The news that the Pathfinder
North project that was designed to provide decent broadband connectivity
between 801 council premises, libraries and schools in Highlands, Moray, Orkney
Islands, Shetland Islands, Argyll and Bute has completed is good news. The
project has been running since 2007 with Thus operating the project although the
operator has now changed to Cable & Wireless after they bought Thus.
The geographic area covered by the project goes some way to explain the
length of time to implement the project, but also serves as a warning to those
looking to provide broadband to the remoter parts of the UK (or simply those
where commercial operators have ignored to date). The warning being projects
involving the deployment of real hardware and networks in the ground take time
to build and with what may be seen by some as a large pot of money from the
Universal Service Commitment fund (around £200 million) up for grabs we may
find firms bidding for work, promising amazing things for very little money,
then not delivering.
The Pathfinder North project delivers very little for the average resident
in the areas covered, but the improvement in public internet access in
libraries and council buildings will help with the provision of local
government services. In the future, the various fibre networks and wireless
masts may also make the take up of universal service provision easier.
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Pathfinder have created highspeed pathways throughout the highlands and isalands, connecting 800 schools and public buildings. They have done the hardwork and created an alternative to BT.
It screams out for a Fibrestream to repeat what it did in North Yorkshire and let the circa 247k homes access these highspeed pathways.
Yes, well done to Thus/Cable & Wireless. Must have a daunting project with our geography.
Just shows how complacent BT are – the only reason we’ve ‘up to’ 8Mb 20CN, is that Government in Edinburgh realised broadband is another vital utility nowadays, and pumped a pile of cash into B.T.
21CN? According to Sams Knows, not until
Q1. 2011 – and this is in the major town on the West Coast with the majority of the ferry & rail services,etc, etc – never mind the really rural communtities.
LLU operators? Not a chance.