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Jinfo Blog

25th May 2010

By Anne Jordan

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This famous advertising slogan aptly reflects recent news items about UK internet access, with plans for superfast broadband surviving the change in government, and wireless internet deployment announced for London. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has announced plans to deploy wireless internet across the capital by 2012, in time for the Summer Olympic Games, with Wi-Fi access points in “every lamp post, every bus stop”. He has the backing of over 22 of the 32 borough councils in London and started talks with Wi-Fi provider The Cloud to help make it happen. There are no details of costs or how the programme will operate, and the BCS predicts that other mobile operators may well become involved, given the size of the undertaking (http://digbig.com/5bbqmw). Attempts by other cities to provide blanket Wi-Fi coverage have often led to failure – both in the UK and globally. Norwich trialled a programme but failed to secure long-term funding. An article in PublicTechnology.net describes how one of their problems was the use of lampposts as access points, but it’s not yet clear how London will avoid the same issues (http://digbig.com/5bbqmy). Other recent news indicates that the controversial Digital Economy Act will undergo major revisions following the change in government. The television license fee may be used to provide funding for superfast broadband, rather than the proposed levy on fixed line usage, as reported in my LiveWire posting in late February (http://digbig.com/5bbqnj). Parts of the license paid in rural areas would be diverted to help fund the upgrade, rather than supporting the digital switchover. Broadband forecasts from Point Topic, published today, predict the total number of broadband lines in the UK is expected to be 25.1m by the end of 2014. This is almost a million more than earlier forecasts and as Point Topic states, “it will help to improve the business case for broadband, and particularly for investment in superfast broadband using next generation access” (http://digbig.com/5bbqnp).

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