Material differences:
- ‘Superfast’ equals 24/30Mbps
- Investment equals £530m/£1.5bn
- Universal access equals 90 per cent/100 per cent
On the left of those numbers we have our government's view, and on the right the view from Brussels. Culture Secretary Maria Miller's trip over to Brussels seems to have freed up the £530M from BDUK, but it hasn't established consensus on WHAT that will deliver, or how. A strange deal to ask taxpayers to pay in a downturn. Here's some money, now what do I get please?
More detail HERE from the ever observant Ian Grant.
An article in The Register provides more detail on the "horse trading" that was required by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (Maria Miller) in order to secure the approval. Reports on the effectiveness of the policy and approach are required, by 31st March 2015. Well, there's plenty of scope to mess up and fall further behind before that deadline arrives. How will the service be measured and validated, to understand whether promises have been delivered? Nobody knows. We at B4RS in partnership with Speldhurst Parish Council and Sam Knows know precisely how to do that - we have 60+ Sam Knows Whiteboxes out there, configured specially for us to report on the REAL effects of any upgrades to our rural Kent broadband infrastructure.
Our Google Map plots the performance of each box for your viewing pleasure - HERE.
If only other public authorities understood the benefits of such a monitoring service in underpinning any contracts they may or may not award to ISPs who want some of the BDUK public money. It might make the ISPs that respond to the tenders a little more realistic about what they will ultimately deliver, rather than provide FUD and nonsense which confuses the end customers - you and I. Perhaps we should ask TWBC for a statement on how they intend to validate what was promised to win a contract, against what is actually delivered? It's not clear to us here at B4RS how that will happen. That's our tax money being gambled. We digress ...
On the same day Brussels approves the BDUK 2Mbps future for the rural UK, it approves a 50 Mbps future for Bavaria, Germany.
We'll report back here when we find more facts in this ocean of ambiguity. We haven't yet had an update from the Speldhurst Parish Council BB Working Group which is tasked with reporting on the activity regarding the tender being run by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. As soon as we get any update, we'll be sure to let you know.
Regards,
B4RS - By the Community, For the Community
UPDATE: On 4th December 2012 we received a document via TWBC, passed to the Speldhurst Parish Council BB Working Group (it needs a shorter name), then to us, with a "Make Kent Quicker" update. There is no clear ownership of the document but it appears to come from the KCC team working on the BDUK project, and we believe it is related to the TWBC Invitation to Tender in October for RCBF for funds. We will publish this in a related article shortly.
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