Broadband is the technology of the near future and to my mind communities that cannot recieve it will be very disadvantaged. Email me to add your name to the mailing list or with any questions.

Click HERE to register for the HIE broadband scheme online.
Click HERE to register with Hydro Electric.

Click HERE for a general guide and news about broadband.
Click HERE for the Hi-Wide, the company charged by HIE with getting broadband to the region.
Click HERE for ofcom which has information on broadband licensing and regulation.

(10.11.04) Thanks to Angela (again!) for pointing out that the story on the beeb website doesn't have any great examples in it at all! I'm sorry, I think they must have re-edited it after I posted the story. I can't remember the story well enough to repeat it, it was something to do with it being quicker and cheaper to put a 10 mb flash file on a bus to the next village (can't remember which villages) than to send it via a dial up connection. Oh well...

(09.11.04) The BBC has an interesting report on the "Powering Up for Broadband" conference mentioned below. It makes the expected points about the digital devide and how it's arrival will help job creation, a subject highlighted by the Scottish Executive moving civil service work to rural communities with Bb. It is worth reading, if only for the startling example it gives to the difference Bb makes to data transfer, once read you'll never forget it - trust me, you'll repeating it down the pub. Click here and thanks to Angela for the link. 

(25.10.04)  The "Powering up with Broadband" Conference is taking place in Aviemore on the 2nd and 3rd of November with workshops and meetings covering all aspects of the coming change. You can see details by clicking here, there is something for everyone, especially the business and public sectors.

(01.09.04) Yet again BT is being accussed by Broadband ISPs of the unfair pricing of wholesale leasing packages which in turn leads to them having to charge more than they wish to the consumer. Obviously BT deny it but if history is anything to go by, Ofcom will find in favour of the the independent ISPs or BT will change it's price structure before a decision is reached. Read more here.

(26.08.04) Sweden is the place to be if you want really fast broadband. Users can get 10mbit connections for £43 pm and this includes the ability to access TV and films. Not only that but this is the slower of the services, those with fibre connections can get 100mb downloads. The service is very asymetrical, 10 down but "only" 1 up but it really shows the UK how far it has to go in the Bb world. Read more here. Incidently I think the linked story might be wrong, the companies website seems to suggest that the 10mb is available for phone customers, I could be wrong as I don't speak Swedish.

(09.07.04) The Net media seems to be welcoming the news that BT is doubling the number of SDSL exchanges from 150 to 300. SDSL allows users to send at the same speed as they recieve data, whereas ADSL downloads faster than it sends. But the price for a 512 connection is £170 per month, obviously it's aimed at business but the price is still outragous in my opinion. Eventually it will become clear that what is being sold is bandwidth, no matter how it's used or delivered and pricing will change accordingly, until then we will have to put up with these anomolies as if they were doing us a favour.

(08.07.04) As reported below BT is trialing pay-as-you-go Bb in Milton Keynes (or somewhere similar where people have been driven mad by roundabouts), it turns out that they are charging 5p per minute! 24/7 dial-up, like we had for the first year, costs around £15 per month, payg dial-up costs 1p per minute. Bb 24/7 costs around £20 per month, or 25% more than dial-up and yet they intend to charge payg Bb customers 500% more than their dial-up neighbours! It's obviously aimed at people who hardly ever use the service but if that is the case what on earth have you got Bb for in the first place? They're going to have to rethink this IMHO. 

(20.06.02) BT has cut the price of it's ADSL packages, is offering financial rewards for introducing people to the service and even free flights to new sign-ups. They describe it as a responce to a competitive market, some may call it a desperate attempt to hang on to market share, decide for yourself by clicking here.

(09.06.04) BT have announced ambitious plans to upgrade the entire UK network to intergrate broadband and 3G mobile phones into a single system by 2009. They intend to replace the copper network with fibre across most of the country at a cost of £3 billion. "Most" probably won't include us and we'll have to hope that once again the Scottish Executive picks up the baton. Read more here.

(08.06.04) The Scottish Executive website has been updated with an item confirming the annoucement on Monday about the upgrading of exchanges (and more), it more or less reiterates the items earlier but it's nice to see it on an official website, click here for the website.

(25.05.04) The Access to Broadband Campaign is to hold its main conference in Avimore in November and has cancelled the July one as a responce to the recent BT announcments. As reported on the main news page Scotland has the bulk of exchanges that won't be included in BTs plans. Read more here (4th item down).

(08.5.04) So - broadband. Is it all that it's cracked up to be? What difference will it really make to our lives? A discussion on Lesley Riddoch's Radio Scotland program thrashes these questions out and is well worth listening too if you are wondering how its arrival will affect you. Click here for her page and the Listen Again link (this will probably only last until next Friday). Thanks to Jane for the link.

(26.04.04) Telewest is to introduce a 3mb broadband service to replace its current 2mb one for its cable customers - at no extra cost. Even customers on the 512 service will see a rise of 50% to 750k. This is part of a battle between cable providors and NTL is making the same kind of upgrade but Telewest is the first UK 3mb connection. They expect homeworkers and "early adopters" to be the first customers but as the benefits become clear more people to take up the £50pm/3mb offer. Now that's what I call broadband, a great play is being made of the arrival of ADSL to remote communities but in a few years, a 512k connection will look like today's 56k to people wanting to come here and work online. 512 is no longer fast. Read more here.

(20.04.04) BT has been busy with two interesting stories making the Register. The first is particularly relevant to us as it concerns the testing of 500k ADSL to homes beyond the present 6km limit. BT has been extending the range for sometime and this could have a great affect on homes in the digital community which are just outside the villages with exchanges, such as Lee on the Isle of Mull for example. Click here for more.

BT is also trialing 2mb and 250k connections, at £38 and £12.50 per month wholesale. The 250K doesn't look that interesting but a 2mb connection at £50 retail could appeal to a lot of people. Click here for more. Thanks to Steve for the links.

(07.04.04) GNER, that runs trains from Edinburgh to London is introduce broadband Internet onto its trains. Free to first class (and I should think so too), £4.95 to everyone else, it will connect to various digital providors along the route, even inside tunnels. Read more here.

(06.04.04) BT dropping the price of the router needed to connect an Xbox or PS2 to a broadband connection by a whopping £79, bringing it down to only £20 if bought online. Online gaming is one of the primary drivers for broadband and selling point for the boxes, about 15% of which are expected to be connected to the net.

(01.04.04) BT is planning to introduce variable speed broadband that will increase the connection to up to 2mbs via an online control panel. The idea is to allow people to use the best speed for the content they are accessing and the top speed will used for streaming DVD quality video. At least that's what ComputerActive magazine is saying but I can't find any links to the story so it could be just an April fool.

(24.03.04) Broadband suppliers have joined BT and Telewest (see below) in providing sub-£20 ADSL packages. This will provide those lucky enough to have their exchanges upgraded a much wider range of choices and promises more imaginative permutations in the future. Read more, including a break down of what will be on offer, here.

(04.03.04) Guess what the average monthly cost of 516k Bb is in the Europe, go on - guess...over 74 euros! That's nearly £50! The most expensive place is Switzerland, where you really need to own one of the banks to connect and the cheapest is Sweden, where they give it away in cornflake packets. Click here for more. UK quite cheap - who'd have thought?

