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You are here: Home / Archives for broadband

broadband

Next Stage for Shropshire Superfast Expansion

November 21, 2016 by Julie McGrath

Moves to bring superfast broadband to even more people in the county have been announced by Shropshire Council.

The authority is inviting bids from telecoms suppliers in Shropshire for the third phase of a major project to boost connectivity for residents and businesses.

Known as Phase 2b of the Connecting Shropshire broadband programme, the initiative is designed to bring fast connections in areas where no commercial provision is currently in place or planned.

Shropshire Council has already invested £9m through two separate contracts (Phases 1 and 2a).

Phase 2b aims to extend superfast broadband coverage to a further 16,015 premises in the Shropshire Council area using £11.7m public funding secured through funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Broadband Delivery UK) and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership.

Whilst Phase 1 is completing this winter, Phase 2a has already commenced with planning work which will deliver to an additional 4,000 premises by winter 2017.

Bids are now being invited from specialist telecoms suppliers to plan, design, build, operate and maintain high-performance broadband networks, referred to as Next Generation Access (NGA). All solutions must be capable of supporting download speeds of over 30mbps and must offer competition and choice to broadband customers.

Steve Charmley, Deputy Leader of Shropshire Council and member responsible for broadband, said:

“As we near the end of Phase 1, we’ve already provided over 55,000 homes and businesses with access to better broadband. At the same time as gearing up to deliver our Phase 2, I’m thrilled to be starting the procurement for the next phase of work. We’re eager to close all of our gaps and particularly want solutions that prioritise coverage for premises on the slowest speeds.”

Graham Wynn, Chairman of the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, said:

“Fast data connections are crucial for residents and businesses now, whoever and wherever they are. It’s important to note that, as part of this procurement, bidders are asked to offer network solutions that prioritise premises registered for business rates. Superfast broadband enables businesses to function more efficiently, increases their profitability and provides access to new markets. Our businesses have identified lack of connectivity as a barrier to growth so we are very pleased to be able to contribute Local Growth Funding to this latest push for better broadband speeds. We look forward to work getting under way.”

Telecoms suppliers have until 30 January 2017 to prepare and submit their bids. Shropshire Council expects to award contract(s) in March 2017.

The procurement excludes additional funding that Shropshire Council is expecting to receive as part of its Phase 1 contract. Where customers choose to take-up fibre broadband once it is available, the Council receives ‘clawback’ that is estimated at £2.2m to date. This money will remain ring-fenced for further broadband investment.

 

For more information on Technology, Business and IT Jobs in Shropshire, check out our blog page by clicking on this link!

– Shropshirelive

Filed Under: Latest Industry News Tagged With: broadband, business, Careers, development, expansion, IT, jobs, news, shropshire, superfast, telford

UK’s Broadband Network Described as ‘Unacceptable’

October 13, 2016 by Julie McGrath

The UK’s Business Secretary has called the Country’s business broadband “unacceptable”.

Greg Clark, the business secretary, has said that major broadband upgrades are needed to support the government’s plans for industry. Speaking at the Institute of Directors’ annual conference, he said that the state of UK broadband was “unacceptable” for 2016.

Clark told attendees that he wanted entrepreneurs in the UK to be valued the same way that Olympians and Paralympians are, but that there were significant obstacles preventing British companies for achieving that – including the quality of broadband and mobile.

“We have new infrastructure like Crossrail about to open, but we have roads that are bottlenecked, trains overcrowded, and broadband and mobile coverage that is simply unacceptable in 2016,” said Clark.

“I believe it is time for our country to have an upgrade – an upgrade in our infrastructure so that we have smart and modern connections, physical and electronic.”

The government’s multi-million pound Broadband Delivery UK Fund has been driving fibre rollouts across the country, connecting 91% of the population to faster broadband already. It hopes to reach 95% by the end of next year, but that will still inevitably leave some areas without a decent connection.

Clark said that, while different parts of the country have different needs, government policy has treated everywhere as if it was the same.

Clark said: “It seems to me that helping Cornwall make the best of its future is as vital to a comprehensive national success as helping Birmingham – but what is needed in each place is different, and our strategy must reflect that.

“Many of the policies and decisions that form our industrial strategy will not be about particular industries or sectors, but will be cross-cutting.”

Clark likely found a receptive audience to his criticisms – the Institute of Directors has indicated that it wants a 10Gb broadband available to all businesses by 2030. Meanwhile, the government’s incoming Digital Economy Bill includes a universal service obligation of just 10Mb.

