Welcome to the latest edition of #digitalvoices for the 19th of May – we missed out the hashtag last week so here it is. Feel free to add your two cents to the bonfire by following the links to the stories below or read up on the rest of the week’s news on broadband, digital TV and the connected home – if you’re not watching the football or the rugby.
Rural superfast broadband: UK government offers up to £300 per premises for community projects
Commenting on the Government’s plans to offer up to £300 per premises for community broadband projects, Paul from Cumbria told us that things weren’t quite so rosy after initial funding dried up from a previous project:
“in Cumbria we are losing our Broadband next month and will have no internet connection at all. We have a great system in place but the Government grant money used to install it did not include any maintenance contract. How about a grant to continue this existing system, probably no chance.”
We sent Paul a message back but he didn’t get back to us. We hope that Paul’s internet hasn’t been disconnected already. Paul?
BT adds 21 new exchanges, rural notspots light up: Broadband Rollout Roundup 11/05/2012
Last week’s Broadband Rollout Roundup struck a chord with one Grungernut who is champing at the bit to sign up for BT Infinity:
“I cant wait,Virgin media have ripped me and thousands of others off for years with slow connections and slow speed outages lasting months, BT should see a massive influx of ex Virgin customers.”
It’s going to be interesting seeing where customers loyalties lie as BT’s cable tentacles begin unfurling elsewhere in the country.
British fibre broadband for all could be paid for by high speed rail cash says Hyperoptic boss
It’s obvious from stories we’ve covered and people we’ve spoken to that there’s demand for broadband out in the sticks as well as the smoke.
Commenting on Boris Ivanovic’s statement that money used to prop up the HS2 rail link between London and Birmingham could be better spent on broadband, Chris Conder said:
“Why do companies think only urban areas can be profitable? The are all fighting each other for scraps. There is a whole new market waiting to be tapped, folk desperate for a decent connection at a fair price.”
Wispa Limited, which spearheaded the ‘up to’ broadband campaign (you pay for the speed you get), agreed with Mr. Ivanovic adding that;
“1. The Government plans [for next gen broadband rollout] are woefully inadequate
2. His acceptance that fast (super or hyper) should be ubiquitous. 100% coverage by whatever means.”
BT’s killer RABIT foils copper cable thieves
Our story on BT’s cable thief prevention system has provided us with some chuckles in the past. Commenter ukmartian appears to have the inside scoop on a BT cable heist gone wrong:
“The story we heard about it was he was so thick he apparently got his cutters wedged them under cable between the concrete hung on to the chain link fence for support and stood on them to apply enough pressure to cut the cable which i think was 100,000 v ..needless to say he didn’t survive the blast and rumor has it they found his arm still holding the fence and the rest of him on the ground and he was identified by dental records and a tattoo..When we were young we had the dangers of electricity and sub station’s drilled into us.”
Sadly there’s no images of said limb swinging from the chain links to back this up. Pics or it didn’t happen, as they say on the internet.
Main image created at bayeux.datensalat.net
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