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Articles for Category Tag - Building Digital UK

UPDATE RSA Slams BT and Virgin for Lack of Broadband Competition in Cities

16th July, 2014 (9 Comments)

The RSA’s City Growth Commission, which claims to be an “enlightenment organisation” committed to finding innovative practical solutions to modern social challenges, has published a new report that calls on the Government to improve broadband provision in UK cities and criticises BT and Virgin Media for working to “constrain supply and market competition“.

Scotland Reveals Next BT Fibre Broadband Rollout Areas – H2 2014

15th July, 2014 (1 Comment)

The £410m Digital Scotland project, which aims to ensure that 85% of premises in Scotland can access BT’s “fibre broadband infrastructure” (FTTC/P) services by the end of 2015 (rising to around 95% by the end of 2017), has today announced the next batch of telephone exchange areas to benefit (representing 90,000 extra homes and businesses).

Alternative Superfast Broadband Plan for South Yorkshire UK Picks BT

15th July, 2014 (18 Comments)

The South Yorkshire (England) councils of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield appear to have progressed a proposal to roll-out superfast broadband (24Mbps+) connectivity across the region by matching an investment offer of £10.4 million from the Broadband Delivery UK programme, which will help to replace the defunct Digital Region network. BT is set to supply.

Northamptonshire Expand BT and BDUK Fibre Broadband at no Extra Cost

14th July, 2014 (12 Comments)

The £11.4m Superfast Northamptonshire project, which is currently working with BT to make superfast broadband (FTTC/P) services available to about 90% of premises by September 2015 (possibly later reaching 95-100% by 2017), has announced that an additional 3,000 homes and business will now benefit and at no extra cost

UPDATE Independent Scotland Could Gain a USO for Broadband Internet

14th July, 2014 (3 Comments)

The Scottish Government has announced that it will set-up a Rural Connectivity Commission as part of their new proposals, which would aim to improve the country’s postal, transport, mobile and broadband Internet access connectivity in the event of a vote in favour of becoming independent from the United Kingdom (i.e. referendum on 18th September 2014).

UPDATE UK FSB Seek 10Mbps Broadband for All by 2018 and 100Mb by 2030

14th July, 2014 (56 Comments)

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has today called on the Government of the United Kingdom to improve their current broadband coverage ambitions by raising the Universal Service Commitment (USC) from 2Mbps (Megabits per second) of Internet download speed to 10Mbps by 2018-2019, which would then rise again to 100Mbps+ by 2030.

Government Offers GBP382K to Fibre GarDen Project in Cumbria UK

11th July, 2014 (2 Comments)

After a period of uncertainty the community owned co-operative Digital Dales (Fibre GarDen) project, which hopes to build a new fibre optic (FTTP) based superfast broadband (50-100Mbps) network in rural parts of Garsdale and Dentdale (Cumbria, England), might finally be back on track thanks to an offer of £382,500 in public funding.

Europe Offers Support to Local Community Broadband Projects

10th July, 2014 (0 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has today moved to complement their Digital Agenda project, which aims to make broadband speeds of 30Mbps+ available to all EU homes come 2020, by launching a new “Connected Communities” initiative that offers additional funding and support to local community broadband partnerships and operators.

Wireless Network Set to Help Fill Perthshire’s Broadband Gaps

9th July, 2014 (1 Comment)

The Highland Perthshire Communities Partnership, a registered charity that has support from Atholl Estates and the Perth and Kinross Council in Scotland, has announced that it won’t wait for BT’s upgrade and instead plans to fill-in some of the regions broadband notspots and slowspots by building a new wireless network.

B4RN Explains the Problem of Bidding for Public Broadband Funds

9th July, 2014 (29 Comments)

The CEO of B4RN’s 1000Mbps capable fibre optic broadband (FTTP/H) roll-out in rural Lancashire (England), Barry Forde, has offered up an interest insight into the difficulty of being an alternative network operator to BT when bidding for public funds from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office.

Poor Broadband and IT Skills Fuel Criticism of UK Digital by Default Policy

8th July, 2014 (14 Comments)

The Government’s new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and so-called “digital by default” strategy, which among other things seeks to save money by making some services online-only, faced criticism in the House of Commons on Monday after MPs blasted it for being introduced before some rural farmers could even get access to a good broadband connection.

Isle of Wight Begins Much Delayed Superfast Broadband Rollout

8th July, 2014 (6 Comments)

The Isle of Wight, after last year becoming one of the very last Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programmes to be approved due to some initial competition concerns with BT’s bid (here and here), has finally started its local roll-out of superfast broadband (FTTC) connectivity on the island in central southern England and good progress is being made.

39 New Local Growth Deals to Improve Superfast Broadband in England

7th July, 2014 (2 Comments)

The Government has today announced an investment of £6bn to help fund the first wave of 39 new Growth Deals with businesses and local authorities across England, which among other things will also bring new money to build new homes and improve the coverage of superfast broadband services alongside the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.

RCBF Fails Target to Give 70000 Rural Premises Superfast Broadband

5th July, 2014 (25 Comments)

The government’s controversial £20 million Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF), which originally aimed to help remote rural areas in the last 5-10% of England gain access to superfast broadband, will fall well short of its original target to help up to 70,000 premises and is instead only set to pass between 20-25,000 premises.

Small Progress on Broadband Cover and 7 Digit Postcodes in Cumbria

4th July, 2014 (7 Comments)

The Cumbria County Council and BT have finally given a full 7-digit postcode level breakdown (albeit in verbal form) of their anticipated superfast broadband (FTTC/P) coverage in the region, although unfortunately the data is only for the Grasmere telephone exchange area.

UPDATE London’s Tech City Still Suffering a Lack of Superfast Broadband

4th July, 2014 (13 Comments)

The government’s plans for Shoreditch’s Tech City have been criticised by Labour MP Meg Hillier after it was claimed that around a third of local businesses, not to mention many homes, are still without access to high-speed broadband, while the £3,000 Connection Voucher (“Super-Connected Cities“) scheme that was setup to help has been branded as a “national embarrassment“.

UPDATE West Yorkshire Name Phase 2 Rollout for BT Fibre Broadband

4th July, 2014 (8 Comments)

The £21.96m Superfast West Yorkshire project in England, which is working to roll-out BT’s “high-speed fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network to cover 97% of local homes and businesses (708,000 premises) by the end of Autumn 2015, has started the second phase of its local deployment. There’s also some good news for Exchange Only Lines (EOL).