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– Duncan Heaney

Filed Under: Latest Industry News Tagged With: broadband, business, communication, crossrail, development, government, industry, Infrastructure, mobile, phones, secretary, UK, upgrade

Ofcom Report: The Change in UK Network Use

August 15, 2016 by Julie McGrath

The Network use in the UK is increasing as Brits are spending more time online than ever before, according to Ofcom’s annual Communications Market Report

British consumers are spending more time on the internet network than ever before, so much so that many are actively seeking a so-called “digital detox” from their online lives, according to communications market regulator Ofcom.

In its latest Communications Market Report – an annual survey of British communications and media usage and attitudes – Ofcom reported that 15 million people in the UK have sought time offline to do other things, such as spending time with friends and family, or holidaymaking.

Most of these people found taking a break from the digital world to be a rewarding experience, although some respondents to Ofcom’s survey reported feeling lost and cut-off, or worried that they were missing out.

“The internet has revolutionised our lives for the better, but our love affair with the web is not always plain surfing,” said Ofcom director of market intelligence, Jane Rumble. “Millions of us are taking a fresh look at the role of technology in our lives and going on a digital detox to get a better tech-life balance.”

The 2016 report highlighted the importance of connectivity to the increasingly digitised world. According to Ofcom, 9.2 million broadband connections are now superfast – in the regulator’s view this means capable of delivering speeds of over 30Mbp. This was up from 7.1 million two years ago.

As a result of this growth in superfast connections, total telecoms revenues grew for the first time since 2011, up 0.5% to £37.5bn between 2014 and 2015, as average household spend increased due to the higher costs associated with most superfast packages.

Superfast connections

Rumble said the regulator estimated that nine in 10 premises now had access to a superfast broadband connection, up from 83% last year, which tallies with other assessments of availability.

“We are aiming for 95% by the end of 2017, so availability is growing,” she said. “I think the core questions are now related to those people who aren’t able to get superfast broadband and that is absolutely a priority for Ofcom.”

Rumble also reaffirmed Ofcom’s commitment to the 10Mbps universal service obligation, currently on its way to becoming law. She said the regulator considered a 10Mbps connection adequate for activities such as streaming video on demand (VoD), an activity that has seen a boom in popularity in the UK in the past 12 months at the expense of live television.

Ofcom will release more concrete statistics on broadband take-up in September 2016.

4G popularity still soaring

Meanwhile, 4G connections accounted for 46% of all mobile connections, up from 28% in 2014. Ofcom said 98% of UK premises were now covered by at least one 4G network, and 71% were covered by all four.

Data use is also soaring, with 89% of 16 to 24-year-olds and 25 to 34-year-olds, 77% of 35 to 54-year-olds, 50% of 55 to 64-year-olds, and 21% of over-65s using web and data services on their devices.

The report said 71% of UK adults now owned a smartphone, up from 66% this time last year, which remains the most popular device for getting online.

Ofcom said the popularity of smartphones was giving rise to a number of new social impacts, such as an increase in people bumping into each other on the street because they were absorbed in their phone, and 40% of respondents said they had been “smart-snubbed” by a friend or relative.

The report also revealed a surge in the use of instant messaging, with the proportion of adults using over-the-top services such as WhatsApp at least once a week rising from 28% in 2014 to 43% in 2016, higher among the so-called millennial age group. Photo messaging services such as Snapchat are now used by 21% of adults weekly, up from 14% in 2014.

This growth came largely at the expense of email and, notably, text messaging, which presents a revenue stream problem for mobile operators.

Rumble acknowledged this trend and said Ofcom had seen mobile revenues remain flat over the past year, which suggested operators were responding to this to some degree.

“I think with any business, as behaviors change and shift, we would expect to see different businesses adapt to those shifts in behavior,” she said.

– Alex Scroxton

Filed Under: Latest Industry News Tagged With: 4g, broadband, data, growth, instant, messaging, network, Ofcom, smartphones, superfast, technology, UK

Facebook’s Internet-Providing Drone Makes First Flight

August 7, 2016 by Julie McGrath

Facebook has announced that it has completed the first flight of its UK-developed solar-powered, high-altitude drone aircraft designed to provide internet connectivity to remote regions.

The ‘Aquila’ drone was developed over the past two years by the company’s UK-based aerospace unit and will boost the Internet.org project set up in partnership with other tech firms in 2013 to widen global internet connection.

facebook-testing-aquila-drone

Internet.org aims to benefit the estimated more than four billion people who are not yet online, and has already connected more than 1 billion people by working with mobile operators. But Aquila will help reach the 10% of the world’s population living in remote locations where technologies used everywhere else are not feasible.

