hello

We need both! Can’t have the best broadband Europe unless we have both 100% fixed and 100% mobile superfast broadband.

Craig, O2 and Vodafone are not excluded from the auction. On the contrary, Ofcom is desperate for all MNOs to bid. The 2G re-farm is a separate issue. Also, the backward compatibility of 4G - and hence low cost of deployment - is one of Ofcom’s reasons for setting the coverage floor at just 95%!

Hi Phil, here’s the relevant bit of the bill: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmbills/161/11161.283-288.html#j878s See Schedule 9, 61E. 4a says that plan/order must be adopted by the LA if more than 50% of community vote in favour, so no longer merely advisory.

I’m not sure what will constitute a quorum for neighbourhood planning referendums, but 50% in favour will be the threshold for adoption. It’s in the Localism Bill, set to become law any minute. The Ofcom report is a brute. Writing it like that (and that long) is a way to ensure that no one can [...]

The issue of the beneficiaries not being represented in the “community” where the mast is sited is problematic. But I still think that local communities should be given the choice: they see the benefits, but they also have to live with the aesthetic consequences. One thought: it would be great if local communities interested in [...]

Also, you can now get mobile broadband on the summit of Mt Everest: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jqBgetgq7AcFkfBfsmS4Ah0NWs4g So why not the peaks in the national park…

Hi Phil, interestingly Ofcom has found no evidence that planning or technical obstacles are the cause of mobile notspots - despite what we hear. Also, I hope regulation isn’t required. Communities should be given the choice. After all, they’re best placed to decide the trade-off between having mobile reception and blotting the view with a [...]

Hi Peter, not planning to give everyone free mobile. On the contrary, they’d have to buy a monthly or PAYG contract with one of the operators. But I do think mobile broadband would help overcome digital exclusion. Lots of people are put off buying fixed-line broadband because of the cost. PAYG mobile contracts would solve [...]

Agreed, 2013 is a bit of a wait, but it may take just as long to see the first benefits of BDUK’s £530m investment in fixed line broadband. In Germany, they sold the 4G licences with ‘rural first’ obligations. In other words, operators have to build the infrastructure in the rural parts of the country [...]

Hi Grant, yes, Rory’s on their case, but the more responses to the consultation, the better. It’s all to easy for government bods to forget about the problem, living and working in Central London. And, most important of all, if lots of people fill out the consultation, I might not have to run through the [...]

Hi Chris, Ofcom are running a public consultation and they’re inviting us to respond. They may not want to listen, but if thousands of us make a case for extending coverage by setting out the social and economic benefits, they can’t ignore us for long. The point is that Ofcom has the power to impose [...]

It’s an interesting report. Worth a read. And at least it tries to cost different options. Its sponsors all have very different priorities and agendas, and aren’t necessarily pro-wireless or pro-satellite…

What you say is true, Chris, but you know that we’re not going to get a real fibre network built across the whole of rural Cumbria for a while yet. And mobile broadband would be a great stop-gap. Ofcom needs a push from you and everyone else. Otherwise, it’ll never use its powers to get [...]