Posts Tagged rural broadband
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.
Satellite broadband provider to launch broadband scheme for rural communities
Posted by Jeremy in Latest Broadband News on March 3, 2012
Satellite broadband provider Skylogic has announced it is to initiate a scheme that will see broadband services made available to rural communities around the UK.
The provider has asked local authorities around the UK to suggest remote locations that are likely to miss out on fixed-line broadband network upgrades that are currently being undertaken by BT and Virgin Media. Skylogic has titled the project the ‘Tough 20 Tooway Broadband Challenge’.
The first successful areas will be announced in the next few weeks and will get access to a satellite broadband service provided by Tooway. This service will be free of charge for the duration of 2012.
Successful candidates will gain access to Tooway’s satellite broadband service, which will be free to the local community throughout 2012. The first locations are due to be announced in the coming weeks.
Tooway’s satellite broadband technology gives subscribers access to download speeds of up to 10Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to a maximum of 4Mbps. The broadband connection is provided through a 77cm dish and channeled through a modem- no phone line is required. The Tooway service is provided through Eutelsat’s KA-SAT satellite and is fast enough to allow video calling and streaming from TV catch-up services like the BBC’s iPlayer.
Skylogic’s director for Tooway in the UK and northern Europe, Steve Petrie said: “With over 40 per cent of people in UK rural areas still not receiving broadband speeds greater than 2Mbps, it’s no surprise that many people still think that broadband is just not possible in notspots and slowspots. This may have been true in the past, but no longer. Tooway can deliver high-speed broadband to everyone, everywhere.”
KA-SAT was launched specifically to provide fast broadband to businesses and residents of areas in Europe that are unable to access fixed-line broadband services. The satellite currently enables rural communities across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin to take advantage of broadband speeds that have previously been impossible to access.