Lindsey Annison's Blog
Broadband Map of NZ
And we in UK and EU have........? I can't even find out whose is the fibre going up the A road within 500yds from me, let alone anything useful like where the notspots are likely to be for next gen....
FTTH Community Guide
Although it is deeply Americanised, much of what is covered in this guide bears relevance to those looking to develop community FTTH in Europe. Obviously, the lack of a co-operative or mutual model within the case studies is a shame; however, each municipality seems to be seeing a ROI which undoubtedly has a positive effect on the communities' coffers.
ECFibernet is also worth keeping an eye on to see how the sustainability and profitability to rural areas pans out. Although the legal issues may be different in the US, the economics for rural areas in pretty much any area of the EU are similar. More...
Voice 2.0?
Now this may well work over most broadband connections, and the simplicity with which a new user can add a recording reminds me of when Youtube launched and the changes that made to sharing video. However, for many, Youtube is still a staggeringly frustrating experience. Imagine how awful it would be if you added video to Internet Shout for all those of us without a decent connection? And why wouldn't you add video? It's the next logical step in allowing people to communicate, have a voice, develop communities, and overcome literacy problems or handicaps which Internet Shout has begun to overcome. More...
This finance thang
I can only speak for myself, here in the UK, but it would be interesting to know how others feel elsewhere. I make no claims to be an economics expert - I am just an ordinary person trying to survive in a country which seems to be going, rather rapidly, to the wall. My problem at the moment is this financial bail out of private companies, viz the banks, which is being called 'nationalisation'.
This is MY money being spent as a taxpayer, and although figures differ substantially, if you take the lowest one of £37billion, it is still way more than the figures to give every single home and premises in the UK all singing, all dancing FTTH, just to bail out 3 companies - RBS, the HBOS Group, and Lloyds TSB. More...
Congrats to SWBB
Having represented them in Brussels, and followed their progress since the very early days (and written a book about them!), I would like to be the first to congratulate them on achieving such recognition at EU level.
This network has done more than just learn the lessons that should be taken on board by ANYONE planning a next gen network. It has also applied them so that it actually connects with its customers and the community it serves. SWBB is a first class example of best practice, of engaging your community, of sustainability, how to connect the 'ethnic minority' of the disconnecteds, and of how those who live and work within a community can create a co-operative solution to next generation communications. More...
Monticello wins its case
Now that's what I call broadband

You can't argue at that, can you?! I nearly went and dug up their drive looking for the fibre in our village that has so far eluded me...
So, even though I know it is a 1/2Mbps service because of the poverty of the copper, distance from the exchange etc, I now have to explain to an average householder that this isn't the service she is actually receiving, nor ever likely to out here in the sticks. More...
BSG Report on fibre costs in the UK
More light reading for the weekend!
Successful 100 Gbps trial
Japan again
We know opex costs for FTTH are way lower than for ADSL, for starters. We know that the ROI on FTTH infrastructure investment is down to less than a decade (where telco returns used to be 15-20 years), we know that the cost of data is now approaching zero, we know that once FTTH is enabled, customers flock to it out of choice over ADSL, we know that energy bills etc are substantially reduced. More...
