Category: Broadband

The digital economy in the UK may be a cornerstone of the current and future economy but the utility of decent broadband means the questions over getting to 100% with access to a decent connection continue.

The BDUK projects are edging ever closer to the deadline of the end of 2015 to reach a national target of 90% and our monthly round-up of the 12 UK regions shows while England may reach it, overall it is likely to be missed.

For those not yet benefiting milestones are of little comfort, but so long as the project keeps delivering the chances of a better connection continue.

The phase 1 BDUK projects and BT are under increasing levels of scrutiny, with Hampshire expressing concern over the fact that coverage is far from uniform.

The news is not just about G.fast and a reach of 10 million there was other developments that might help to improve the lot of those in rural and urban not spots.

One has to question how many people will make use of satellite broadband vouchers when satellite based connectivity has been available for so many years.

While Ofcom and other bodies produce annual or less frequent coverage reports we are tracking the changes weekly and can now also report on how the digital divide is changing.

North Yorkshire saw the first BDUK cabinet go live in December 2012 and declared its phase 1 complete in May 2015. Now the funds are lined up ready to negotiate contracts for phase 2 - though as its North Yorkshire this is phase 3.

The Broadband Stakeholder Group has produced a report that attempts to assess the very varied needs of business with respect to broadband and we are sure that some will disagree with the conclusions.

A coverage figure of 50% superfast broadband does not sound great but in Herefordshire the coverage has grown by 10.5 percentage points since the start of 2015.