Facebook plans to build a fleet of Aquila drones to fly in 3.6 mile-diameter circles at 6 0,000 to 90,000 ft to avoid other air traffic and at an estimated 80mph to provide internet coverage for an area 60 miles in diameter. The drones will stay in contact with each other and the ground using lasers and will remain airborne for months at a time.

Aquila’s laser communication technology was developed by Facebook’s Connectivity Lab’s communications team in the US and will be used to deliver data at tens of Gbps, roughly 10 times faster than the previous technology, according to Facebook.

The Aquila was developed in the UK with the help of expertise acquired through Facebook’s purchase of UK aerospace five-member start-up Ascenta, led by chief engineer Andrew Cox, in 2014 for £12.5m. The drone was tested in Yuma in the US state of Arizona.

The test flight was scheduled to last 30 minutes, but was extended to 96 minutes to gather as much data as possible. It marks the start of what is expected to be a year of test flights.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said while the test flight was a milestone, there was still a lot of work to do to solve “some difficult engineering challenges”.

Although the Aquila has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 737’s, it has a mass of less than 500kg thanks to its carbon-fibre frame. But, according to Zuckerberg, development teams are working to find ways of making the aircraft even lighter.

Almost half the drone’s mass comes from the aircraft’s batteries, a lot of weight to put on large, flexible wings, he said.

“We have computer models to predict how Aquila’s shape deforms under load. A few more flights will help us better understand the actual in-flight dynamics,” Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post.

The Aquila has to collect enough energy from the sun during daylight to keep its propellers, communications payload, avionics, heaters and light systems running when it is dark.

“That means using about 5,000W of power at cruising altitude, or about as much as three hairdryers. We’re always looking for ways to trim this down and make our systems more efficient,” said Zuckerberg.

To take off, fly and land, Aquila’s wings and propellers have to be able to operate both in high, cold altitudes and lower, warmer altitudes where the air can be 10 times denser. “We’re working to figure out how much power that takes – and what impact it will have on solar panel performance, battery size, latitude range and seasonal performance,” said Zuckerberg.

Aquila is mostly self-sufficient, but according to Zuckerberg still relies on a ground crew of about a dozen engineers, pilots and technicians who direct, maintain and monitor the aircraft. They control it through software that lets them determine heading, altitude and airspeed or send Aquila on a GPS-based route.

“Take-off and landing are automatic, since no human pilot can land in a precise location as well as software can,” he said.

The first test flight did not end with a textbook landing, however. The fragile structure was damaged when it landed in a stony field short of the runway, according to the BBC.

Zuckerberg has acknowledged the firm will benefit in the long run if more people gain internet access, but claims the project is based on the conviction that internet service can bring economic and social benefits to developing nations.

In parallel to work by the Facebook-led Internet.org, Google is experimenting with high-altitude balloons as well as drones and satellites, while Microsoft has funded a project to transmit internet signals over unused TV frequencies.

– Warwick Ashford

Filed Under: Latest Industry News Tagged With: aircraft, Aquila, broadband, development, drone, Facebook, Flight, internet, technology, test

Ofcom and BT Rivalry: Plans for Openreach Independence

August 6, 2016 by Julie McGrath

BT Group’s plans to give Openreach greater independence share some common ground with Ofcom’s recommendations, but will this be enough to ease its rivals’ anti-competitive concerns?

Ofcom has waded in with its take on what BT must do to allow its infrastructure division, Openreach, to operate as an independent company and in a less anti-competitive way.

The communications regulator has published an eight-point plan, detailing what needs to change at Openreach to diminish BT’s hold over the organisation, and ensure a fairer deal for competitors that rely on its network to deliver services to their customers.

However, if these changes fail to deliver on these fronts, Ofcom said a formal split between BT Group and Openreach is still a possibility.

“BT retains influence over significant Openreach decisions,” said Ofcom, in a statement.

“BT has an incentive to make these decisions in the interests of its own retail businesses, rather than BT’s competitors, which can lead to competition problems.”

To rectify this, Ofcom is calling for Openreach to be established as a distinct, legal entity inside the wider BT Group, with its own branding and whose actions would be overseen by an independent board of directors, with no prior affiliations to its parent company.

The CEO of Openreach would be appointed by this board, and be held to account by them, with no input from BT Group.

The company should own the network it operates, which – in turn – would better position it to make investment decisions involving Openreach assets, Ofcom said.

