Have you ever wondered what speeds should you get to be able to stream seven DVD quality movies at the same time? BT and Ciena just found out.
What is the superfast fibre broadband trial all about?
A collaboration between two giants, BT and network specialist Ciena, has resulted in a huge chunk of data being carried through a “super channel” which is a 410km link between the BT towers in London and Adastral Park in Ipswich.
The data was successfully transmitted in a matter of seconds despite the long distance. This…
Edita Lozovska - 29 May 2013 | comments. Read more
Oswestry’s plans for superfast broadband are at risk of stalling because of the location of a vital piece of equipment.
The BT broadband cabinet was first installed in Festival Square but removed because the town councillors complained that it was harmful to the conservation area.
The only other palace for it to be is outside Natwest Bank.
However, the bank has stated that they did not agree for it to be there so BT has to put everything on hold until somewhere suitable can be found.
Town mayor Martin Bennett said:
“What effect does…
Selina Moses - 28 January 2013 | comments. Read more
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
A damaged underwater cable that links Portsmouth to Ryde on the Isle of Wight has disrupted phone and broadband service for hundreds of people.
One area saw around 600 customers affected.
The damage was reportedly to do with over-run scheduled repair work.
A BT spokesperson said:
“We have been working since this morning to restore service to those impacted.
“Many customers have already seen their service restored and we will continue working until all customers have service again.”
“We are sorry for the obvious inconvenience, our engineers are working as quickly as they can and…
Selina Moses - 11 January 2013 | comments. Read more
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has become increasingly critical of the way that BT has kept extending promised dates for super-fast broadband.
BT has reportedly promised fibre-optics services for faster broadband for at least three months later or more than originally stated each time.
This means that customers are less likely to sign up to rival ISPs because they are still waiting for BT to provide fibre-optic service.
ASA said:
“We considered that the appearance of a date or provisional date in the availability checker suggested that active plans were in place to…
Selina Moses - 10 January 2013 | comments. Read more
BT will provide Lerwick, the capital of Shetland with super-fast broadband.
BT’s “early Christmas present” is welcomed by the population of the remote Scottish island.
The island is connected to the fibre optic transmission link which runs between Inverness and the Northern Isles.
Alness, Dingwall, Invergordon, Kirkwall, Tain and Thurso are all areas along the route that have also been upgraded via copper cables.
The improved broadband means that residents of Lerwick can access download speeds of up to 20Mbps which is more than double than it was before.
It will also benefit the…
Selina Moses - 19 December 2012 | 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
BT has been chosen to deliver a multi-million pound upgrade to rural parts of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.
The building of a fibre optic network is the most recent step in a £35.4m project which is hoped to give a £299m boost to Gloucestershire’s economy.
The scheme, Borders Broadband, is managed by Herefordshire Council, the UK Government’s agency Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Gloucestershire County Council and GFirst, an economic development company.
Councillor John Jarvis, leader of Herefordshire Council, said:
“The new network will transform the lives of thousands of people and businesses in rural…
Helen Christie - 5 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
