Did the Year 2011 Bring Positive Changes For Broadband?

Both private as well as public segments have had a major role to play in enhancing broadband accessibility in the UK over the past year.

A lot of issues regarding the condition of Britain’s broadband facilities had been smoothed out over the twelve months in the year 2011, however if the whole year is taken into consideration, it would be found that there were also a great number of good changes that had been brought about.

If one goes back to the end of 2010, the government had just listed Cubria, North Yorkshire, the highlands and Islands and Herefordshire as its pilot broadband sites.

As on date no work seems to have been begun in any of these places as far as providing enhanced broadband network connectivity was concerned. This has led to a lot of finger pointing at the coalition and its organization the Broadband Delivery UK.

Nevertheless there was marked improvement in December when a time limit for all applications for broadband grants from the English Councils was imposed by the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

This resulted in local offices having to present their proposals for broadband by end February failing which they would have to forgo the assistance from the government. This move was what created a sense of pressure that got things moving in the broadband strategy.

As the government set about doing its bit of sorting to ensure that enhanced connections could be provided throughout the UK, the private segments too started doing whatever was necessary.

Virgin Media had been busy through the whole year making efforts to enhance the provision of its super-fast up to 100Mbps fibre-optic broadband facilities through the length and breadth of the UK.

In cable firm in November, declared a significant landmark when they were able to provide broadband facilities to twenty million people which would constitute about one third of the country.

Not to be beaten, BT too replied to this by launching its commercial fibre broadband deal selecting Highams Park and Leytonstone in London, Bradwell Abbey in Milton Keynes, Ilford in Essex, Forest Hill, Chester, St. Austell, York, Exeter and Ashford in Middlesex as some of their first towns to take advantage of their facilities.

Everyone seemed to be keeping their fingers cross and hoping that both the private as well as the public sectors could do more than what is already being done to increase broadband accessibility across Britain in the present year.