Posts Tagged BDUK
BDUK fails to include wireless coverage in infrastructure maps for local authorities
Posted by Jeremy in Latest Broadband News on March 15, 2012
It has been revealed in a Freedom of Information request that the maps Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) are supplying to local authorities do not include information about providers of fixed wireless broadband providers.
The request was made by journalist Ian Grant, who asked BDUK whether their maps included wireless coverage and if they didn’t; why not.
The reply from BDUK said: “BDUK does not hold postcode level data on local fixed wireless broadband. The files provided to local authorities have an empty column which they can use for their own purposes to indicate areas where there is wireless availability from other providers. Completing this depends on local knowledge.”
BDUK stated that the maps are for use by “local partnerships […] as a source of information to help inform their planning and procurement, and as a baseline for consultation in determining the eligible project intervention areas in accordance with the EU State Aid approval process.”
By not including other forms of broadband connectivity, the maps BDUK has provided basically means that local councils in rural Britain are receiving official government data that only indicates fixed-line broadband as a viable option. Grant noted this in his blog and also that “…in addition, procurement rules set up by BDUK on the advice of consultants like Pinsent Masons and KPMG excluded operators with less than £20m-per-year turnover. This made all the UK’s wireless broadband operators and many mid-sized fixed network operators officially invisible.”
BDUK said that its sources of geographical information for the maps included but were not limited to: the Ordnance Survey, BT fibre exchange upgrade announcements, “commercially confidential information from BT Openreach such as postcodes served by different cabinets” and information from providers such as Virgin Media.
A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the branch of Government responsible for BDUK, said: “…it has always been the case that local authorities would need to use their local knowledge to update and supplement data”.
“This will include wireless network coverage. The data we have collected concerns existing infrastructure and does not in any way determine the technical solutions to extend coverage further.”
Due to the lack of local infrastructure, residents of most rural areas are currently unable to take advantage of broadband & phone packages that many providers are now offering, with tempers becoming increasingly frayed over the issue of rural broadband access.
Local authorities submit broadband plans for share of government funding
Posted by Jeremy in Latest Broadband News on March 9, 2012
It was revealed yesterday (8 March 2012) that all local authorities in England that have applied for a share of the funding allocated by the Government to ensure that over 90 percent of the UK population has access to superfast broadband services by 2015 have submitted their proposals. Only two councils failed to meet the deadline; North Tyneside and South Tyneside.
Each council that submitted plans will soon receive a share of £530 million that the Government has set aside specifically for the improvement of broadband infrastructure in rural areas, with an aim that everyone in the UK should have access to a connection speed of a minimum of 2Mbps (megabits per second).
Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt said: “We set a demanding timetable and I’m pleased that we are making such fast progress. Virtually every local authority is on track to roll out superfast broadband. But we cannot afford to relax – we must continue to drive forward with taking superfast broadband to all areas of the UK.”
Councils leaders in North Tyneside and South Tyneside told the Government that work by BT and Virgin Media to improve broadband services in the region would see 91 percent of residents given access to superfast broadband without any need for additional funding.
Mr Hunt said: “North and South Tyneside seem blithely confident they will deliver world class digital infrastructure – I just hope they are not being complacent. No one in the UK can afford to slack on making sure we have the best broadband network in Europe upon which so many of the jobs of the future depend.”
The Government may look to alternative forms of broadband, such as mobile or satellite to get any areas that do not receive access to fixed-line broadband under the initiative connected to superfast broadband speeds.
£120 million broadband scheme in Scotland to go ahead
Posted by Jeremy in Latest Broadband News on August 29, 2011
Councillors in South of Scotland have come together to support a £120 million broadband funding model which has been designed to be able to deliver super fast broadband throughout Dumfries and Galloway, as well as throughout the Scottish Borders by 2020. At the moment it would appear that BT’s own investment will only run to upgrades in two regions, being Innerleithen and Anna. With interest in the funding model high, this is a part of the delivery of information to Councillors relating to the model:
“This project is the single largest infrastructure project for the south of Scotland and its importance to the future of the region should not be underestimated. The delivery of NGB should be viewed as a public utility available for all. While the investment required is significant, the potential positive affect across the region within the private, public and residential sectors is considerable.”
At present, Scotland has been awarded just £69 million by the broadband delivery UK body that was set up in order to divide the funds around the UK from a central pool. Starting with a £530 million figure, many in Scotland are somewhat unhappy that they have not been awarded more than this, but this is perhaps why this model has been greeted with so much interest as well as enthusiasm. Obviously the South of Scotland would only receive a small proportion of the £69 million that has been pledged to Scotland overall, so it makes absolute sense that other plans are put in place as soon as possible in order to make the likelihood of good quality broadband reaching Scotland in the near future a lot more likely.