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UK broadband roll-out pushed back to 2015

In a revelation that runs slightly affront to recent news that the government is eager to get people online, the ConLib coalition has pushed back initiatives to provide remote places throughout the UK with broadband by 2012. The new deadline will be 2015. Tory culture secretary Jeremy Hunt laid the blame on lack of funding for the roll out. “I have looked at the provision the government had made to achieve this by 2012, and I’m afraid that I am not convinced that there is sufficient funding in place,” Hunt said at a conference meant to assess Britain’s broadband access problems. “While we will keep working towards that date, we have set ourselves a more realistic target of achieving universal 2Mbps access within the lifetime of this parliament,” he said. The plans were originally enacted by the now-sacked Labour government, and promise to have broadband rolled out to all of Britain at a minimum speed of 2Mb per second.

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UK broadband roll-out pushed back to 2015

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Facebook users to decide government cuts at Number 10?

Downing Street has just announced a new plan regarding promised cuts in the UK Government’s spending strategy: polling Facebook users to solicit their opinions regarding the downsizing of the state. Facebook has developed a Spending Challenge Channel specifically for the initiative, which functions as an extension of the pre-election Democracy UK pages already in existence. Users of the social networking site will then be able to make suggestions regarding the budget directly to the government ahead of the spending review. “We are really excited about having Facebook involved in the spending challenge,” Prime Minister David Cameron said in a video conference call with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

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Facebook users to decide government cuts at Number 10?

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UK government details superfast broadband plans

The UK government’s plans to roll out high speed broadband across the nation received a boost this week, with the first major speech from culture secretary Jeremy Hunt clarifying some of the details of how Britain could achieve the “best superfast broadband network in Europe.” Mr Hunt criticised the Labour government’s previous commitments of 2MBps broadband speeds as being “pitifullly unambitious,” and he considered it “a scandal” that almost three million households are still unable to access this speed. The culture secretary did not divulge specific details of how the national roll-out would be carried out, but BBC News reports that it could involve the passing of legislation to force water, gas and electricity companies to open their ducts as a more cost-effective means of installing fibre-optic cables throughout the country. He also welcomed a proposal by Ofcom that BT open up its ducts for the new service. “The biggest cost involved in rolling out new fibre optic networks is digging up the roads,” Mr Hunt explained. “Cut these costs and, straight away, investing in superfast broadband becomes a substantially more attractive proposition.” With many countries enjoying speeds in excess of 100MBps, the UK government has long promised a superfast network , which Mr Hunt stated could create at least 60,000 new jobs and generate

initiative

UK government details superfast broadband plans

The UK government’s plans to roll out high speed broadband across the nation received a boost this week, with the first major speech from culture secretary Jeremy Hunt clarifying some of the details of how Britain could achieve the “best superfast broadband network in Europe.” Mr Hunt criticised the Labour government’s previous commitments of 2MBps broadband speeds as being “pitifullly unambitious,” and he considered it “a scandal” that almost three million households are still unable to access this speed. The culture secretary did not divulge specific details of how the national roll-out would be carried out, but BBC News reports that it could involve the passing of legislation to force water, gas and electricity companies to open their ducts as a more cost-effective means of installing fibre-optic cables throughout the country. He also welcomed a proposal by Ofcom that BT open up its ducts for the new service. “The biggest cost involved in rolling out new fibre optic networks is digging up the roads,” Mr Hunt explained. “Cut these costs and, straight away, investing in superfast broadband becomes a substantially more attractive proposition.” With many countries enjoying speeds in excess of 100MBps, the UK government has long promised a superfast network , which Mr Hunt stated could create at least 60,000 new jobs and generate

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Google, Facebook and Twitter CEOs support net neutrality ruling

The CEOs of Google , Facebook, Twitter and other major internet companies have signed a collaborative letter in support of the upcoming net neutrality ruling from the Federal Communications Commission.

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Google, Facebook and Twitter CEOs support net neutrality ruling

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First Click Free to solve issues surrounding web tracking?

Web tracking and privacy has always been a hot topic and now the Federal Trade Commission is due to launch new guidelines that recommend companies tell consumers more clearly about what data they capture and how it is used. And it’s been proposed that a uniformed link or clickable icon be developed to take consumers from a website or ad to a disclosure page. While here at big mouth media we agree that this is an effective approach, we wonder whether it will be clear enough for all web users to understand what data is being captured.

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First Click Free to solve issues surrounding web tracking?

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Facebook and Channel 4 join to challenge YouTube

Google-owned YouTube may be the online video king at the moment but, in the fast paced digital world, hanging on to your crown can be a tricky task.

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Facebook and Channel 4 join to challenge YouTube