British Broadband Behind Belgium
Posted by Dai in Latest Broadband News on May 8, 2012
Despite the online economy being bigger than health, education and construction, Britain’s broadband could be falling behind those of Europe, languishing at 16th place in European download speeds.
The news has come after a report from international communications technology analysts Akamai that studied download speeds and measured the rates of super- fast broadband across the globe. Their findings placed the United Kingdom as only the 16th fastest broadband nation in Europe, regardless of the even greater dominance seen by ultra- fast technologies in far eastern nations like Japan and South Korea.
This means Britain’s download speeds are behind a plethora of our neighbours including Belgium.
Peter Cochraine, former BT Chief Technology Officer has warned that this could risk Britain being left behind in the next digital industrial revolution.
The pitiful level of super- fast networks in the UK can be seen when considering Russia already have 12 million homes linked to fibre broadband, France have 6 million and are all promising much more in the future. Meanwhile Britain only have 400,000 homes linked to high speed networks.
The government has promised a drive to provide Britain with one of the fastest broadband networks in the world by 2015, and to have 90% of homes connected to super- fast speeds by 2017.
Whether these aims are achievable however is yet to be seen, if the British government were to match China’s investment per head of population towards broadband speeds then they would be investing £7 billion. In comparison there is currently only £1.3 billion set aside from the central government funds to invest in broadband.
It is hoped that private investment will fill the funding gap. BT are expected to cover as much as two thirds of the work themselves and further investment may come from other telecommunications companies eager to provide more services. The government have expressed hopes that they will be able to meet their targets for Britain’s broadband speeds and claim that their aim to ensure every home has access to at least a minimum of 2Mbps is on track.
As online business has become one of the largest sectors of the UK economy it would seem essential to get broadband speeds as fast as possible. Against the climate of recession in other sectors online industry could be an essential lifeline for the economies of Europe and potentially a new business revolution, if Britain wants to keep up they will need to stay at the forefront.
Twenty Seven UK cities apply for £50 million broadband boost
Posted by Luke in Latest Broadband News on May 6, 2012
Many of the headlines regarding broadband tell of rural areas missing out on what’s on offer while the city rejoices in luxury super-speed connection. It is assumed, with reason that large cities are receiving the best of what broadband services can provide. This may not be the case- some of the wealthiest areas in the UK have joined forces to apply for a significant amount of government cash in order to develop their internet speed.
The areas, twenty seven cities across the UK including Cambridge, Oxford and Aberdeen have applied to be part of the development that was mentioned in the budget, dishing out money towards service providers to get the ball rolling.
Of the twenty seven applying cities, only ten will receive a share of the £50 million that has been set aside in the budget for the development according to the government plan .
The cities had to meet certain criteria to apply, such as having a Royal Charter granted to them by the monarchy and they had to have a sum of more than 45,000 homes and businesses to be eligible for the development that will potentially provide these major cities with some of the highest internet speeds in the world.
The competitive speeds the cities will ideally be receiving are being implemented with specific goals in mind; to bring opportunities of growth amongst other positive outcomes such as the development of high tech industries and hopefully transforming public services.
By addressing these positive outcomes as a potential result of broadband speed development, the scheme has highlighted internet usage capacity as a relevant asset to modern city life and a responsible use of government money.
As headlines of rural areas missing out fade away and are replaced by major cities aiming to develop their speeds for positive outcomes, broadband remains a vital instrument of development and productivity despite its technology rapidly changing.
As the Government takes responsibility for enhancing internet connection across the country, individuals search for services and deals on things like broadband phone & digital TV and routers to assure they get the most out of what has become an essential service in the twenty first century.
Canadian Emergency Services Create Dedicated Broadband Network
Posted by Dai in Latest Broadband News on May 5, 2012
Emergency Services in Canada are set to benefit from the introduction of a dedicated high speed broadband network to improve instant communications and surely save lives.
Minister for Public Safety Vic Toews announced recently the allocation of 10MHz of Canada’s valuable 700 MHz broadband spectrum for the sole use of emergency services. This project is set to be the largest scale project in integrating public safety services with communications technology in the history of Canada.
This new dedicated bandwidth will allow emergency services to communicate more effectively than ever before. Paramedics will be able to conduct ultra-sound tests and send them for doctors for immediate expert results before they have even arrived at hospital. The progress of fire-fighters can be tracked in real-time and in 3D. In fighting crime, when speed is always of the essence, Police Officers will be able to upload videos from crime scenes straight away spreading information and helping resolve cases or catch criminals faster.
Technologies like these will genuinely help save lives. In all aspects of emergency services speed is essential and these new broadband developments will make sure that communications are not only fast, but instant.
The dedicated network will also help Canadian services communicate with their counterparts in the USA, with whom Canada share a very long border.
Currently, whilst having to share bandwidth with the general public, emergency services have been frustrated by sluggish information and download speeds. This is especially so in the case of major emergencies, in the case larger disasters or more public dangers effective internet communication becomes all the more essential. However, thanks to the popularity of android phones and mobile internet, these larger public emergencies draw members of the public to try to film, or take pictures and upload them online to sites like Youtube. Meaning that emergencies demand for bandwidth peaks publicly, interfering with the needs of the emergency service on the same network.
Dedicated bandwidth means that Emergency Service communications will never be interfered with again or suffer from slower speeds at peak times.
Some say that 10MHz doesn’t go far enough however and are demanding another 10MHz. They say that on a particularly “bad day”, for example in the case of a major public disaster like an earthquake or major fire, the current allocation won’t cover the increased demand as every public safety service goes all out in the need to save as many lives as possible.
Dedicated emergency service broadband networks are likely to take on across the globe as the most effective way to provide the public with the most modern safety services. Internet technologies such as this will be a major step forward and are sure to save many lives in the future, making the world a slightly safer place to live in.