Tuesday, March 24, 2009

BT fibre announcement - FTTC, 29 exchanges

[1]

BT Press Releases | DC09-096   | March 23, 2009

BT reveals next super-fast broadband locations Openreach Van

BT today took the next step on its broadband journey by revealing the first set of locations where, from early 2010, substantial numbers of customers will have access to fibre-based super-fast broadband via BT’s network. 


BT’s local access division Openreach will deploy fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology at 29 exchanges across the UK. This will bring speeds of up to 40Mb/s – and potentially 60Mb/s - within reach of 500,000 homes and businesses. Areas of Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Greater Manchester will be amongst the first locations to benefit from this initial deployment.

Whilst the majority of the locations are urban, two of them– Calder Valley (near Halifax) and Taffs Well (near Cardiff) – are not and BT will be looking to learn lessons from deploying fibre in such environments.  The next set of locations – serving a further million homes and businesses – will be announced in the Autumn.

Whilst Openreach will deploy the technology, it will be up to Communications Providers (CPs) to develop services based on that technology and to sell them to customers.
 
The roll out is the next stage in the UK’s biggest ever investment programme in super-fast broadband. BT has pledged to spend £1.5 billion by 2012 to ensure that 40% of UK homes and businesses – some 10 million premises - can access fibre-based services. The UK already leads the way in terms of DSL broadband access  and penetration  and BT’s plan will ensure the UK climbs the speed tables as well.

Steve Robertson, CEO of Openreach, the division of BT responsible for the delivery of the plans, said: “Super-fast broadband is essential to the UK’s future and so it is great to announce this initial set of locations. The wider industry will now be able to plan ahead as we will be making our services available on a wholesale basis. This approach will benefit customers as there will undoubtedly be fierce competition for their business. 

“We have worked very closely with industry and with local and regional authorities to choose these sites and I would like to thank everyone who has worked with us to make this happen. We are in discussions with many other authorities so expect many similar announcements in the months to come.  

"The regulatory picture is complex and whilst Ofcom has given us a very welcome green light, we will require a few more over the coming months. We remain confident though that Ofcom recognises the need for an environment that encourages investment"  

FTTC technology – which is being piloted this summer in Muswell Hill, London and Whitchurch, Wales in advance of the wider roll-out – will offer initial speeds of up to 40Mb/s with the prospect of those rising to up to 60Mb/s. This will give customers enough speed to run multiple bandwidth-hungry applications. For example, some members of a family could be watching different HD movies while others were gaming or working on complex graphics or video projects.  

It will also provide the best “upstream” speeds in the UK with speeds of up to 10Mb/s. These will enable customers to post videos, experience hi-definition video conferencing and enjoy interactive hi-definition gaming to the full.

Openreach will deliver FTTC services by installing fibre between local exchanges and the street cabinets that sit between those exchanges and the premises served by them. The fibre will transform the speeds available even though the last link in the chain – from the street cabinet to the premise – will remain copper. Openreach is aware there are some premises that will not be able to be served by this technology and so they are currently looking at alternative solutions for those. 

Openreach already delivers the UK’s fastest broadband speeds at Ebbsfleet in Kent where speeds of up to 100Mb are being used by customers. 
These speeds, using fibre to the premise (FTTP) technology, are substantially ahead of any other residential service in the UK. Copper-based broadband services – offering speeds of up to 24Mb/s - are also currently available to CPs from exchanges serving 40% of UK homes and business.

