Broadband Delivery UK

Cumbria pilot starts procurement process

andycarter — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:42:48 +0000

Cumbria County Council has begun the procurement process for their superfast broadband pilot. The procurement is to be run as an open competitive tender, with the tender notice published here.

Ofcom assessment of future mobile competition

andycarter — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:58:53 +0000

Ofcom opened a consultation on 22 March 2011, about its assessment of future mobile competition and proposals for the award of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum and related issues. The consultation represents an important step in the development of the telecommunications market in the UK and will help shape the future coverage and capability of mobile competition in the UK.

The deadline for responses to Ofcom is 31 May 2011 and further details and response template can be found at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110709203937/http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/combined-award/

Community Broadband Fund announced by Defra

andycarter — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:47:44 +0000

Defra announced today that a new Rural Community Broadband Fund, expected to be worth up to £20million, will be set up to help end the digital and social divide suffered by rural areas. The broadband scheme will be jointly funded by the Rural Development Programme for England and Broadband Delivery UK – details on how the fund will operate and the process for applications will be published later in the year.

You can find more details about this on the Defra website : http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110709203937/http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/03/10/uplands/

Bidding for second wave of funding now open

andycarter — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:06:58 +0000

Bids are now invited for the second wave of BDUK funding, as announced by the Chancellor on Friday 4th March (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110709203937/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_29_11.htm). BDUK are inviting bids from Local Authorities and Local Economic Partnerships in England. Local bodies located within the boundaries of Devolved Administrations should liaise with their Devolved Administration before submitting a bid.

This guidance document explains the nature and purpose of the BDUK Broadband Delivery Project and provides advice to local authorities and other public bodies on how to bid for funds in this round and thereafter.

We want communities and local authorities to have a say in how these networks will be built. By putting the people who will eventually use the infrastructure in a position to shape it, we can bridge the gap between competition and investment.

PROCESS

BDUK will work with English local authorities and the devolved administrations to define the precise details of each project. Projects will then be subject to procurement competitions run by the relevant local authority, devolved administration or other public body, with BDUK providing support and advice. The Devolved Administrations are embarking on a process of consultation and planning which will result in coordinated broadband approach in the respective Administration. All local authorities in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are to liaise directly with their Devolved Administration to coordinate national, regional and local priorities.

The closing date for bids is 18th April and the bid documents can be downloaded here (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110709203937/http://www.culture.gov.uk/publications/7906.aspx) or via the Local Authority Resource Centre.

Broadband Strategy launched 6 Dec 2010

franspawls — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:46:04 +0000

Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, launched the Government’s Broadband Strategy on 6th December which expands on his vision for Britain to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015.

The Government is committed to ensuring the rapid roll-out of superfast broadband across the country and would like remote areas to benefit from this at the same time as more populated areas.

The Strategy outlines how Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) will use the £530m available in this Spending Review period to support broadband and stimulate further private sector investment. It sets out the goal of delivering a fibre point in every community in the UK by the end of this parliament, bringing superfast broadband within reach of communities urban and rural, and commits to ensuring that homes and businesses right across the UK are able to access a decent level of connectivity, even in the most remote areas.

Jeremy Hunt also announced his proposal to use £50m of the £530m allocated in the Spending Review to support a further wave of rural projects in addition to the projects already announced in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Cumbria, Herefordshire and North Yorkshire.

Read the DCMS press release.

Read the Broadband Strategy in fulll on the DCMS Website

Rural broadband pilot areas named

BIS — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:33:28 +0000

Four rural areas have been selected to pilot superfast broadband.

Four rural areas that include some of the most remote and geographically challenging parts of the UK have been selected to pilot the next generation of high speed broadband.
Each area will be allocated around £5-10m from a total of £530m funding announced yesterday to support the roll-out of broadband between now and 2015 to areas that the market alone will not reach.

Photo credit: 1967geezer

Parts of Cumbria, the Highlands and Islands, North Yorkshire and the Golden Valley in Herefordshire will all be connected at speeds only usually found in densely populated urban areas, the Chancellor announced in yesterday’s Spending Review. The pilot exercise will help establish the commercial costs and challenges involved in rolling out superfast broadband across the UK.