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NextGenUs Pioneers UK Wide

11 Oct 2011 16:48 No comments
Time and tide are clearly right for the mass uptake of superfast broadband across the UK and the subject is gaining significant and growing momentum as local communities recognise the unique benefits of the NextGenUs Social Enterprise approach.

Rural communities have simply had enough of market failure by BT and lack of delivery by BDUK and activists are popping up all over wanting to become NextGenUs Fi:Wi Pioneers to ensure that their local communities secure their place at the forefront of future-proof superfast broadband service.

NextGenUs Pioneer Projects October 2011

NextGenUs is seeking to establish pioneering exemplar networks in every county across the UK, so if you are ready to help your community then please head across to the website now! More...

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WiFi neutrality vs. the OMA

10 Oct 2011 14:14 No comments
I've written before about the critical importance of "WiFi Neutrality" - the ability for the end-user, device OS or applications to choose which WiFi connection to use, over-riding any operator-defined preferences if such exist.

The critical control point is the "connection manager" on a device - the bit of software that determines which accesses are available, and how/when to connect to them. For WiFi, this is usually done as a core role of the device OS - most people are used to seeing the Windows or Mac choices for WiFi APs, or a similar function on their smartphones.
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Forget incentives to incumbents and eliminate hurdles to all others!

4 Oct 2011 13:00 No comments

In a speech yesterday, EU commissioner for information society Neelie Kroes announced some new proposals to boost investment in Next-Generation Networks. The plan in a nutshell stands in three bullet points:

  • force a reduction in copper wholesale prices to diminish the profitability of copper vs. fiber
  • reward copper to fiber switchover by granting higher copper wholesale prices to incumbents who do switchover
  • inject €6.4bn of public funds

What the plan tries to do really is to reduce what the commission perceives as an excessive gap in short-term profitability between copper and fiber. More...

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Cloud RAN, Radio-over-Fiber: Cloud paradigm for Wireless Networks

30 Sep 2011 00:22 No comments
Distributed Node-B architecture called Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) is the new paradigm in base stations architecture that aims to reduce the number of cell sites while increasing the base station deployment density bypassing some of the zoning and construction hurdles to brining up new sites on-air. Metro cities like NY, LA and SFO already [...]
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Apple turns Bear, Google MVNO, and Facebook F8 - Telco 2.0 News Review

26 Sep 2011 12:38 No comments
[Ed. It's our Americas Brainstorm next week, so book now if you haven't yet for New York (5th-6th October) or London (9th-10th November). Also, our Strategy report on 'Dealing with the Disruptors' - Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft/Skype, and Amazon - is rapidly approaching delivery - email contact@telco2.net or call +44 (0) 207 247 5003 for more.]

It's also iPhone crystal ball time. More...

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FibreWalk Time Travellers

24 Sep 2011 19:55 No comments
Fibre Walk has received some fantastic press coverage courtesy of the Herald. Thank you again to ITS for sponsorship. Read the copy below....

From Section 2 of the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald 24th September:
Above: Freddy Markham, armed with laptop, and other enthusiasts prepare to board the 1946 Leyland bus.

IT was a case of old meets new on Friday as a group of internet enthusiasts gathered in Kirkby Stepehn's Market Square in order to be transported to Warcop via a classic coach for the UK's first public "Fibre Walk".

The group, led by broadband campaigner and Warcop parish councillor Lindsey Annison, walked a route from Warcop School towards the proposed site of the UK's first cyberbarn. More...
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Boosting copper: necessary and dangerous

22 Sep 2011 12:00 No comments

BBWF Europe next week will clearly be about copper. Virtually every vendor or PR agency that contacted me wanted to brief me on VDSL, vectoring, bonding and all that jazz. Just this morning, Alcatel-Lucent announced their big push in this direction (see Alcatel-Lucent accelerates the availability of superfast broadband.) My coverage of these technologies on fiberevolution in the past might have seemed somewhat simplistic, and it may have come accross as me disagreeing with them without nuance. That's actually not where I think their role is. 

Broad FTTH deployment is a long-term endeavour. More...

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Swiss FTTH Deployment in Jeopardy

19 Sep 2011 14:40 No comments

SWIT0003 I have been known to say that regulation is often wrongly blamed for delays in FTTP deployments. What many players (especially incumbents) mean when they bemoan "regulatory uncertainty" is "unfavourable regulation".

In this instance though, it looks at first glance as if regulation is indeed to blame. For a number of years now, Swiss incumbent Swisscom has been signing deals with municipal energy companies to deploy FTTH. The model is quite novel, with the incumbent deploying 4 strands of fiber into each home, 1 for its own use, 1 for the use of the energy partner and 2 for wholesale. More...

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UK first European country to permit use of white space spectrum

10 Sep 2011 20:31 No comments
On 1 September 2011, Ofcom published a statement outlining its intention to permit the use of white space spectrum in some of the the bands currently used for TV (470-790 MHz). Ofcom’s policy will be implemented through a statutory instrument … Continue reading →
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More thoughts and observations on WiFi Neutrality

9 Sep 2011 12:57 No comments
I wrote a month ago about the importance of "WiFi Neutrality" - that users should not face unreasonable blocks on which WiFi networks they can access, especially where a mobile operator attempts to force them towards "preferred WiFi networks", and stops (or makes it hard for) that decision being over-ridden by the customer.

Over the past few weeks, I've been speaking to a variety of operators and vendors in more depth about this issue. I'm seeing something of a polarisation:

  • There are some who understand that the WiFi genie is well and truly out of the bottle, and that (perhaps grudgingly) users need to be given tools to set their own preferences and policies, and that the operator's / network's role is in helping make the telco-preferred WiFi easier and safer to use, when that's appropriate.
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