks for “high speed internet” in the EU. Priority will be given to reducing the costs associated with civil engineering (i.e. digging up roads to lay fibre optic cable), which can account for up to 80% of the total cost.

eXwavia Attacks Welsh Governments Lack of Broadband Investment in Anglesey

26th April, 2012 (3 Comments)

Wireless broadband ISP eXwavia has warned that the Welsh Government’s investment strategy for the island of Anglesey (Wales, UK) could result in a “business broadband meltdown” (a reference to the now uncertain future of Wylfa’s nuclear power station) because most of their efforts have so failed to focus upon the regions weak telecoms and internet infrastructure.

North East Lincolnshire UK Campaign Calls for More Broadband Investment

19th April, 2012 (0 Comments)

One Voice, a Community Engagement Group that works with the communities of Immingham, Habrough and Stallingborough in North East Lincolnshire UK, have launched a new campaign for better broadband after fears were raised that the additional funding from central government would not be enough to do the job properly.

House of Lords UK Superfast Broadband Inquiry Publishes Written Evidence

18th April, 2012 (115 Comments)

The House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry into the UK governments superfast broadband strategy, which launched in mid-February 2012 (here) and closed for responses on 13th March 2012, has now published a full summary of all the written evidence submitted.

BT Bid for all Broadband Contracts as UK Gov Shun Universal Service Obligation

17th April, 2012 (11 Comments)

The UK government’s Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey, has confirmed that BT are officially bidding on all 8 of the currently active superfast broadband procurement contracts (more will follow). Separately Vaizey said that “the time is not right” to introduce a legal Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband.

Support for Governments GBP150 Million Urban Broadband Fund Divides UK

16th April, 2012 (4 Comments)

The results from 872 respondents to our latest monthly reader survey has revealed how more than half (51.7%) support the government’s plan to spend £100 Million (Urban Broadband Fund) on improving superfast broadband services in some of the country’s largest cities, yet only 10% felt that £100m would be enough to do the job properly. A further £50m has since been added, but this will only help “smaller cities“.

Lack of Fast Broadband is NOT Just a Problem for UK Rural Areas

11th April, 2012 (8 Comments)

The lack of good broadband ISP connectivity, despite what some people might think, is most definitively not an issue that has confined itself to the United Kingdom’s many rural areas. Indeed over the past few years this has become quite a common misconception, not least because there is a lack of hard data to map the problem with any real accuracy.

BT Confirms 97 Percent of Lancashire UK to Get its Superfast Broadband

3rd April, 2012 (10 Comments)

BT and the Lancashire County Council (LCC) have announced that 97% of homes and businesses in the UK county will be able to receive the telecom operators superfast broadband (FTTC , FTTP) ISP services by the end of 2014 (subject to the timing of State Aid approval) after both parties agreed the new £62.5 million project.

Brocade Calls for UK Superfast Broadband Plan to Refocus on Data Centres

26th March, 2012 (0 Comments)

Brocade, a global networking solutions provider, has warned that the current drive to deliver superfast broadband services to 90% of the UK population by 2015 desperately needs to “shift in focus” away from home connectivity and onto data centres. The firm claims that failure to do so would risk creating “too much demand” before appropriate infrastructure is in place.

Rutland UK County Council Awards Superfast Broadband Contract to BT

23rd March, 2012 (4 Comments)

The Rutland County Council (RCC) has awarded the contract for its Digital Rutland project (Local Broadband Plan), which mirrors the UK governments goal of making superfast broadband (24Mbps+) ISP services available to 90% of premises by 2015, to BT (subject to EC State Aid approval).

UPD2 UK ISPs Give Mixed Reaction to Budget 2012 Broadband Commitments

22nd March, 2012 (1 Comment)

Yesterday’s Budget 2012 announcement (detailed summary) from the UK government appears to have drawn a mixed reaction from Internet Service Providers (ISP) and related organisations. The budget revealed which 10 cities will get “ultrafast” broadband services and better mobile / wifi connectivity through the £100m Urban Broadband Fund (UBF) and added a further £50m to support similar efforts in “smaller cities“.

UPD Budget 2012 Confirm Final 10 UK Cities for £100m Ultrafast Broadband Fund

21st March, 2012 (12 Comments)

The UK governments Chancellor, George Osborne MP, has this afternoon presented his annual Budget 2012 announcement to the House of Commons (Parliament) and confirmed which 10 cities can now expect to get “ultrafast” broadband ISP services and “high speed public wifi” through the £100m Urban Broadband Fund (UBF). A further £50m has today also been allocated for a second wave of “smaller cities“.