Revolutions are traditionally associated with inner cities and shipyards. The countryside revolutionaries died out with the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the Rebbecca Riots. They all moved to work in the city. It is true, however, that these self same revolutionaries have occasionally had to resort to the mountains to hide from authority. I have visions of troops driving through the narrow walled lanes and high passes whilst being watched from behind sheep pens further up the hillside.
Category: Net
connectivity and networking posts – both fixed and mobile, fast and slow
Virgin 100Meg Taxi spotted in a traffic jam caused by cattle moving in a lane in Wensleydale today. Click on the header image for a closer look.
Allegorical? Comical? Credible?
An everyday story of country folk – the harsh reality of life in the Digital Britain age.
Don’t know what I am talking about click here.
Photo courtesy Lindsey Annison, taken whilst stuck in a cow jam.
This year is the 25th anniversary of the .co.uk domain suffix. It was announced when I was away on my summer holidays and I missed it. I presume that many of you will also have not seen the announcement.
This old news was given to me by Lesley Cowley, CEO of .uk registry Nominet. The really really disappointing thing is that nobody seems to know the name of the first ever .co.uk domain name. It would be just nice to know.
Apparently everything was done on bits of paper in those days and each application put in front of a committee. Also you were only allowed to own one domain name! Lesley tells me that here are still a couple of people around from those days so hopefully she will be able to dig into their collected memories. It seems only right that we should know this bit of our national internet history.
George Osborne announced in today’s Government Spending Review that the £530m of BBC monies earmarked for rural broadband will not be taken away. Superfast broadband will be trialled in the Highlands, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Herefordshire.
Taken in the light of an £83Bn cut in spending this must be seen as good news. Considering though that the recently announced project in Cornwall cost £132m this suggests that these four areas could well consume the whole amount.
Please don’t get me wrong here.
An interview broadcast live this morning between Rod Whiting of BBC Lincolnshire and Trefor Davies regarding the problems of getting the “digitally excluded” to go online.
The IPv4 address pool dropped to 4% remaining yesterday, or at least that’s when I noticed.
Nov 16 2009 10% – dropped through 400,000,000 mark
Jan 20th 9%
Feb 25th 8%
May 10th 7%
June 2nd 6%
August 5%
Oct 18th 4%
I’m still sticking to my February 24th 2011 date for exhaustion – that’s only 4 months away. The counter currently reads June 6th. Not much in it really.
If anyone is interested in buying a block of IPv4 addresses I have secured sole access rights for the following.
BT’s broadband fibre rollout has attracted unprecedented interest and huge levels of disappointment.
A few recent events have brought home the enormity of the task of rolling out broadband fibre to every premises in the UK. Firstly the pigeon stunt of last month. I drove for miles looking for Furrows Farm, passing farmhouses half a mile apart on the way. Clearly not an economic prospect that passes normal business case rules.
Secondly in producing the FTTC postcode level map last week it was difficult not to notice the sheer number of cabinets involved and the areas that BT needs to cover to accomplish the rollout.
Then also last week BT sent a digger to dig up 300 metres of road at the end of our office drive. Funnily enough it was
The haves and have nots mapped out for the first time by postcode
The launch today of the trefor.net FTTC and FTTP interactive mapping service for the first time lets people check on a map whether they are winners or losers in the NGA broadband postcode lottery.
It is still relatively early days in a very long rollout plan that due to lack of a business case has no completion date. This mapping service shows clearly whether you are going to be able to get Next Generation Access broadband – also known as Fibre broadband.
I hope that someone gets my…I hope that someone gets my…I hope that someone gets my broadband in a bottle.
You heard about the tref and rory pigeons versus rural broadband race. Well not everyone has access to a pigeon. However everyone can get hold of a USB memory stick and put it in a bottle with a cork in it. The idea is you load your content onto the memory, put it in the bottle, cork it and throw it into the stream running along the side of the cowfield.
In due course the bottle will make its way downstream and no doubt be picked up by someone who will open it and take out the memory stick.
As part of the Digital Economy Act the goverment is potentially going to ask the ISP industry to block access to websites that perpetrate or encourage Copyright infringement.
There are two points to make here:
The first, which is one that has been repeatedly made, relates to the inefficacy of the methods used to block access to websites. It is very easy for people to get around a blocking system.
The London Internet Exchange (LINX) this morning announced three new members: Hutchinson 3G, Kenya Data Networks and onlive.com from the USA. The only surprise as far as Hutchinson goes is that they were not already a member.
