Superfast rural broadband may cost taxpayer £1bn

**vetran** · 17 April 2009, 23:26

yep but this is government IT

it wil be £20Bln in a few years and the private investors who risked £20 will get the benefit.

Good idea if the figures add up, £1bln could do a lot more that 250,000 if used carefully that's £4000 per house. just develop a suitable technology and license it.

**minestrone** · 17 April 2009, 23:49

I would be happy of my city house using twisted copper pair could give me 3 megabit. Bloody yokels.

**swamp** · 18 April 2009, 08:38

Speaking at a government-hosted Digital Britain conference, Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, hinted yesterday that ministers were considering substantial cash investment to avoid a situation where only half the country is easily able to download film and television programmes.

porn

**gingerjedi** · 18 April 2009, 08:58

I think I hear a new gravy train pulling into the yard... toot toot!! Could do worse than spend the next few years tootling around the countryside piping fibre, it's not is if there will be anything else to do.

**AtW** · 18 April 2009, 16:28

Originally posted by gingerjedi View Post

I think I hear a new gravy train pulling into the yard...

You hear wrong - this project will be about digging up roads and putting up fiber cables into them, recession is perfect time for such things as traffic on roads is reduced and plenty of builders willing to work.

In any case £1 bln is monkey nuts compared with what Govt put into banks, IMO, having universal fiber optics coverage with unlimited 100 Mbits connections is far more important than Olympics. Maybe UK should trade it to France who are likely to pay £10 bln for it.

**minestrone** · 18 April 2009, 19:35

Originally posted by AtW View Post

You hear wrong - this project will be about digging up roads and putting up fiber cables into them, recession is perfect time for such things as traffic on roads is reduced and plenty of builders willing to work.

In any case £1 bln is monkey nuts compared with what Govt put into banks, IMO, having universal fiber optics coverage with unlimited 100 Mbits connections is far more important than Olympics. Maybe UK should trade it to France who are likely to pay £10 bln for it.

It is a very round figure 1 billion, it stinks of "hell yes, what is 1 billion?, it's not my money after all"

I can quite happily run my business from a 2 meg connection, I could quite happily run it from a .2 meg connection but the xbox drags with less than 1meg.

If Gaylord thinks that fiberoptics are going to kick start the rural economy then he is even more stupid than the stupid **** we all know he is.

**gingerjedi** · 19 April 2009, 09:06

Originally posted by AtW View Post

You hear wrong - this project will be about digging up roads and putting up fiber cables into them, recession is perfect time for such things as traffic on roads is reduced and plenty of builders willing to work.

Yes but digging roads pays more than IT... Where's my shovel? Boomed.

**AtW** · 19 April 2009, 11:51

Originally posted by minestrone View Post

It is a very round figure 1 billion, it stinks of "hell yes, what is 1 billion?, it's not my money after all"

Would you have believed in it more if the paper reported figure of £995,100,222.35?

**minestrone** · 19 April 2009, 12:05

Originally posted by AtW View Post

Would you have believed in it more if the paper reported figure of £995,100,222.35?

The story is a pile of mince ..

More than £1 billion of taxpayers’ money could be deployed to help to connect 12.5 million small town and rural homes to superfast, 50 megabit broadband next decade, amid fears that Britain’s phone companies are unable to afford to do so.

"substantial cash investment to avoid a situation where only half the country is easily able to download film and television programmes."

Yes, of course watching Eastenders on iPlayer is a massive concern to the rural polulation.

Superfast rural broadband may cost taxpayer £1bn