BT announced that North Wales will among the first to benefit from a £425m broadband project, Superfast Cymru scheme.
Premises and businesses in Bangor, Caernarfon, Dolgellau, Pwllheli, Menai Bridge and Porthmadog will be the first to use the speedy broadband, estimated to start in June.
The broadband speed will rise from 2Mbps to around 80Mbps, using optical fibre cables and broadband cabinets.
BT is also creating around 100 apprenticeships as well as 50 new jobs.
BT director for Wales, Ann Beynon, said:
“This is an exciting day for Wales and the beginning of a…
Selina Moses - 24 January 2013 | comments. Read more
The village of Islip in Oxfordshire have raised £11,000 of their own money to pay for super-fast broadband.
As Islip was not on the list for not being commercially viable but nearby Kidlington was, the residents are making sure that they will not be left out.
Alison Mitchell, chair of Islip Parish Council said:
“Due to the distance from the local exchange at Kidlington, our villagers have received extremely slow broadband to date over the existing copper lines.”
“High speed broadband is of critical importance for many residents, and especially people who run…
Selina Moses - 17 January 2013 | comments. Read more
Broadbandwatcher previously reported that the Government’s £530m scheme for broadband had been approved by the European Union.
Thanks to the go ahead from the EU, the superfast broadband project can now begin in Surrey.
Earlier this year, BT signed a contract with Surrey Country Council to ensure that the areas that were not included in its national roll-out of superfast fibre broadband would be connected.
BT will contribute £11.8m to the project and the government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) fund will provide £1.3m and £20m will come from Surrey Country Council.
Peter…
Helen Christie - 7 December 2012 | comments. Read more
As previously reported on Broadband watcher, government plans to revolutionise rural broadband is underway.
However, it may not happen as soon as previously predicted.
Broadband minister Ed Vaizey has admitted that the £530m scheme to set up superfast broadband to rural areas using fibre networks by 2015 is “a challenging target”.
Ed Vaizey said that his department was “running as fast as we can” to get it done on time but it would be impossible to finish it early.
According to Ed Vaizey, the factor in this delay is down to waiting for…
Selina Moses - 30 November 2012 | comments. Read more
The UK has been given the green light by the European Union to release £530m in funding for fibre broadband rollout.
This money has already been allocated to local authorities in Britain, including many rural areas which suffer from poor and slow broadband.
The rollout will mean the nation can work towards its goal of providing broadband speeds of at least 2Mbps for everyone by 2015.
Maria Miller, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport commented that:
“Finally getting the green light from Brussels will mean a huge boost for the British…
Helen Christie - 21 November 2012 | comments. Read more
The DCMS (Department of Culture Media and Sport) confessed it was unaware of the number of employees working for BDUK (Broadband Delivery).
BDUK authorises around £530m of public money for regional broadband projects that allows all homes to have a connection of at least 2Mbps.
The previous figure of 75 employees has been re-evaluated, with now only 62 people working on the project between July and September this year.
Under Secretary of State, Ed Vaizey highlights the concern that BDUK is considerably exceeding the average staff turnover rates per year (25 percent),…
Selina Moses - 7 November 2012 | comments. Read more
A recent House of Lords report stated that the Government’s broadband funding scheme was simply made to order haute couture for none other than BT, do forgive the high fashion pun.
As a quick reminder, BDUK has set aside £530m to deploy superfast broadband (25Mbps or above) to 90 per cent within every county with the remaining 10 per cent to be left with basic broadband (at least 2Mbps).
It has been stated that because of the regulations that the BDUK had put in place, it was only realistic for major…
Edita Lozovska - 6 August 2012 | comments. Read more
It seems that Wales is on its way to getting the best internet services in the UK, seeing as the principality has invested a whopping £425m to blanket itself with broadband.
The plan is to supply superfast broadband of at least 25Mbps and more to 96 per cent and giving access to basic speeds of 2Mbps to the remainder.
Compared to the BDUK’s goals, this is a slightly higher target because the office intends to rollout superfast broadband to 90 per cent within every county of the UK rather than 96.
It…
Geoff Slaughter - 20 July 2012 | comments. Read more
One bidder equals to poor choice of broadband deals, says North Yorkshire.
It referred to the fact that BT was the only company keen on rolling out fibre, seeing as Fujitsu was slowly exiting the broadband deployment game in some areas.
Counties have been busy cooking up plans to blanket themselves with fibre optic internet which they then put forward for BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) office’s approval hoping to get a slice of the £530m worth treasure chest.
It is wise to remember that after local authorities get an allocated sum of…
Edita Lozovska - 19 July 2012 | comments. Read more
Fujitsu is no longer bidding for the right to roll out superfast broadband in Cumbria, as a part of BDUK nation-wide scheme.
The reason? Not a profitable idea.
According to Fujitsu’s calculations, the Government’s £40m worth of funds was not enough to make a profit within the area, therefore the Japanese tech giant felt inclined to say no.
The FT reported Fujitsu head, Duncan Tait, as saying:
“We withdrew from Cumbria because we cannot currently see a clear path towards a mass market that is required to attract leading…
Edita Lozovska - 11 July 2012 | comments. Read more