(01.03.04) BT & Telewest have dramatically dropped the monthly cost of 512kbps broadband (ADSL) to £19.99. But there is a catch, BT will charge £80 for the modem and set-up and there is a restriction of 1gb on the amount you can download, the equivilent of 20 000 webpages apparently. This "no frills" package, to be known as Broadband Base, is thought to appeal to about half of their customers. To my mind UK broadband is still overpriced for a slow and restrictive service but things are getting better. Click here for more.

(09.02.04) The Hydro Electric are staring their commercial trials in Stonehaven and Winchester and are hoping to sign up to 1000 people in the English city alone. However in an article on the Independents website a former BT researcher is very critical of the system in general and sceptical of the Hydro's claims, it makes interesting reading, click here for more. Thanks to Angela for the tip.

(05.02.04) BT has outlined plans that mimic Hi-Wide's ideas on combining wireless and ADSL to bring broadband to outlying areas. They don't intend to offer it a commercial product either, rather they will work with local initiatives which have other funding. Like Hi-Wide for instance. Read more here.

(24.01.04) A combination of BT and the regional development company are putting £9m into the north east of England to ensure that all the exchanges are upgraded by 2005. The announcement coincided with net-phobe Tony Blair's visit to his constituancy and the upgrading of his own local exhange. £9m is far more than is allocate for the whole of Scotland. Read more here.

(23.01.04) BT has published the new prices and speeds for SDSL services for businesses, mostly aimed at the high end of the market and not much interest to most of us but an indication of what will be available in the future. Click here for details.

(12.01.04) BT (again!) has apologised for the slow delivery of the wiring to enable a local wi-fi company hook up its customers and has announced the date the work will be completed. Coincidentaly it will be done two days before BT enables the exchange for ADSL but there is nothing sinister in this according to BT, read more here. Thanks to Steve for the tip.

(07.01.04) BT continues to bring broadband to the masses with a tie up to McDonalds, installing WI-FI hotspots in all of the 400 "restaurants" as technology becomes available. Amazingly it will be installed in drive-thrus, which will OK if you have all your emails typed up before you get to the window I suppose. Read more here, our nearest McDs are in Fort William and Helensburgh.

(05.01.04) BT has been slow to deliver again, another community based Bb group report that that the company has failed to install equipment on time. Read more here.

(29.12.03) The Government has freed up another wireless frequency for wireless broadband systems. Each frequency has it's own characterisitics which affects the power needed to cover distance, the equipment needed to sent and recieve it etc. I don't know the technical details of the new one but the more there are the better. Read more here.

(26.12.03) Ever felt frustrated by our slow progress towards Bb Nivana? Read this story, there's always someone worse off!

(16.12.03) A story on the register seems to confirm suspicions that the BT announcement of so many Hi-Wide communities had been set trigger points was more than just a coincidence. A Berkshire community which organised it's own Wi-fi system has found that the BT end of the service suffering from continual failure and more to point one of it's sites suffered a long delay during which BT listed the small exchange for ADSL. This let them to lose a lot of customers. Click here to read more.

(24.11.03) Tiree or at least Scarnish at the eastern tip (I don't know if this is the only exchange), has been given a trigger by BT. Those connected to it will have to rack up 100 registrations to get the exchange converted for ADSL. Didn't spot this yesterday!

Meanwhile no news is no news from Hydro Electric. In a reply to forum member Peabody they say that the trials have come to an end and plans for the roll out have not been finalised. The only hint of new information was that the issue of out lieing exchanges, which may need a satelite link, hadn't been finalised either, so there may be hope yet! Thanks for sending this in!

(23.11.03) BT sets local triggers! In amongst the 2300 triggers announced on the 17th (see below) are three local exchanges, Balvicar (Seil and Easdale), Fionnphort (inc Bunessan and Iona) and Tobermory. The numbers needing to register to trigger the ADSL upgrade are relatively low but high considering the size of the communities. The numbers are (with the current registrations in brackets) Balvicar 100 (55), Tobermory 150 (56) and Fionnphort 100 (23). Considering the effort that people put in to getting people to sign up the last time and that all of these places are to get Wi-fi broadband it seems unlikely that the trigger will ever be met, which is a pity because choice and competition is good for everyone. Thanks to Steve for spotting this.

(20.11.03) While we eagerly await the arrival of 516kbps broadband Korea has set in motion the upgrading of it's broadband network from 2mbps (i.e. 4 X UK ADSL) to an astonishing 100mbps. The idea that the UK is serious about broadband technology is just a joke...Read more here.

(18.11.03) BT has announced 2300 new trigger points, some for small exchanges that require "only" a hundred registrations. This has been hailed has a move towards universal broadband but there will still be many communities left out. Even the HIE scheme, good though it is, isn't catching everyone, the two exchanges nearest to me will never meet anyones trigger despite one of them having 40% of the residents registering. Read more here.

(13.11.03) How the southern half lives! Piccadily, London, is to be made a wireless broadband area giving anyone there instant access to the Internet! Read more here.

(12.12.03) A new long range wireless brought was launched this month capable of tranferring data at 70Mbps over a range of up to 30 kilometers. This, if adopted by HIE, would have considerable implications for communities as the area covered is condisderably bigger and the signal much more powerful. Click here for more. Thanks to James Westland for this tip.

(28.10.03) BT is to offer a faster Bb connection following successful trials of the 1mb system. Unfortunately it will be available within four kilometers of the exchange. Will it affect any of us anyway? Is the HIE considering ADSL or are they just looking at Wi-Fi? Click HERE for more.

(19.10.03) A survey suggests that Bb is not always all it says it is and that two thirds of subscribers would be willing to pay more for a more reliable service. This mostly affects ADSL services, rather than the WiFi that is the HIEs preferred option. ADSL suffers from fluctiations in connection speed which some users, particularly gamers, find very annoying. Read more here.

(09.10.03) Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are to get fixed line ADSL for their capitals bringing it within reach of 13000 businesses (I'm just quoting, seems a big number to me). This is being subsidised by the Scot Exec and has little to do with us except it shows that they still have faith in ADSL which I noticed had been dropped from the list of technologies on their broadband pages. Read more HERE.

(02.10.03) Hydro Electric Bb: Bad news for those of us who thought that the HE scheme could bring Bb to remote areas. The AIE tells me that a problem with "back haul" ( the connection back to the main Internet infrastructure) makes it uneconomic for small populations even though the conversion of the sub-station is relatively cheap. The connection to the main Internet requires a satelite which adds to much to the cost. Thanks to Paul O'Brien for this info.

(01.10.03) Local Developments: Following emails AIE have told me that the Tobermory scheme will be extended to the other registants in the area as well as the original 20 businesses. This will happen early next year.

The areas announced in the Press and Journal have been confirmed as likely to get Wi-Fi pending surveys and HIE will be holding meetings in each community to explain the process of installation etc.

They will be also looking for local Broadband Champions (ring a bell?) to liase between HIE and thier local community, more on this when I have it. Thanks to Paul O'Brian for all the above.

Still no news on the fate of Salen or what the HIE view is on the Hydro Electric scheme.

