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UK hits its 95 percent ‘superfast’ broadband coverage target
'Superfast' broadband with speeds of at least 24 Mbps is now available across 95 percent of the UK, according to new stats thinkbroadband.com published today. The milestone was actually achieved last month, meaning the government's Broadband Delivery UK initiative (BDUK) actually completed on time, in 2017. Superfast coverage in Northern Ireland sits at 86.7 percent, while the corresponding figures in Scotland and Wales hover just below 95 percent. Take into account England's overachieving and it averages out to a hair above the magic number. We're talking population/premises coverage here, of course, not geographic coverage.
UK watchdog warns of rural broadband delay, blames BT monopoly
Despite receiving hundreds of millions of pounds in government subsidies, the effort to bring high-speed internet to rural parts of the UK seems to be running seriously behind schedule. The National Audit Office (NAO) says the original goal of providing 90 percent of Brits with access to at least a 25Mbps connection by May 2015 will likely be pushed back to the end of 2016 -- and at a cost that's £207 million ($312 million) more than first anticipated. A big part of the problem, according to the NAO, is a lack of competition among those bidding to help with the project. BT has already been awarded more than half of the local contracts and no other company is in the running to scoop up what's left. As well as slowing things down, this effective monopoly may also be adding to the financial pain; whereas before the government expected BT to foot 36 percent of the bill, that's now dropped to just 23 percent. Microsoft's whitespace idea could avoid all these issues, but in terms of schedules it seems just as remote.
European Commission clears Broadband Delivery UK initiative
Britain has had grand visions of supplying broadband to virtually every home through its Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) initiative, but the lack of EU approval has put a large part of that plan on ice. Consider the European Commission's latest move a thaw, then. It just confirmed that BDUK is legal within EU rules on state aid through the measures to keep it honest, such as top-level advice to regional planners and Ofcom control over the costs and terms of any given rollout. The clearance lets a raft of projects get underway, and should ideally supply services like BT Infinity to 90 percent of the UK as well as a minimum 2Mbps for the rest; given that many BDUK providers have had to wait until now to get started, though, we wouldn't anticipate fast internet access in the boonies just yet.