 

CHELMSFORDEssexEast of England
ST. ALBANSHertfordshireEast of England
WATFORDHertfordshireEast of England
HEMEL HEMPSTEADHertfordshireEast of England
LEAGRAVEBedfordshireEast of England
LUTONBedfordshireEast of England
CANONBURYLondonLondon
CHINGFORDLondonLondon
EDMONTONLondonLondon
ENFIELDLondonLondon
HIGHAMS PARKLondonLondon
TOTTENHAMLondonLondon
THAMESMEADLondonLondon
WOOLWICHLondonLondon
BURYGreater ManchesterNorth West
DIDSBURYGreater ManchesterNorth West
FAILSWORTHGreater ManchesterNorth West
HEATON MOORGreater ManchesterNorth West
OLDHAMGreater ManchesterNorth West
RUSHOLMEGreater ManchesterNorth West
BELFAST BALMORALBelfastNorthern Ireland
DEANEdinburghScotland
GLASGOW HALFWAYGlasgowScotland
GLASGOW WESTERNGlasgowScotland
CARDIFFCardiffWales
TAFFS WELLRhondda Cynon TafWales
HALIFAXWest YorkshireYorkshire and Humber
PUDSEYWest YorkshireYorkshire and Humber
CALDER VALLEYWest YorkshireYorkshire and Humber



[2]
itpro.co.uk | By Asavin Wattanajantra, 23 Mar 2009 at 11:27
http://www.itpro.co.uk/610272/bt-reveals-first-super-fast-broadband-sites
After the first pilots this summer, BT confirms the first areas that will be able to access super-fast fibre-optic broadband in early 2010. 

BT has revealed the first locations to receive super-fast broadband.

From early 2010, BT Openreach will deploy fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology at 29 exchanges across Britain.

Areas of Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Greater Manchester will be lucky enough to access speeds of up to 40Mbps, with the potential for that to increase to 60Mbps.

The majority of locations will be in urban areas, but BT has picked Calder Valley near Halifax and Taffs Well near Cardiff to test deployment in more isolated environments.

 
(...)

[3]

BT to create super-fast broadband network

Telegraph.co.uk - ‎15 hours ago‎
By Nic Fildes BT Group is set to roll out its super-fast broadband network to six UK cities by 2010 after ending a stand-off with Ofcom over how to regulate ...

Friday, March 20, 2009

Google's pictures of UK go live

bbc.co.uk | Thursday, 19 March 2009

Google has launched the UK version of its Street View service, which allows users to browse a selection of pictures taken along city streets.

Street scenes in 25 UK cities from Aberdeen to Southampton can be viewed using the service.(...)

Google Maps users can zoom in to a given location and then drag the "Pegman" icon above the zoom bar on to a given street.


(...)

Art partner






Among Google's partners in the venture is Tate, who have worked with Google to integrate precise locations in the UK associated with artworks by JMW Turner and John Constable, which can then be viewed alongside their real-world locations.


UK CITIES ON STREET VIEW
Aberdeen
Belfast
Birmingham
Bradford
Bristol
Cambridge
Cardiff
Coventry
Derby
Dundee
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Leeds
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Manchester
Newcastle
Norwich
Nottingham
Scunthorpe
Sheffield
Southampton
Swansea
York

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

BBC to put nation's oil paintings online

  • guardian.co.uk | Wednesday 28 January 2009 13.07 GMT

 

The BBC is to put every one of the 200,000 oil paintings in public ownership in the UK on the internet as well as opening up the Arts Council's vast film archive online as part of a range of initiatives that it has pledged will give it a "deeper commitment to arts and music".

Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, unveiled the ambitious plans today at a London event showcasing the corporation's music, arts and culture output for 2009 and beyond.
The move may help the BBC get back on the front foot after almost a week of negative headlines over its refusal to broadcast the Gaza humanitarian aid appeal.

A partnership with the Public Catalogue Foundation charity will see all the UK's publicly owned oil paintings – 80% of which are not on public display – placed on the internet by 2012.

The BBC said it wanted to establish a new section of its bbc.co.uk website, called Your Paintings, where users could view and find information on the UK's national collection.

The Public Catalogue Foundation, launched in 2003, is 30% of the way through cataloguing the UK's collection of oil paintings.

In addition the BBC said it was talking to the Arts Council about giving the public free online access to its archive for the first time, including its wide-ranging film collection dating back to the 1950s.
(...)


Further