(07.03.09) The Register reports mixed news from BT. The good is that they are dropping the wholesale price to rival telecoms so they can compete with the compnay and this will result in greater choice for domestic customers. The is that they raising the cost of the faster business services by quite a lot affectively taking out of range for small companies.

They have also announced that Bb is now available to 75% of UK homes but admit that coverage in rural areas is still very patchy. It is hoped that the 1.8billion the government has committed to promoting it will make some headway here.

Closer to home there is a rumour that to more community areas are to get a wireless service this year, watch this space for more in the near future!

(28.08.03) BT is to trial 1mb ASDL in the near future. Line quality means that the service will only ever be available to 60-70% of existing Bb customers and whether it is introduced at all depends on the success of a week trial. Basically they are offering home users a product previously available only to businesses. Read more here.

(20.08.03) Good news! I've had an email from the Hydro telling me that the transformers many of us have on our mainsline will not affect the availabilty of the service. It will however be down to how many people register for it, they need 50 registrations to make it economically viable to install the equipment in a sub-station. This is considerably lower than BTs trigger levels and I hope that HIE are looking at it as an alternative to wireless and ADSL.

Meanwhile they are going ahead with full commercial trials, click here to read more. Thanks to sgegreen for sending the link in.

(07.08.03) A survey on the PC Advisor website reveals just how common broadband is amongst surfers. Only 34% of respondents used dial up while 63% used either cable or ADSL broadband. Even more amazing was the number of ISDN users - 1%! The survey is somewhat self selecting, favouring keaner Internet users but if you are reading this so are you!

(06.08.03) UK Government bulk buys Bb for...England & Wales. In a move to improve availability of BB and to encourage companies to invest in the technology the London Govt. will set up 9 regional boards that will spend a total of £1 billion! over the next 3 years to bring the technology to areas that are not economic in commercial terms. Read more here.

(30.08.03) Domestic broadband customers in Tobermory are facing the prospect of having to fork out £175 for the wireless equipment because they are not eligible for the grant available to businesses. The town became one of the first places to become of the HIE scheme when 20 businesses registered a definite interest earlier this year but now the registrations total 47. The same thing will presumably apply in Salen too, where wireless has been preferred to ADSL on the grounds of installation costs. Hopefully because of the large number of self employed and small businesses in both areas this will not affect to many people.

The Guardian has interesting report on the changes to the radio license which will make wireless broadband much cheaper and more widely available as both the number of people and the range a station can broadcast to will be increased. This will hopefully reduce costs making it a better  propersition for all, this in turn could reduce the cost of the receiving kit needed. Read more here. Thanks to forum member Peabody for bringing this to my attention.

(17.07.03) As reported on the News page, Salen has passed the trigger point and could see wireless broadband arriving as soon as October. This is great news to all who have registered and encouraged people to do the same. I know at least one local business that can't wait! I got this piece of news from Paul O'Brien of Argyll Enterprise in response to an email I sent asking about the issues raised in the story below on community registrations.

His email also told me that Loch Don and Craignure had separate exchanges which was news to me. All this time I've been thinking that all the homes using the 01680 number were on the same exchange but apparently they are not. I'm still trying to track down where the Craignure exchange is.

He also confirmed that BT only count households within reach and capable of receiving Bb, hence the disparity between their and the HIS list (more on this tomorrow!) and he arranged for my exchange, Tiroran, to added to the list of registrations (thanks Paul!). We have 8, not bad out of about 20 residential households! 

(16.07.03) Broadband has reached Helensburgh and spawned a new ISP. UFCnet offers email, website hosting and creation, domain registration and transfer at pretty reasonable prices. When Argyll & Bute get their ISP off the ground the town will have two ISPs, a perfect example of what broadband can do for an economy. Click HERE for UFCnet.

(12.07.03) Community Registrations: Seaching for info on the story below I found a page on the HIE website that I hadn't seen before listing registrations by local community rather than by exchange. Some of the figures are very interesting because BT only count those who register and  are close enough to the exchange to benefit from ADSL. HIE are looking at other technologies too, so list everyone who registers with them.

For instance BT lists the Aros exchange, which is at Loch Don on the Isle of Mull, as having 17 registrations while HIE has Aros at 17, Craignure at 15 and Salen at 31 plus Ulva with 5. By "Aros" I assume they mean Loch Don, where the exchange is which would seem to suggest that there are enough people near enough to it to trigger the HIE to upgrade it to ADSL. Salen has definitely passed the 30 and they must be considering what type of technology to employ there.

Another place mentioned that don't make the BT lists is Pennyghael with 3 registrations but my exchange which is close by to it doesn't get a mention even though I know at least three people have signed up! Click HERE for the HIE reg page.

Grants: As a further incentive to register HIE are giving small businesses grants of £300 to cover installation and software costs of broadband and this rises to £1200 for satelite systems. Click HERE for more on grants.

(11.07.03) BT has announced plans to improve access to fast ADSL services of 1and 2 mbit connections and plans to drop the price to £30 per month. The difference between these high speed connections and the current 512 maximum is significant, making services like streaming video and web confrencing much better and more TV like. At £30 pm it makes ISDN look very expensive too. Read more by clicking HERE.

(06.07.03) Fionnphort, Iona & Bunessan, who share the same exchange, have clocked up 20 registrations for broadband, only 10 short of the HIE trigger point! A big thank you to forum member dazedandconfused for tracking this info down.

(05.07.03) Some good news for small exchanges can be found in the latest SIN newsletter. Small exchanges can have there registrations combined with a neighbouring one to get up to the trigger level of 30. Not much help for Colonsay, Luing and Lismore but could be of help to Tiroran and Pennyghael on the Isle of Mull. Read more HERE (scroll down to the IT and the islands section). Thanks to Angela for sending this in. 

(04.0703) Is it time to drop this page? Has the campaign to get Bb for the NAIDC islands run its course? The issue seems completely dead to me, no one posts in the Bb section of the website and local registrations have almost come a halt (see below). Part of the problem for the smaller islands is that the HIE have only dropped the trigger level not adopted a percentage of computer owners to choose which exchanges to upgrade. This means that half the households can register with them and they will still not be considered (I've written to them about this but have received no response).

It doesn't explain why relatively large exchanges on Mull have failed to reach 20 registrations though. It seems that a ceiling has been reached and there is not much possibility of getting more people to register without a huge effort on the behalf of the few who have already expressed interest. I don't really want to drop the page but I do wonder what it's here for.

(26.06.03) BT have cut trigger points (the number of people who need to register to get an exchange enabled) by 50, a reduction of 25% in some cases. This will bring many of them up to the level immediatly, especially in rural areas because there are a lot of them at around the 90% level already. This will make the lack of broadband in the highlands even more significant than it is now.

(25.06.03) Registrations have ground to a halt across the NAIDC area with only the Aros and Luing exchanges showing any increase at all. Aros is up 1 to 17 and Luing up 3 to 23 since the last time I reported them about 6 weeks ago. Both these figures are tantalisingly close to the HIE trigger point of 30 but Aros must have much more hoe as it has about 5 times the number of computers in the area. I can't find any figures at all for Tiree, Bunessan, Pennyghael or Tiroran exchanges, if anyone can help I would be grateful.