Furthermore, Openreach should have the freedom to develop its own strategy and annual operating plans, based on the budget handed to it by BT Group.

“This model would provide Openreach with the greatest degree of independence from BT Group that is possible without incurring the costs and disruption – to industry and consumers – associated with separating the companies entirely,” the Ofcom statement said.

“It is designed to ensure that Openreach acts more independently from BT Group, and takes decisions for the good of the wider telecoms industry and its customers.”

“If it cannot achieve this, Ofcom will reconsider whether BT and Openreach should be split into two entirely separate companies, under different ownership,” it added.

Ofcom said it is seeking feedback on its proposals, and has invited interested parties to have their say until 4 October 2016.

Meanwhile, BT has published details of its own plans to shake-up the corporate governance of Openreach. These cover many of the areas outlined by Ofcom’s proposals, including establishing an independent board of directors and allowing the organisation to operate with a greater degree of autonomy.

Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT Group, said the organisation is doing all it can to respond to industry concerns about how Openreach operates.

“These changes will make Opereach more independent and transparent than it is today, something both Ofcom and industry have requested,” said Patterson.

“Our proposals can form the basis for a fair and sustainable regulatory settlement and they can also enable Ofcom to bring its review to a speedier conclusion.”

Calls for Openreach independence grow

Ofcom’s proposals follow on from the publication of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s report into Openreach on 19 July 2016, which called for the subsidiary to be given greater autonomy when it comes to making spending and strategy decisions.

Matthew Howett, telecoms, media and technology analyst at market watcher Ovum, said the operating model being put forward by BT and Ofcom could be implemented in months, allowing all parties to focus on ensuring the UK has the broadband capacity it needs for the years ahead.

However, while Ofcom and BT might be broadly in agreeance with how Openreach should operate in future, Howett conceded the telco’s competitors may not be so enamoured with their proposals.

“For some, only full structural separation will be enough and it is important to note that Ofcom have kept this option on the table should its proposed model not deliver,” he said.

“Given the enormous costs and uncertainties, coupled with the weight of evidence, for Ofcom to proceed with structural separation now would be a disproportionate response, even if practically delivered.”

– Caroline Donelly

Filed Under: Latest Industry News Tagged With: broadband, bt, development, Independence, Ofcom, Openreach, plans

Telford Superfast Extension

July 22, 2016 by Julie McGrath

Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet is set to approve a scheme which will open up Superfast broadband to around 120 extra businesses in the borough.

If an application for European funding is successful, the Marches Broadband Grant project will provide eligible businesses across Telford & Wrekin with a fully funded grant to access fibre broadband.

In Telford and Wrekin, 98 per cent of the borough will be covered by the end of 2017 as a result of the Council’s Superfast Telford partnership with BT and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

The council is committed to seeking a solution for the other 2% of the borough, of which this scheme is potentially one, to get coverage as close to 100 per cent as possible.

The Telford & Wrekin element of the £4m project is seeking £237,818 funding from the European Regional Development Fund , which requires match funding of £158,545.

It is assumed that the level of grant payment to businesses will on average be between £7,000 and £25,000 per business although many grants in Telford and Wrekin are likely to be towards the lower end of the spectrum, as it has more accessible, semi-rural areas.

It will only be open to businesses that have not been broadband enabled by either the current Superfast Telford programme or by other commercial broadband investment.

A total of 124 eligible businesses have initially been identified in Telford and Wrekin and an expected output of around 22 per cent or 27 businesses, including a significant number of micro enterprises will potentially benefit.

Councillor Angela McClements, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Customer and Neighbourhood Services, said: “We have made a commitment to extend fibre broadband coverage across the borough as far as possible.

“The priority is the delivery of Superfast Telford which is still in the early stages of delivery.

“However the Marches Broadband Grant scheme opens up the availability of fibre broadband to businesses that might not be covered by Superfast Telford, although some eligible businesses may receive superfast connectivity via the main programme.

“This demonstrates our commitment to ensure that as close to as 100 per cent of the borough as possible has access to superfast connectivity and all the benefits it brings.”

Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet – which meets on 21 July – is being asked to approve proposals for the match funding mechanism.

They are also being asked to enter into a partnership agreement with project partners Shropshire and Herefordshire Councils to deliver the grant project.

– telford.gov.uk

Interested in the development of Superfast Broadband and Business? Why not check out our latest job roles in these sectors by clicking here!

Filed Under: Business Updates, Career Advice, Latest Industry News Tagged With: broadband, business, development, internet, investment, superfast, technology, telford

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