Thursday 8 August 2013

Alternate takes on one story

1. Millions miss out in Britain's broadband divide

Millions of Britons in rural areas are missing out on the "superfast" broadband revolution, it was claimed today, as figures revealed a huge divide between internet speeds in cities and the countryside.

2. The broadband have and have nots: Gap between urban and rural speeds hits record high - and is set to widen further


However new figures reveal millions of homes in the countryside are being left behind, with the gap between speeds in rural and urban areas hitting record highs. Communications regulator Ofcom warns the gap is likely to grow even wider in the near future before speeds in rural areas start to catch up.

3. Broadband speeds rise 64% in a year

Though average connection speeds are increasing in rural areas, the lack of superfast services and slower ADSL was contributing to the problem.

"We are yet to see the full effect of government measures to improve broadband availability in rural areas, which should also help to boost speeds"

Also worth a read Where is BDUK rolling out broadband?

The government's Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project, run from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), has the goal of bringing superfast broadband to 95% of the population by 2017.  It has split the country into 44 areas and the relevant local authorities are working with the one provider accredited for rolling out the technology, BT, to figure out their plans.

Oh and this 

2 comments:

Mark In Mayenne said...

If you do need fast internet you can always use satellite if ADSL or fibre is not available

Tim Almond said...

MiM,

At the margins (like farms on hills), it's definitely cheaper. Incidentally, it also has some very fast upload speeds.

LVT help would deal with the problem. Genuine poor rural householders would pay less tax as they have cheap land (e.g. mid-Wales, Lincolnshire), so they could pay for BB. Faux Bucolic Rural Idyll dwellers who can comfortably afford it would have to pay for it.