 (18.06.03) BT is to extend its distant ASDL trials after success with its own staff. No lose of data was found over the extra 1km with the stronger signal and they hope this will bring many more people within range. However even if succesful it will only bring ASDL to people living within 6km of their exchange which will still leave a lot of people on Mull with only ISDN to look forward to. More on this story HERE.

Meanwhile power cuts downed ASDL for many people across England according to THIS story at the Register, do power failures affected normal Internet connections? Thanks to Steve for sening this in.

(30.05.03) ISPs are reporting that porn and file sharing are the content that drive the progress of broadband amongst consumers. Porn is no great suprise as it is credited as being one of the prime incentives of the boom in the late nineties but file sharing is new. What is interesting about this is the amount of effort that companies are putting into preventing it, either buy encoding product or by suing the companies that produce or host the software needed. I wonder how this will sit alongside all governments desire to see Bb spread, without file sharing the main content driver will be porn and I'm sure David Blunket wants people to have better reasons for getting it! Read more HERE.

(26.05.03) Balloons: If you thought the idea of receiving Bb through the mains was odd wait 'til you read this. A Yorkshire based comany has been running successful trials with wireless broadband broadcasting from arrays under balloons! The balloons that look like WWII barrage balloons are tethered about a mile in the air and only 18 base stations would be needed to cover the whole of the UK, including the highlands and islands, with a 1mb send/receive service. Cyber pie in the sky? Read more HERE. Thanks to Steve for sending this in.

(22.05.03) Wi-Fi (wireless broadband): A Spanish company has linked up with 3 Com to utilise the telecom's network of mobile phone masts and bring broadband to a remote region. The Catalan region which is most famous for producing Cava wine has a challenging terrain but the system they are adopting is making the installation affordable. It could be an option for us and the possibilities of using existing masts has already been discussed locally. Read more HERE. 

(21.05.03) Hydro-Electric have finally got back to me with an email from their PR department, very polite but completely failing to answer any of the questions I'd asked. Rather it suggested that I contact my ISP or an IT professional. As the questions can only be answered by them I was a bit disappointed. It even asked me to check their FAQs but as that was the web page I'd clicked the contact link from it seemed a bit pointless. Read the email HERE, I've written to them again of course (don't hold your breath...). 

(17.05.03) Hydro Electric have still to answer 2 emails enquiring about their broadband scheme, so keeping up the traditions established for so called Digital Scotland. Of particular interest were the answers to questions regarding remote households, particularly following an email from Steve Green that suggests that locations with their own transformers may be disadvantaged. Lets hope that the questions get answered soon.

(09.05.03) Rural communities are being disadvantaged by the lack of availability of broadband services a report from the Countryside Agency states. While in urban areas 97% of homes and businesses can access Bb, in rural areas it's only 7% and this falls to only 1% for places like ours (that'll be Tobermory then). This is causing businesses that might otherwise relocate to the countryside not doing so which is impacting on employement oppurtunties in a time when they are desperately needed. Click HERE to read more. Thanks to Steve for sending this in.

(07.05.03) The Hydro Electric has been reported on this page in the past but to be honest it all seemed so implausible that I haven't taken it that seriously. How wrong I was. The schemes Crief and Campbeltown commercial trials are going very well and it seems certain that the service will be rolled out across the country in the nearish future.

It offers a 1mb speed (twice ASDL), always on service for £30 per month, which compares very favourably with BTs offering, especially given that it runs at twice the speed and requires no phone line. On top of that they claim a very low contention rate (the number of people trying to connect to the same computer port as you). And you can just plug your computer into any mains socket to access the Internet!

They have a similar "register your interest" as HIE has and I recommend that everyone does so, even if they have previously registered with BT or HIE. The more options we have the better. Click HERE to go their website (or use the direct link at top of page) and click HERE to have your say on the forum.

The HIE registration scheme is going better in some areas than others. Here are todays registration figures along with the number of NAIDC computers connected to the exchange and the resulting ratio.

The success of the Balvicar registration scheme stands out as does the work of Duncan Swinbank in getting 20 businesses to express a "definite" interest in Tobermory. Closer examination demonstrates the unfairness of the "trigger point" of 30 for the HIE scheme. This served Balvicar well but even though Luing and Colonsay have done even better in terms of the proportion of the population registering with HIE they are still well short of the desired figure.

(06.05.03) BT has called on the Government to take urgent action to bring broadband to rural areas. It claims that the processes that the have to be gone through are slowing the spread of the technology down. The Government in turn has appointed a civil servant, the appropriately named Stephen Speed, to lead the efforts to improve things. Read more HERE.

(01.05.04) BT seems unaware that the Balvicar exchange is to be upgraded for broadband! In an email to a Seil reader Jim Mackay they say that the exchange has not yet reached its trigger level (the number of registrations needed before BT upgrades) despite the First Minister, Jack MacConnel, announcing it on the 25th of March. In a second email, responding to an enquiry about the removal of a DACS box, BT recommends that upgrading to ISDN is the only way round the problem. Click HERE for the press release. Thanks to Jim for sending this in.

(30.04.03) Oftel has redefined broadband to be a service with a download speed of 256kbps. This is a significant change to the Governments definition which is affectively any speed with an "always on" facility. Click HERE to read more.

(29.04.03) Midband, the BT service based on the existing ISDN package, is even more expensive than originally stated. It was expected that it would be an "always on" 64kbps connection that would automatically jump to 128kbps when a file was being downloaded and costing £25-£30 per month.

Now it seems it will cost £35 p.m. and users will be restricted to 150 hrs p.m. and that the 128 download speed will use up those minutes twice as fast.

This is of particular interest to us because this is what BT keep recommending to everyone who complains that there connection is being slowed by a DACS box. It seems that BT haven't made home highway cheaper but more expensive, 150 hours a month restricts you to only 5 hrs a day after which you pay by the minute. And presumably if you use the Internet enough to want the service you use it a lot more than that. Click HERE for more.

(16.04.03) BT have created a webpage to encourage local communites to campaign for Bb! Full of information and useful tips, it's well worth a visit for anyone who is interested in getting things going in their area (like me!). Click HERE to visit it.

(13.04.03) According to the latest Corncrake newsletter, despite the hard work of Kevin Byrne, only 5 people on Colonsay have registered with HIE for broadband, way short of the 30 needed to gaurantee the upgrade of the exchange. However this is not such a low figure as it first appears. There are only 51 computers on the island so around 10% have signed up, in most other areas this would well on the way, if not surpassing, the trigger point. So well done Colonsay and keep up the good work. Click HERE to visit the Isle of Colonsay excellent website. I've written to AIE on the issue of the trigger point for small exchanges but have yet to receive a reply.

(28.03.03) Broadband brings 60 jobs to Stornoway reports the Oban Times due to the availability of of broadband. Criticall, a company that specialises in alert messages to the emergency services and other organisations that need reliable inforation transfer chose to locate there as a direct result of the roll out of Bb services across the Western Isles and they are looking for three other sites too. This is a clear demonstration of the boost the technology can bring to an economy and just one more reason to get people to register. Click HERE to visit the very "flashy" Criticall website.

