Rural Suffolk to gain 50meg wireless network
Suffolk is set to receive next generation broadband through a wireless network thanks to a grant which has been awarded by the East of England Development Agency to Suffolk Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), a charitable organisation which tries to enable community self-help projects.
£250,000 has been awarded to help communities in the rural East of Suffolk get fast broadband access and also help homes and businesses in Parham gain fibre optic broadband through a mini fibre deployment.
"We know that traditional business models for delivering broadband and mobile services in rural areas are rarely profitable because of low population densities. These new approaches supported by ACRE, the Plunkett Foundation and the Independent Networks Cooperative Association (through the Big Society Broadband Initiative) whereby communities can help themselves are likely to be the most cost effective way forward. With the continual erosion of rural services the provision of next generation broadband is absolutely vital to the future wellbeing and prosperity of rural communities."
Dr Wil Gibson, (CEO) Suffolk ACRE
The wireless network is expected to cover approximately 30,000 households and 4,000 businesses with access speeds of 50meg, and if take-up is good, it is hoped that coverage will be expanded to further rural areas of Suffolk. The mini fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment in Parham will reach 100 homes, 20 businesses and the Framlingham Technology Centre. Communication providers are soon to be invited to tender for the project which is hoped will go live by the end of the year.
Comments
Can a public sector tender like this specify the technology or should it be neutral? Is a wholesale offering mandatory to fit with state aid rules?
@otester
What makes you say that?
Take a look at Kijoma.
Just out of interest, how would you rate ours?
http://www.loopscorpio.net/broadband/service_tiers.php
:-)
The reality I suspect is that at present wireless is probably the only viable option
wirelesspacman
Pretty rubbish actually
@hfctech
why?
30k homes sounds good. Where in Suffolk ?
Large scale wireless always has a bandwidth problem, the 50 meg headline capacity will be shared by all the users on the same channel so how many channels can they supply into an area ?
@wirelesspacman
Low speed.
Low usage.
Xilo LLU: £18, up to 24Mbps, 5.5TB usage.
Beat that.
why would I want to?
"up to" a speed that no one will ever achieve with them, and a usage allowance that would bankrupt them if all their customers on that tariff actually used it (putting aside the fact that their network would not be able to cope).
Tariffs like that are just marketing BS.
@wirelesspacman
Usage > speed.
Technically a 512K connection could bust your highest package.
4km line gets me 5Mbps on a bad day.
and your point is?
@otester
Where are you getting your Xilo LLU figures from? Their Pro packages which have Unmetered usage are Up to 16Mb, not 24Mb.
@wirelesspaceman - I know that if I was able to get 5 Mbps then at 15 quid for 15 GB it would not be unacceptable.
I see higher speeds and higher usage but where I am the (lack of) speed issue is more pressing thant being able to download 100 GB a month (I do that, but could change my habits if necessary).
I'd welcome any opportunity for an 'off peak' (say 0100-0700) difference similar to other ISPs - Plusnet doesn't count it, AAISP has generous levels in the early hours.
Bet the usage/price ratio will suck.