The addition of two new international members does however serve to underline the importance of London as a peering point for the global internet community.
Dear Sir
I am the widow of Major General Ndabeninge Ndabeninge of the Nigerian Army Internet Warfare Division. Before he mysteriously died of a particularly potent computer virus my honourable and most beloved husband was very active in AfriNIC, the African Internet Registry and was able to secure a /8 block of IPv4 addresses for the exclusive use of the Nigerian Armed Services.
Now that he is no longer with us the Nigerian military high command has decided to close down this branch of the service as part of cost cutting measures. The war against cybercrime here in Nigeria has cost the country dearly – people are no longer falling for the scams. Because of this the block of IPv4 addresses is now surplus to requirements.
Once upon a time there were fixed line communications and mobile communications. Then the internet raised its hand and believers said Internet Protocol communications will rule, OK. This we all know and in the early days at least the fixed providers were shaking.
Nowadays IP is everywhere. We are bombarded every day with new websites, services and products promising to revolutionise our lives. So much so that I have actually pulled back a yard from experimenting with the latest and greatest. This is because if I let it happen I would spend all my time looking at new services, most of which will never see the light of a second round of funding. These days I let other people’s ideas take proper root before getting interested.
Notwithstanding all this there are some clear trends. Smart Phones and tablets are taking over our lives. I’m particularly surprised at the latter,
BT announced today that Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are set to become one of the best connected locations in the world under an ambitious £132 million BT and Cornwall Council project, supported by European funding. It will bring superfast broadband to the vast majority of businesses in this area by 2014. The project will benefit tens of thousands of local businesses, create 4,000 new local jobs and protect a further 2,000.
It is expected that other ISPs will be able to offer services using the infrastructure in the same way that they buy off BT Wholesale today. Operational details of this have yet to be announced. Rollout will be announced on a rolling basis, agreed by the project partners in consultation with internet service providers.
Photos of BT FTTP broadband installation. Really!
As a participant in the BT Fibre To The Premises trials I am pleased to bring you pictures of real life fibre installations in action. There is more to a FTTP broadband installation than a traditional ADSL line which utilises existing copper cabling.
There are three splices to be made. One at the cabinet and two at your premises (inside and out). A splice is traditionally a fairly complex and expensive operation – because of the kit and skill-set required. However you can see from the photo that today’s equipment is far more portable and thus suited to a mass market rollout when the time is right. Note you still need a bloke to hold the umbrella 🙂 Presumably there is someone off camera heating up the urn as well :). Thanks to BT Wholesale for the photos.
Photo is of villagers in Ashby De La Launde digging their own trenches in preparation for fibre installation. This is one way of circumventing the enormous civil engineering cost of lighting the UK with fibre.
Hot off the press this afternoon is the much awaited schedule for the BT FTTC Phase 6 rollout with exchanges being delivered up to December 2011. I know this is a hot one for many readers so hopefully your exchange is on the list.
Mine isn’t. I’m thinking of putting a POP into my garage in Lincoln because I don’t like being left out myself 🙂
Anyone interested in hopping on the back of this should register their interest in a comment 🙂
The answer to the question of how to get BT to deliver FTTC broadband is cash, though it doesn’t necessarily have to be your own cash.
As a grown up business BT only rolls out fibre to commercially viable areas. This is clear. There is no case for investment in areas where farmhouses are miles apart and it takes weeks to dig trenches to lay ducts to provide superfast broadband so that rural folks can provide details online of stock movements and check when the next market day is in town.
This is not a gripe. In fact I like to think that readers of this blog go away enriched, fortified and looking forward to the next time they need a reason to come back – perhaps the next cake baking competition results. They don’t want to read whinging prose. They need edification. Satisfaction.
Also BT business cases don’t just apply to rural areas. Only 500 or so exchanges are currently planned to be Superfast FTTC broadband enabled in the UK. My hometown of Lincoln isn’t one of them. It’s all about economics.
A recurring theme of today’s DEAct conference is the fact that this whole exercise is seen by government and Rights Holders as a process of education. They are trying to influence behaviour (target is 70% reduction in file sharing) and not specifically going after individuals.
The issuing of Copyright Infringement Reports and notices to ISP customers suspected of unlawful activity is intended to be a shot across the bows. A message to say “this is not a good thing that is going on”.
The problem that RHs have historically had is that the cost of taking suspected infringers to court has not only been prohibitive but also fraught with risk in that the chances of them losing the case are quite high. Proving certainty of
A few statistics jump out of the page of the Office Of National Statistics (ONS) report entitled Social Trends Spotlight On: e-Society.