(27.03.03) Does Broadband availability effect property prices? I've suggested that it does in the past but my emails to the national associations of surveyors and estate agents and the Government failed to illicit any evidence. Now though it appears to be emerging in reports from the USA that vendors are adding connections to properties and advertising them accordingly. Meanwhile in the UK housebuilders are saying that routing (the ability to easily network computers in a building) is a selling point in the same way as a conservertory might be. Absolute prove has not yet emerged in price statistics but it can be only a matter of time. So even if someone isn't interested in broadband for themselves the fact that it effects the value of their home will definitly peak their interest. And remember you read it here first! Read more HERE. 

Today's Oban Times reports on the upcoming upgrade to the Fort William exchange to ADSL today (page 4). This is part of the HIE scheme which has been reported extensively here this year. The news that Seil is also to be upgraded arrived to late for the paper.

(26.03.03) Telewest, the cable TV and phone company is to test "true" broadband by hooking up 1500 people at 2mbps. They were one of the first suppliers to provide a 1mbps service at £35 pm which was taken up by 25 000 people. These speeds seem phenomenal to us in the UK who regard 512 as broadband (and the actual speed is around 350) but in the far east up to 5 mbs are not unusual. The only people likely to deliver this kind of speed to us is the Hydro who's tests have run at 2mbps. Read more HERE.

(25.03.03) The Black Isle town of Cromarty was the venue for the first demonstration of community wireless broadband today launched by Lewis Macdonald, Deputy Minister for
Enterprise, Lifelong Learning and Transport (Transport?). This is first of the 6 similar projects, of which Tobermory is one, that will bring wireless broadband to up to 250 remote highland and island communities which are unlikely to get ASDL. The Deputy Minister took the opportunity to announce the first twelve exchanges, including Seil and Easdale's Balvicar exchange, to be upgraded to ADSL. The full HIE press release will be posted in the Broadband section of the forum.

(19.03.03) Freeserve maybe offering ISDN packages similar to ADSL this summer, should BT complete plans to make available a wholesale, 128kbps service to ISPs. The service would probably be "always on" but capped in terms of downloads and around the same price as ASDL. Rather like a DACs line costs the same as a proper one really. Read more HERE.

Satelite broadband is a subject of occasional debate and some of us have wondered if it was the future of the Internet for people in remote areas.Not according to an article on the BBCs website which dishes (ha ha)  the dirt on the true value of the technology. The big plus is supposed to be the download speed but with this capped by the providers at a pretty low level people just can't access the net in the same way as a normal Bb user. Not only that but normal surfing is much the same due to the time lag between planet earth and the satelite. And this will never change according to the people who know, all a bit depressing...Read more HERE.

(18.03.03) The government has decided to redefine or even, dedefine, broadband, dropping all need for a connection to meet certain speeds or always on status to be advertised as broadband. This might mean that the 64kbps version of homehighway could be called broadband if the provider wanted to. Cynics might say that this will be very helpful when it comes to meeting the targets they have set for provision of the technology. This is in marked contrast with a letter from the Guardian Online by the wonderfully named Federico Gaggio, describing what real broadband is like. Read more on the definition change HERE and the letter HERE. Thanks to sgegreen and peabody for sending the items in. 

(16.03.03) HIE sent out a newsletter with the latest updates regarding the "Speak Up For Broadband" campaign. They have now had 5000 hundred people registering an interest across the HIE area and are will be announcing the first remote communities to benefit from the scheme at the end of this month (this all seems to moving so fast). There registrations have enabled to outline their longer term plans but the basic principle remains the same, the more people who register in your area the more likely you are to get it. The full text of the newsletter are posted in the Broadband sections of the forum. 

(12.03.03) The Scottish Executive has allocated £24 million (!) to bring broadband to rural areas and to encourage its take up by business. The target is to get 70% of the population within the range of Bb by March 2004 and a voucher system will be introduced for businesses. Jack MacConnell also annouced the seven towns that are to get their exchanges upgrade to ADSL by BT with assistance from HIE, they are Forres, Nairn, Dingwall, Buckie, Oban and Fort William. 

The First Ministers statement covered Bb for schools and healthcare services, endorsed the Hydro's Stonehaven pilot amongst other things, click HERE to read the other things. 

(11.03.03) Councillor Ian Gillies welcomed the Scottish Executive's announcement of the seven tendorers for the Pathfinder project (which will bring broadband to Scotlands rural areas) in a statement reported on Argyll & Bute's website. Read the full story by clicking HERE, more detail on the Scottish Executives statement plus news of other Bb developments tomorrow, I'm running late tonight. Thanks to Phillip for sending this in.

(10.03.03) The Hydro are moving forward with their plans to provide broadband through the mains network. The limited experiments in Crieff and Campbeltown were evidently successful because they plan to start a full scale commercial trials in Stonehaven. The technology, called Powerline Communication, can deliver an Internet connection of up to 2mbs, approximately 4 times faster than ASDL. If the Stonehaven trials go well they plan to roll out the service next year at a cost of £25-30 per month. Read more HERE. Thanks to Steve for sending this in.

(08.03.03) I've created a map showing the potential ranges of ADSL and wireless Bb on the Ross of Mull (click image for map). The mauve shaded areas are the coverage of units put the existing mobile phone masts and the lines are the distances from the exchanges. It shows the difference between a 5 kilometer range around the standard for both technologies and 7, which is being tested. It should be remembered that wireless is line of sight, so if you can't get a mobile signal, you won't get Bb and that the phone line range is mile along the line, not as the crow flies. The difference is dramatic, if BT succeeded in getting to 7km most of the Ross would be covered. If anyone else has made a similar map, send it in or if they would like one, send details of local masts and exchanges.

The map shows, that although the range of the wireless Bb is good, a lot of people are out of sight of the aerial. A story on VNUNET tells of how a little initiative can get round such problems. A man in this situation put a relay unit on a willing "neighbours" house and sent the Bb signal to his own. In order to boost the signal sufficiently he boosted it using dog food cans (?!), a trick used by students at Edinburgh University except they use with Pringle tubes (well they don't have pets but eat a lot of crisps). Click HERE to read this very odd but informative story. I included the TV relay aerials on the map because I thought they might be useful for people in a the same position. Thanks to Steve for this tip.

(07.03.03) RMS Broadband has launched a satelite based Bb service with prices starting at only £30 pm, the lowest price it's been available for so far. These services are one way only, you upload via your telephone but download by satelite. The price structure is typically by speed of transmission or priority, schemes aimed at domestic users are usually the former. The fast download, 1mbps+, means that it is practical to purchase software and games over the net and to watch high quality streaming video. Its one way nature makes it a poor choice for game players though. Read more HERE. 

Pubs are the latest places to get Bb "Hotspots", places where people can plug in their laptops to a Bb service. This isn't of direct relevance to us but it does demonstrate what people are going to expect to be available in an area in few years. Remember how surprised people used to be when you told them that mobiles didn't work anywhere locally (still are on some islands) or further back, when parts of Mull had no TV? Click HERE to read more.

(04.03.03) BT is trialing ADSL lines of up to 7km which will put a lot of people within reach of an enabled exchange. The jump from 3.5 to 5 was largely responsible, along with the additional exchange in getting the number of those close enough up to 66%. Read more on the trials HERE and the ever increasing availability HERE.

The unstoppable force of broadband is set to raise Internet data transfer from ginormous to so much I think they have had to invent a new number for it. Read some mind boggling statistics by clicking HERE. (A petebit is a qaudrillion or 10 to the power of 15). 

