Rapid Web News

So is BT finally pulling up their antiquated ‘upto 8 meg’ packages to something that’s actually worth paying for? I’ve always considered paying a fixed price for something that often pulls up short is a little cheeky to be honest; I mean what if I quoted customers for a 10 PC user based network and then when only 3 PC’s turned up they read the fine print on the quote and see ‘upto 10 PC’s supplied’ could we get away with it – I think not.

So what is BT going to be offering? Well apparently customers will be able to get speeds of 40Mbps for downloading and an upload speed of 10Mbps from around 20 quid a month. You will however need to be in an area where BT has installed their NGA (Next Generation Access) – info on which seems to be somewhat thin on the ground. All I seem to find is reports on how they will fall short of predicted coverage. I did however find where the new broadband will be initially tested; Muswell Hill, Whitchurch and Glasgow – quite strange choices.

“The internet is essential to our customers’ lives and they are demanding more and more as richer and even more compelling services become available. BT Infinity gives customers the capacity and reliability they need in an instant and at a great value price they can afford. We want to give our customers the best possible online experience and are committed to rolling out super-fast speeds across the UK,” – Gavin Patterson, chief executive officer of BT Retail. Infinity is the service businesses are now being offered. Last time I looked into a BT business connection they wanted to charge £5 a month for a static IP…

So British Telecom has announced plans to roll out fibre optic to one in six of the population by 2012…

Could this be a hoax? Is BT planning to rip out all that dated, worn out copper wire? Will people in rural areas finally get decent speeds? – All good questions. BT initially were only installing fibre to new build areas but now, it seems, they are branching out. BT are claiming that 1.5 million homes will have access by next summer however they also say that they are only Installing fibre-optics as an integral part of local telecoms cabinets in some cases.

This means that they are putting a bang up to date technology in fibre optics and sticking it on the end of copper wire which could potentially only give you a third of the actual speed being transmitted. I appreciate it will speeds things up to a degree but why not just do the whole lot with an ongoing project. Start with the people getting rubbish connection speeds in rural areas as the above proposed ‘fix’ would help these guys out no end, then start and work on larger towns and cities as not many here get poor connections in these places. Wouldn’t that make more sense?

Let’s hope BT can hold onto enough of its customers to warrant such a huge undertaking, now that Virgin Media are dedicated to getting fibre optic to the people it could turn into a race or better still a price war…

BT’s range of goods can be found here

This is an interesting little gem of a story I found whilst skimming the net. Prince Charles, no less, is calling for greater broadband speeds in rural areas to the unison cries of ‘finally’. The government has formed some kind of rural superpower called The Rural Coalition who is now recognising the decline in support for remote villagers not just for the huge drop off in trade for small farming outlets and village shops but ISP’s turning their back on rural areas. The government admitted that it had “…undervalued the countryside and failed to meet the needs of rural communities…” I believe that’s what happens when you allow supermarket chains to build mammoth stores wherever there is a free square mile of land!

“…The Commission for Rural Communities estimate at least two million people in the countryside have slower speeds than 2Mbps, not to mention those 166,000 in “not spots” where there is no broadband at all…” – surely something that has been accurate for some time. ADSL suppliers, I’ve always believed, have been ripping people off for years. I have friends who live in rural areas and barely break a meg, antique wiring, ropey phone connections and the old classic “…I’m sorry sir, your actually paying for up to 8 meg but I see your 17 miles from the nearest exchange…” bah! Sort yourselves out! You’ve been taking peoples cash for years, time for an upgrade methinks, not like these huge companies don’t have the capital.

“…High-speed Internet access will be essential in years to come for all businesses – rural and urban – and those communities that do not have it will be at a severe economic and social disadvantage…” said Charles Trotman, Head of Rural Business Development. Ok now this is a classic statement, this would have been perfect if claimed in the early nineties but the internet is not a new development it’s been researched since the 60’s and started to fully emerge as a viable technology in ’89 so its 20 years later and ALL businesses, in some form or another, rely on the internet for lots of things from email to stock checking.

“…The Government has promised everyone will have speeds of 2 Megabits per second (Mbps) by 2012…” Sigbritt Löthberg of Sweden has been supplied with an internet speed of 40 gigabits, that’s right 40 GIGABITS! I’m sure she would laugh her Swedish behind off at the above statement. This lady was supplied this speed internet last year so I guess it just comes down to that old fashioned excuse, money, or should I say the unwillingness so spend it. Down with copper wire! Let’s start moving into the noughties with fibre optic, let’s show the rest of the world that us Brits do want to move forward technically, stop building domes, focus less on tea drinking and move forward with the rest of the world. Amen.