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There are umpteen awards in this country - for everything from sausage rolls onwards. But it is rare (unless we hold the CanDo Awards again!) that broadband innovation gets a look in. This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com I’ve just received an email which has led me to discover that two of our number (for we count you as part of the…

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FTTH is TOO expensive….so say the telcos. Communities can debate this as much as we wish, but until here in the UK we prove the telcos wrong…we are wasting our time postulating about the FTTH lies/unrealistic thinking coming from industry. However…. This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com The hard evidence concerning what happens…

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Purple pipe dreams or the road to nowhere………..? Anyone travelling North on the M6 in Lancashire & Cumbria over the last few years could have noticed something being laid at the side of the hard shoulder - flexible plastic purple pipe which pops out of the ground occasionally where it needs to cross road bridges. This blog post can be…

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Not too long ago, I retweeted some info about the comparison of time it takes to send a data transmission off-planet or back to earth vs what us non-NASA humans have to put up with from telcos on planet earth. Then, coincidentally, there was a film on this evening that showed the moon landing during the opening credits and I remembered being…

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Fibre Walk has received some fantastic press coverage courtesy of the Herald. Thank you again to ITS for sponsorship. Read the copy below…. This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com From Section 2 of the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald 24th September: Above: Freddy Markham, armed with laptop, and other enthusiasts prepare to board the…

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Now here’s a fact that hasn’t been reported widely yet, Britain came 10th for broadband in a fantastically interesting global report about ICT and broadband…..And then you spot the utter lie in the middle of the report and realise Britain’s position is complete tosh propagated by god knows who, nor for what purpose, as it simply shows us as…

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So, the day after the FibreWalk and am just pondering all that was discussed. As Colloquia went, it was perfect, and once again confirms the formula works: community + industry + public sector brings together a breadth and depth of knowledge and experience that is frequently missing from events targeted at specific sectors. No keynote speakers,…

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Brilliant!! It was always destined to be a unique event and I’m proud to have been on it. This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com 23 people from Cumbria, Yorkshire, Surrey, Minnesota… Wow! The rain held off. We discussed, I think, many of the issues (what did we miss?!) you face in 1, 10 or 10,000 square miles of rural FTTH. Thanks to…

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Calling grassroots activists and everyone with an idea about Digital Britain, USC delivery, nextgen broadband etc This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com There’s a fab but constantly evolving doc doing the rounds that you might like to help make public. In the old days, it would have been called a chain letter. There are 60 million people…

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Who wants flowers?! I’d like to send a huge public thank you to all the team at AFL Telecommunications …… This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com AFL have sent me 1 mile of fibre as a fab gift, in time for my birthday. This means that the Cyberbarn project (which received funding as a UK Online Outreach Centre yesterday) will be…

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Colloquium Update for Friday 16th September event….. This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.comI just thought you would all like to see the fabulous bus we will be travelling on next Friday to the walk. Cumbria Classic Coaches’ 1946 Leyland Tiger.Rosie has a very special place in our household as we named her. We were sleeping in her one…

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Sponsored by ITS Technology Prepare your wellies and clear your diary for 16th September. It’s Colloquium time in Cumbria……..and you need to act fast if you want to attend as space is limited (unless you have your own transport). This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com Just to be adventurous, we are going to try something different -…

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Thanks to Lindsey for letting me contribute - as a consultant I feel I’m intruding, but I’ve a question about The First Mile (Last Mile for UK telecoms traditionalists - the one closest to the customer, though)… This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com I recently came upon a problem with wanting to define The First Mile. The problem…

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Great quote: “For those who stay firm, there is commercial potential in rural connectivity too,” proclaims Ginguld. A social enterprise offering wireless broadband in northern India and the Himalayas is chucking up to 70Mbps at deeply rural communities with ingenuity and innovation……. This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com Are we…

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Once again, it would seem so, with Devon & Somerset’s latest decision to use satellite (yes, you read that correctly) to deliver NGA. This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com Whilst I have no issues with satellite broadband as an infill technology similar to ADSL, neither can be termed as Next Generation Access even with the most dumbed…

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I’m not a dancing fool, despite what some may think, and learning all the steps for The FibreWalk has been tough. And it has exposed some of the real problems this country faces in meeting its (broadband) aims. But it has brought the possible solutions far closer. I think it is time to teach many more people how to do the FibreWalk. This blog post…

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Some things just make you cheer! As some of you may know, I went out to the USA in January 2010 to meet projects who were doing FTTH in innovative ways, as well as in rural areas. I was privileged and honoured to be invited by Geoff Daily and Tim Nulty to the community FTTH event in Salt Lake City, hosted by Todd Marriott of Utopia, and to meet…

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