(26.02.03) Easdale and Seil have started an Internet working group. Called Easdale Island Connect, it hopes to bring broadband to the area by promoting awareness and HIE registration but also to work to improve conventional connections as well. This is an excellent approach as broadband is of interest to only a few at the moment and this will bring the whole community together and should be replicated elsewhere. Easdale & Seil residents should contact Steve Brown by clicking HERE.

(13.02.03) Online Gamers seem to be the biggest single group to take advantage the faster connection speed of broadband. These make the experience playing online similar to playing on a local network, with little lag and a more realtime feel. This is no suprise to me, a year ago I was running a web group dedicated to a game with a big online following and the users divided between them, mostly American, broadbanders and those on a conventional connection. Quite a few them used it to share a world with distant family members after divorce, which is not the first use of broadband that occurs to you. Read more by clicking HERE.

(21.02.03) It's all right for some, Lincolnshire is to get £7 million in EU money to bring broadband services to it's rural areas. HIE is having to make do with just £1.7 million for the whole of the highlands and islands. Linconshire is one of the poorest counties in England but its hardly the size of the HIE area. Someting is surely amiss here. Read more by clicking HERE.

(18.02.03) AIE has placed a prominant advert on page 3 of this weeks Oban times as part of its "Speak up for Broadband" campaign. Very to the point, it compares the arrival of broadband to that of Hydro-Electric in the not to distant past. Rather than encouraging people to register online it highlights the freephone number (see above) which is new to me and will be very helpful for those on poor connections.

(13.02.03) Broadband through the Hydro Electric seems a the stuff of science fiction but as mentioned before it is a reality. The Campbell Town project seems to be going so well that they are planning to expand and hope to offer it to all 3.5 million customers eventually for £25 per month (current price). Read more by clicking HERE

(12.02.03) Luing Community Council met this week and the subject of broadband was raised. Once people realised that they were not committing themselves to a contract by registering and the urgency of the issue was explained, it received a very positive response. As far as I know Luing has the only CC that has got behind the scheme and anyone who has looked at the help the DC! map will know that they and their neighbors on Seil/Easdale are the most active when it comes to reporting speeds and if anyone is going to get bb in the NAIDC area it will be them. Thanks to P.R. for this

(08.02.03) HIE sent out their latest newsletter this week. One item of interest was the news that the "Speaking Up for Broadband" campiagn has only been advertised on Grampian and not Scottish Television. As a result we are having to make do with a mobile billboard, you may have seen it in Oban last week. This is hardly as effective as TV advertising and will be one of the reasons people have just look blank when you mention the subject, so it's all the more important for us to spread the word personally, other wise we will get left behind as the money gets spent elsewhere.

Also in the newsletter were links to updated webpages with a lot of good info about broadband and the Tobermory project in particular. Click HERE the Tobemory page and use the links at its foot to reach the rest. If you do the word "backhaul" refers to the connection from a small independent network to the general UK Internet.

(05.02.03) Broadband signups are expected to reach 3 million this year and 10 million by 2008, that's 33% more people than subscribe to Sky TV now. The vast majority of people will connect via ADSL or cable while those that connect through wireless like we expect to will be a small minority. Click HERE to read more.

(04.02.01) Links: I don't see why I should be the only one who has to wade through this stuff so here's a couple of articles about broadband that you might find useful. Wireless networks are one of the ways of bringing low cost Bb to remote areas, click HERE for an explanatory article. ISDN is available to many people now, it is sometimes called "halfband" because it provides a 128kbps connection rather than a 512 one. It's very complicated, read how complicated by clicking HERE.

(02.02.03) An island primary school had problems video conferencing with children in the USA last week because of the disparity of their internet connection speeds. The American school, which was on broadband, took three days figuring out how to slow their signal down to our kind of connection speed before the conference could go ahead. Anyone who has used the webcam on their computer will appreciate what a lose in quality this would have meant. This is an example of how the lack of broadband for the school and in our homes is denying those who need it genuine communication with the outside world. Education is just one of many examples of something that could be improved by a fast connection.

(01.02.03) A new group to promote broadband on the Ross of Mull launched, if that's not to grand a word (it is), today with its own section of message board for members to keep in contact and pool ideas. The section is only visible to RoM resident members but this is more to keep the forum tidy than to keep the section secret. It stops the thing extending miles down the page with things of interest only to a few. Anyone else who wants their own section, to promote broadband in their area or whatever else, only has to ask. I see local groups as the way forward for broadband in the NAIDC area and will help anyone else who wants to set one up in whatever way I can.  

(31.01.03) According to the new AIE webpage, “Broadband for Argyll”, they are hoping to see the next round of broadband installations in place by September. Who gets them will depend on who registers the most interest by the next cut off date (yet to be announced). The page is full of information and well worth a visit, click HERE to do so.

(30.01.03) The eventual price of the 24/7 broadband service is anticipated to be between £25 and £30 p.m. This will seem quite high to many people used to a free 24/7 conventional connection (normally around £15 p.m.) but it shouldn't put anyone off registering their interest. For a start they are doing just that, registering an interest, secondly that is a good price now and if Bb follows the course of conventional line costs, this will dramatically fall over the coming few years. It's not that long ago that the fall of conventional 24/7 to below £50 p.m. was hailed as a break through, now look where it is.

And if we don't take this opportunity to say we want it, then we won't be able to access it when the price does fall within our budget.

(28.01.03) The creation very localised groups to promote broadband would seem to be the logical way forward for us because the NAIDC project covers too large a geographic area to be regarded as one thing. The geography of such groups would have to be fluid as they would overlap and the eventual area that gotbroadband would depend on the technology used. Groups would not be competing with each other, rather they would work together to pool information, contacts and ideas. NAIDC is a powerful entity and Argyll & Bute view the introduction of broadband as a logical extension to the project, so it's best if we work together. Anyone who wants to set up or join such a group is welcome to contact me and I will do all I can to help them.

(27.01.03) Luing & Seil are way out in front for people interested in broadband if my inbox is anything to go by. Almost every time I check there are new responses to either the requests for speeds or general questions. If these translate into people registering with HIE then their chances of being one of the 100 areas that get broadband this year must be very high. I don't know how much of this is due to the positive attitude of the Community Council (see below) but it can't be hurting.

(26.01.03) Wireless broadband, the technology that seems most likely to be used across the islands, has had its small scale networking capabilities boosted by the arrival of some new technology. This will allow a small hub costing as little £300 (+ receiving equipment) to service communities of 20 properties. It also allows different hubs to overlap their mini-regions without needing complex software to sort out the signals. All this could be a great help to small populations with complex geography, read more by clicking HERE. Thanks to Steve for spotting this.

(24.01.03) Phillip Robertson, chairman of Luing Community Council, will be bringing up broadband at the next meeting of the council. I think this is an excellent initiative on his part, the CC's are the only level of government not actively involved at the moment and we should all get our local councillors to do the same. It will bring the matter to the attention of people who may not be as aware of the technology as the readership of this and similar websites and could really give the campaign a local boost. He's also going to be discussing this website which obviously an excellent idea too, for which I thank him.

