Wireless project to bring broadband to not-spots in Teesdale

Friday 07 March 2008 11:46:45 by Andrew Ferguson

The problems with the variants of DSL available over a twisted copper pair are that performance degrades the further from the exchange and cable broadband suffers from a concentration in built-up areas as well as little or no further network out build.

The end result of all this is the problem that a multi-million pound project in the Teesdale and Weardale area is trying to address, i.e. slow or no broadband access is available. The proposal is such that a system could be up and running within 15 months but this is all dependent on obtaining a grant from regional development agency One NorthEast. The Northern Echo website provides more background on what is going on in the area.

We presume that the article got its megabytes and mega bits per second confused, and really means eventual capacity may be 50 Mega bits per second (Mbps) with an initial speed of 10Mbps. While a price of £20 to £30 a month may seem competitive for those who can get no service at all, the big question is how many in the area who can get a broadband service will pay this sort of money, many consumers are embracing products that are free or cost just £5 to £10 a month.