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  • 18.11.10 News
    Ofcom has now set a date for the auction of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, earmarked for the next generation of mobile communications (4G or LTE). It is expected the auctions will take place in the first half of 2012, with the spectrum becoming available in 2013. The 800MHz band has been freed up as a result of the Digital Switch-Over from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial TV services. Read more about this on the BBC website here.
    Read more...
  • 09.11.10 News
    Visit the European Broadband portal to read news of broadband developments across the EU. Find out about UK and other projects funded by the EU. Learn about Broadband Strategies & action plans. Locate Industry Suppliers.
    Read more...
  • 26.10.10 News
    Broadband Delivery UK: "Four rural areas have been selected to pilot superfast broadband." Read more here.
    Read more...
  • 26.10.10 News
    The Scottish Government has published "A Digital Ambition for Scotland", a summary of the Government's plans and ambitions for the digital economy. You can read or download it here.
    Read more...
  • 02.07.10 News
    As part of the Leader scheme, Rural Communities will be able to access a new million Euro fund to help bring broadband to their area. here
    Read more...
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Welcome

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Welcome to Community Broadband Scotland. This website is intended as a guide for communities that currently have limited or no access to Broadband Connectivity. We aim to show how barriers can be overcome in order to provide connectivity to these out of reach areas. This website has been set up as a resource for communities needing assistance, advice and information on setting up their own Broadband networks.

The economic and social importance of access to affordable broadband has been stated by many sources and identified as a method of promoting general economic interest for both businesses and residences alike.

As new video-rich, bandwidth-hungry services are developed, and as recognition increases that broadband forms the critical underlying infrastructure for a knowledge economy, there will be increasing reliance on affordable, high-bandwidth services into the home and business.

Most observers agree that as the take-up of broadband services increases and new rich media content, services and applications emerge as a result, demand for bandwidth by households will grow. However, it is not clear by how much or how quickly this will happen. Future bandwidth requirements will be dependent upon a wide variety of variables, some of which are hard to predict at this stage.

However, some pointers are sufficient to demonstrate that levels currently available now will clearly not be sufficient in the very near future.

 

4G Spectrum Auction

Ofcom has now set a date for the auction of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, earmarked for the next generation of mobile communications (4G or LTE). It is expected the auctions will take place in the first half of 2012, with the spectrum becoming available in 2013. The 800MHz band has been freed up as a result of the Digital Switch-Over from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial TV services. Read more about this on the BBC website here.
 

European Broadband Portal

eubbpVisit the European Broadband portal to read news of broadband developments across the EU. Find out about UK and other projects funded by the EU. Learn about Broadband Strategies & action plans. Locate Industry Suppliers.
 

RSE Final Report

rseFinal report from RSE issued today calling for increased fibre, community hubs, 16M to all by 2015
 

Ofcom Broadband Speed Research

ofcom

 

 

Ofcom Research reveals  average speed across UK is now 5.2Mbps - how do you fare in comparison?

Their publication below:

 


The UK’s most comprehensive broadband speeds research reveals that the UK’s average actual fixed-line residential broadband speed has increased by over 25 per cent over the past year from 4.1Mbit/s to 5.2Mbit/s as internet service providers (“ISPs”) increasingly move to offer higher speed broadband packages.

Ofcom’s broadband speeds research, conducted in partnership with broadband monitoring specialists SamKnows, shows that nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of UK fixed-line residential broadband connections had a headline or advertised speed of above ‘up to’ 10Mbit/s in May 2010, compared to just 8 per cent in April 2009.

Read more...

 

Broadband Toolkit

bbtoolkitDownload the excellent Community Broadband Toolkit from Digital Ontario here
 

Broadband Not-Spots

Map Key

 

Optimism over TV Whitespace

Ofcom has launched a consultation document, inviting responses to the re-use of spectrum in the Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV) band. This has led to optimism that new unlicenced spectrum may be made available for Broadband use in the UK and elsewhere.

TV transmitters use high power to send signals over long distance, so cover a very large footprint before another transmitter is needed. The frequency used by this transmitter will only be re-used again by another TV transmitter a long distance away so as to avoid interference between the two signals. The area between these 2 transmitters where the signal from either is weak or indetectable has become known as "TV Whitespace".

Read more...

 

A Digital Ambition for Scotland

The Scottish Government has published "A Digital Ambition for Scotland", a summary of the Government's plans and ambitions for the digital economy. You can read or download it here.
 

Rural broadband pilot areas named

Broadband Delivery UK: "Four rural areas have been selected to pilot superfast broadband." Read more here.
 

Leader Funding

leaderThe recent round of Leader funding is now closed. Applicants should hear about any decision on funding in December. We hope further funding will be made available in the future.
This fund is being delivered through the Leader scheme which is part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP), aimed at promoting economic and community development within rural areas.

The total £1m fund will be available to projects which can show delivery of improved broadband within their area. The 20 Local Action Groups (LAGs) which cover the rural area of Scotland will administer the funding and help develop projects which will then bid against the funding. You can find more details on Leader and the LAG contacts here


 

Business Plan Tools

CBSNATWe have developed an excel spreadsheet that is designed to provide a rudimentary cost schedule for your Community Network, based on a simple questionnaire. We have also provided a draft Business plan that will go along with this assessment. These two documents together should assist with moving your community forward on the Broadband roadmap.

Please download these files here.

 

Video

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News Feeds

SamKnows.com
Broadband availability data for the UK
thinkbroadband news feed