(23.01.03) Thanks to everyone who responded to my latest round robin about registering for broadband, it's good to know that the word is spreading and we're getting somewhere. However by no means a majority of those emailed have done so, if you still haven't registered please do so, even if it is of no interest to you personally than it will be to friend. Personally I can't stand the idea of broadband only being locally available in Tobermory and Oban!

(22.01.03) Tobermory is to get wireless broadband! The announcement was made last night on the HIE website and lists Tobermory amongst 6 centers across the region that will be getting bb within 6 months (I think). One of the reasons that it was added to the list at the last moment was the work Duncan Swinbanks and Alan Parker did in signing up 20 local businesses to register a firm interest, another reason was the lobbying done by Paul O'Brian of AIE and NAIDC/A&B on behalf of the digital community.

The technology to be used will be wireless broadband rather than ADSL but it will not as rumoured be rolled out across the rest of the island as a matter of course. Rather the rest of Mull is in the same situation as the other NAIDC islands, if an area demonstrates demand then it will be considered. As is shown by the inclusion of Acharacle , Loch Sunnart, in the current round of installations, very small communities are in with a shout, so click on the link at the top of the page and do so now if you haven't done so.

HIE is committed to raising availabilty to an eventual 95% across the region-don't be part of the 5% that can't get it!  Click HERE to read the HIE press release.

(21.01.03) Hotspots are the latest thing to be enabled by the Government to improve the availability of Broadband. These are places where you can either pluggin or bluetooth (a wireless network standard) laptops etc and get BB. They envisage it being available in places like city centers and airports but what's interesting to us is the freeing up of another radio frequency for the use of ISPs. Read more by clicking HERE.

Thanks to Steve for pointing out that the deslams in yesterdays story, were actualy DSLAMS and there's neat definition of them HERE.

(20.01.03) HIE (Highlands & Islands Enterprise) is charged with raising broadband access in the region from 40 to 70% over the coming year. To this end they are asking all computer users to register their interest on their website (link below). I've reported this before but now I having spoken to them I realise the importance of registering. Once they have got BB into the main "hubs" (Oban etc) they are going to be looking for 100 sites for the next phase of installations. These will be the areas that have shown the greatest interest in the registration process.

And they aren't just looking for the places that return the highest numbers, somewhere with high proportion of people expressing interest from a low population might be considered
before somewhere the opposite was true.

Even an exchange with very few phonelines could benefit as they will be using amongst other things "deslams" (hope I got that right), small devices that allow existing exchanges to get up to 16 people connected to ADSL. They are not only looking at ADSL but whatever technology seems best suited to a situation, an exchange and lines that cannot be used might have wireless BB installed instead for instance.

So register your interest today and tell your friends to do so, the HIE is our best chance for BB in the near future. Click HERE to register.

(18.01.03) Arthur C Clarke described getting information from the Internet as like " trying to get a cup of water from Niagara Falls" and how right he was. Today I spent two hours looking for a piece of information that you would think was readily available, how does the broadband access effect house prices? Could I find it? Could I...and yet it must have an effect, If I was offered a choice between properties and access was the only significant difference I know which I would pick.

This is an example of why I believe we need a broadband group, we need to gather this kind of information in order to promote the concept and to build a financial case for getting it. Another thing we need to know is what are the capacities of the fiber optic cables that cover many of the islands. There is a broadband "pipe" going up the sound of Mull, it supplies BB to Salen hospital and similar site as far away as Tiree. What is the capacity of these spurs from the main cable. Could homes and businesses tap into it to get access now? What of the outlying areas, the fiber optic cable has been laid as far as Pennyghael, what is its broadband capacity? And why is there no simple way of finding these things out? Another example of "joined up" Government thinking failing to join up?

(16.01.03) Rural Areas of Bangladesh are to get wireless broadband connections in order to improve education and businesses. Read the BBC story HERE and ask yourself why if they can do it there, then why can't we?

(15.03.01) Yesterdays story about broadband being available on planes was somewhat in jest but it does demonstrate the power of the technology. If Lufthansa can afford not to charge passengers for the service then it must be fairly cheap and it must be improving if they can provide it on a moving plane at 30 000 feet. Read more detail in todays Register by clicking HERE.

(14.01.03) Broadband will be available all over the NAIDC islands within a year and maybe sooner. I mean literally above as it will soon be available on the planes that pass over our heads every day (maybe not the one to Tiree). So now we'll not only wonder what exotic destination they are bound for but also envy them for their Internet connection! Read a fuller version of this in the inquirer by clicking HERE.

(07.03.01) Connecting Communities reports a "flurry of interest" from the NAIDC area following the email I sent out. Although they don't cover our area yet, if we can mobilise enough support a similar scheme may get off the ground here. Thanks to all who repsonded and thanks to them for their positive and helpful emails.

(06.01.03) Quite a positive response to the Connected Communities email I sent out, including one from the people running it (wouldn't it be nice if all organisations were as effecient?). I also got a few asking for an outline of what broadband actually was and so I've written a rough guide to it, the various merits of the different technologies and some of the benefits it will bring. Read the guide and add your thoughts by clicking HERE.

(04.01.03) Anyone interested in wireless broadband (the most likely technology to bring BB to the islands) should check out the Connected Communities link. They are running a project which will see a wireless network installed on the northen isles, which is inspiring in itself. What is of immediate interest to us however is that you can register your interest in the technology being installed in your area as well and I urge you all to do so today! The form only takes a moment to fill in and it could make a real difference (you can also fill in a form about your Internet usage). Please do this!

You can also register your interest in ADSL (phone line BB) with a company sponsored by HIE, again I urge you to do so. It is highly unlikely that BT will upgrade our exchanges (maybe Tobermory's) but it will demonstrate demand (don't register if you have already done so with BT or another ISP). Thanks to Alan Parker for this link.

(23.12.02) A steady trickle, rather than a flood, of replies have been arriving in response to the email sent out last week. They came from all types of users, from the homes to businesses and included a very useful one from councillor Ian Gillies. Hopefully things will pick up after the new year and I think those of us who are fans of the technology need to persuade the uninterested as to its virtues.

In parts of the country where it is already available it is proving a very popular present this Christmas with people buying as gift in the same way as they did Satellite television. This is because once it's available in an area, it is around the same cost to install and subscribe to. In fact it's so cheap that in the South East of England they regard it as "stocking filler".

(19.12.02) First Broadband Group letter was sent out yesterday to over 70 local email addresses, including councillors and MSPs. It sets out the basic purpose of a group to promote the technology and hopes to spark interest across the NAIDC islands. If you didn't receive one you can read it by clicking HERE and if you would like to be added to the mailing list click the blue button at the top of the page. 

(17.12.02) BT has made two dramatic changes to it's broadband policy. Firstly it's halved the cost of it's wholesale product, that's the price it sells capacity to the other ISPs for and secondly it's dropped the 42 day "confirmation" window. This was the time in which ISPs had to confirm sales in between an exchange reaching it's trigger level of people registering interest and BT upgrading the exchange. Now BT will upgrade an exchange as soon as sufficient people register their desire for broadband. I got both these stories from Computer Buyer magazine and you read them for yourself by clicking on PRICE and CONFIRMATION. 
 
(13.12.02) China has the fastest take up of broadband according to the Register while the UK lies in 13th position for actual lines installed. Click HERE for the full story.

