23 March, 2009 by Neuschwanstein
“BT Group is set to roll out its super-fast broadband network to six UK cities by 2010 after ending a stand-off with Ofcom over how to regulate the service.
From early 2010, internet users in parts of London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast will be able to source a connection providing speeds of up to 60 megabits a second which is nearly eight times faster than the maximum speed available on BT’s existing network. The upgrade is part of a £1.5bn plan to offer super-fast broadband of up to 100 megabits a second to 40pc of homes and businesses by 2012.”
From a personal perspective, this is all well and good, but increasingly, UK broadband providers are utilising bandwidth caps and throttling peaktime usage, so will we ever be able to take advantage of these great speeds?
Category Computing | Tags: , bandwidth, belfast, broadband network, broadband providers, bt group, Cardiff, careful interpretation, Cinderellaâ, Denali Borough, Edinburgh, edinburgh glasgow, eight times, existing network, Glasgow, glorious technicolor, head of urology, hill posters, howard hughes medical, ikaika, internet, Internet Explorer 6, internet users, Jude Law, King Arthur The Role-playing Wargame, king kong bundy, King st Kitchener, LA Museum of Contemporary Art, Manchester, maximum speed, miniature golf, Niagara pictures, ofcom, ontario tourism minister, opportunistic infections, optimum position, ottawa citizen, randomised controlled trials, soundtrack featuring Eddie Vedder, sterilization, Superfast, survivor man, test rats, The Walper Terrace Hotel, toxicology reports, uk broadband, uk cities
The government will trial super-fast broadband in the Highlands, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Herefordshire, it announced in its Spending Review.
Next-generation broadband is among a handful of projects to survive the cuts, which will see £83bn wiped from public spending.
The BBC has agreed to contribute £300m towards the £530m total cost of funding rural broadband.
The rest of the money has been set aside from the digital switch-over.
Extending broadband services in rural areas is expected to benefit around two million households, including those in remote locations who currently struggle on dial-up speeds.
Speaking about the decision to trial next-generation broadband in rural areas, Chancellor George Osborne said: “It will help encourage the growth of our creative industries as a key part of the new economy we are seeking to build.”
Around a third of the UK is currently due to miss out of super-fast broadband because it is not regarded as economically viable to offer services in remote areas.
BT is trying to address the issue and recently agreed to roll out fibre optic services across the whole of Cornwall, part funded with EU money.
Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that the 50p a month landline tax ear-marked for next-generation broadband will be scrapped.
Instead the government will leave the majority of super-fast broadband roll-out to private investment.
Some money will be available for rural roll-outs, he said.
The Conservatives opposed the introduction of the broadband tax and it was dropped from the Finance Bill at the end of the last parliament.
Speaking about the decision to scrap the tax, he said: “I am happy to be able to abolish this new duty before it is even introduced. Instead, we will support private broadband investment, including to rural areas, in part with funding from the Digital Switchover under-spend within the TV Licence Fee.”
BT will be forced to share its high speed fibre optic broadband network with other providers, the telecoms industry regulator Ofcom has announced.
The move, designed to prevent BT becoming the dominant player in the market for fast broadband, also involves forcing the formerly state-owned company to share access to the underground ducts and telegraph poles that already carry phone lines.
The process, which Ofcom is calling virtual unbundling, will give private providers unfettered access to BT’s network, but will allow BT to set the price for access to its high-speed network. The regulator says this aspect will encourage BT to continue its investment programme.