(10.12.12) It is time we took things into our own hands and set up a community based group(s) to bring broadband to the islands. It must be obvious to anyone who has tried to contact any level of government that they are overworked and understaffed when it comes to e-government and we should not expect them to cope with the connection needs of every island. We should follow the example set by other remote regions and set up our own services and tailor them to the needs of the local population. Click HERE for an example of what can be done when a community gets together. Like them we don't need to be restricted to technology of the telephone (see news story below for alternatives) and like them we can do it ourselves. Over the next few days I'll be sending out email's to everyone I can think of who might be interested and together we may be able to start something. If anyone wants to get in touch with me about this use the email button above. (Thanks to forum member Dr.Zog for sending me the BBC news item about EdenFaster (click to read it), I've already emailed them for more information). http://www.digitaldales.co.uk/edenfaster/register.htm 

(29.11.02) A trial of a new broadband technology is taking place in Essex that could have a significant impact on many remote communities. "Long Range" wireless broadband is being provided for 30 users but the trial will be enlarged to cover Colchester, Ipswich and parts of neighboring Suffolk. Each mast has a range of 25 miles and can deliver at speeds at up to 1.5mbps (3 times faster than asdl). According to the Register the estimated cost per month will be £14.50. Read the Register story HERE and visit the project website HERE.  

(07.12.02)Broadband News (Oh no, not again! Yes, again!): Oftel have published a report benchmarking (comparing) the performance of various western countries, including the UK's, roll out of broadband. In amongst the dense forest of statistics is a very interesting section that outlines the alternatives to a telephone based internet connection. As Councillor Ian Gillies said "broadband is essential if we are going to attract new businesses to the islands", one of these technologies could be the thing that breaks the log jam caused by our remoteness and the smallness of our exchanges. Read all about it HERE.

(03.11.02) A Report from the European Union highlights BTs failure to free up the Local Loop (local exchanges and lines) so that competitors can access them to install broadband. According to today's FT and the Register, the UK, Spain and Germany are marked out as particularly bad examples of how to open up the market. The UK has only allowed access to 150 exchanges so far.

I used to think that broadband was a bit of a red herring and that the real issue was basic connections but having talked to many people about this I now think that broadband and the freeing of the local loop maybe the key to improving everyones phone line. It will never be economic for a business to start installing broadband and upgrading our exchanges but we could. If an island was to set up a charity and then a company limited by guarantee for the purpose it could then take over and upgrade its own exchange(s) and lines. There is a lot of grant money out there and this would be a very suitable candidate for assistance. It's a thought! Read the Register story HERE and the FTs HERE (hope that last one works!).  

(29.11.02) A trial of a new broadband technology is taking place in Essex that could have a significant impact on many remote communities. "Long Range" wireless broadband is being provided for 30 users but the trial will be enlarged to cover Colchester, Ipswich and parts of neighboring Suffolk. Each mast has a range of 25 miles and can deliver at speeds at up to 1.5mbps (3 times faster than asdl). According to the Register the estimated cost per month will be £14.50. Read the Register story HERE and visit the project website HERE. 

(25.11.02) A government report has backed the introduction of wireless broadband to help rural areas to get access to the internet. The Broadband Stakeholders Group has called for unused frequencies to be sold off so that they could utilised by commercial operators. This is of interest to us partly because NAIDC are looking into mobile phones as a means of connecting and partly because if the idea reached fruition it would let BT off the hook when it comes to providing us all with decent connections.

Because that is the real issue. Broadband maybe of interest to a minority of online game players and people like me who run websites and transfer large amounts of data but most NAIDC users just need a decent phone line. The difference between connecting at 30k and 50 is enormous, at the lower speed the internet just doesn't work as it should, at the higher, a world of possibilities open up. One only has to read the threads on speed of connection at the forum to know which is of more importance. Broadband is a distraction from the real issue for rural areas, we have whole islands who are suffering from 2nd rate phonelines!  Go HERE for the full BBC online story.

(19.11.12) I've had enquiries regarding BT's progress with installing and upgrading telephone lines.  BT have so far installed or upgraded 124 homes, which is pretty good going but there are technical problems with 25 addresses. NAIDC are "encouraging" BT to get on with these as soon asd possible but are also looking at alternative solutions. One of which is the provision of mobile phones with internet capabilities but this will only be available in homes with a strong Vodaphone signal and it is still in the research stage. People who are concerned with the quality of their connection or have issues concerning DACS boxes etc should contact BT themselves and post their connection speed to me via the Help the DC page.

(18.11.02) Tony Blair has announced that every school in the UK will get a broadband connection! This will make a huge difference to many of us with NAIDC intent on installing public access computers in the schools for training purposes. The scheme will have a budget of £1 billion and take three years (so maybe a bit of a wait as they'll start in a deprived areas like Knightsbridge). As none of our exchanges are set up for Broadband it means the schools will have satelite access, unless BT really improves things dramatically. Many people might feel they should prioritize normal connections as some people locally are at only 14k (really) and getting a decent phoneline with a 50k connection would be like getting broadband for them. Read the whole BBC story HERE. Thanks to forum member Dr.Zog for drawing this to my attention. 

(17.11.02) The UK is "Sleepwalking towards a broadband monopoly" according the think tank DEMOS. "Oh no it's not" (I paraphrase) says #10 spokesman Ed Richards. The argument revolves around BT's ownership of the local exchanges, known as the local loop, which gives them effective control over broadband (bb) pricing. In Demos's view they should be put into the hands of a non-profit making body. The government counters that, while the UK has a much lower number of bb subscribers, they have a much wider choice of supplier.

What's this got to do with us? Well phone connections are of vital interest to the islands economies and the success of the NAIDC project. It is hard to see the present situation continuing far into the future and harder to see how change would benefit us. While it may be viable for a private company to upgrade the exchanges of small towns like Oban, it will never be so for our small ones. At the same time the current unified pricing policy that we benefit from would be unlikely to continue if BT no longer controlled the loop. So how should we approach the change that is bound to happen and which side of the argument should our politicians lobby for? I think there is a way forward that would benefit us but what do you think? Have your say in the forum

(Oct) Broadband via satellite will soon become a real alternative for those out of the range of ADSL! Its not cheap and it's only one way, you upload via your phone but you download at 1.5mbs, almost 30 times faster than our current maximum 56k! This would make downloading programs and other large files a realistic prospect, as well as streaming video. It will cost around £30 pm unmetered + a installation fee for the dish etc. Thanks to bhouys2000 for posting this on the forum. If you want more details check his message by clicking HERE.

(Sept) Want a fast connection? Then join the Police! Well almost, project Airwave will be installing ASDL for the emergency services, starting with the larger Police stations. This is just one of the interesting things that came up when I interviewed Councillor John Gillies, who was the driving force behind us getting the computers. I've got to write it up yet and when I do it'll be posted on the forum with a notice here.

(August) Broadband: BT has announced plans to enable customers connected to small exchanges the possibility of upgrading to ADSL. Previously they had insisted that it was uneconomic to upgrade if there were fewer than 200-400 customers expressing interest in broadband, the new minimum is 16. This is still to high for my exchange but will make it possible for people in most of the villages on Mull and on the smaller islands to get the service. 

 


 

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