In 2010 73% of UK households have internet access. If we take the 2009 statistic that only 90% of these had “broadband” then we can assume that around two thirds of the country has broadband. Coincidentally 64% of children aged 5 to 15 had used the internet for schoolwork or homework at least once a week. One might interpret this as saying that the 1/3 of children without broadband were unable to access the internet for schoolwork. I realise that is a bit too simplistic but is certainly does highlight a problem.
87% of French people are “very worried” that their child might become the victim of online grooming. This is in marked contrast with the UK where the number is only 32% (Slovakia is 10%!). There are a few ways of reading this:
I don’t know whether it’s because I’m getting old but the pace of life seems so frenetic these days. Today I read about a 700Mbps DSL prototype showcased in Hong Kong by Chinese networking vendor Huawei.
Huawei’s SuperMIMO technology uses four twisted pairs to achieve a downstream rate of 700Mbps at a distance of 400 metres. This means it would likely fit into a Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC broadband) scenario. In the UK of course we are just rolling out “up to 40Mbps” FTTC and trialing 100Mbps Fibre to the Premises (FTTP).
Just posted the most recent schedule for FTTC broadband exchanges. It’s a few weeks overdue and the next one seems likely to come out next month but it does add 46 exchanges to the previous list. Otherwise it is mostly schedule updates.
The pigeon versus broadband race last week generated a phenomenal level of interest. It must be said this is an illustration of the power of the BBC – although of course the fun nature of the event itself must have helped.
The race, which involved near constant media exposure throughout the day, was covered on BBC Radio 2,3,4,5, BBC1 News at 6.30 and 10pm, BBC Scotland, Humberside, World Service and Lincolnshire (they are the only ones I know of). The first radio interview was a 6.15 am and the last, Radio 5 Live, was at around 6.50pm
It was the 5th most popular item on the BBC website on Thursday – by 6.18pm it had had 92,357 story views, competing mainly with the Pope’s
Short amateur video of the Rory and Tref pigeon versus broadband stunt from last week.
This rare video footage was uncovered from the archives this lunchtime when I was looking for some photos to send to the Skegness Standard who want to cover yesterday’s Rory and Tref pigeon versus broadband race.
You will note the firm but fair grip that must be excercised on the racing pigeon prior to launch.
Catch that pigeon! #trefandrory #roryandtref
This is the video that failed to upload from Furrows Farm to YouTube in yesterday’s Rory and Tref pigeon versus broadband race. It is complete and unedited so you might not want to sit through it all. On the other hand you might (we are all different – witness daytime TV).
For reference it was a “number 2 back and sides” at Antonio’s on Wragby Road in Lincoln. Also for reference I went to the Isle of Man for my holidays this year – information that didn’t come out during the haircut.
The great Pigeon Versus Broadband race began when the birds were set off at 11.05, and they clocked in at the loft 1hr 15 minutes later. At that time the broadband upload to YouTube was only 24% complete, and then only after having to reset it as the connection was dropped.
The distance according to Google maps was 75 miles and according to Unikon pigeon specialist Ray Knight the straight line flight path was 65 miles I believe (I am assuming they flew in a straight line).
Audio of a trailer intereview I did with the BBC last night talking about the rerun of the South African broadband versus pigeon race but in the UK this Thursday.
Update 17.20 15th Sept
There is a fair bit of media interest in this event with live radio interviews for BC Humberside and BBC Lincolnshire for tomorrow’s breakfast shows, mid morning and drivetime on BBC Lincolnshire as well as extensive TV coverage on Look North. The BBC main news website is also covering the event.
Look out for the rory&tref hashtag on twitter during the day. Rory and Tref are the two pigeons that will be carrying the microSD cards (Rory Stewart is the MP for Penrith). Check out the Cumbrian Rural Broadband event he is organising here.
On a side note we will know the exact time of arrival of the pigeons back in the loft because they will be RF ID tagged. I am expecting a convincing avian victory.
Categories
classy chassis
I mentioned in my post re lobbying and the Digital Economy Act (DEAct) that he internet was a boring nuts and bolts game without the sexiness of the music industry.
Well coincidentally I have just taken delivery of some new kit – we are continually updating our network. The picture below tells it all. The box, known as a 7606 chassis, is what we plug in the routers and line cards that run our connections to the internet.
It might look boring but engineers can get really excited about these things – at least at what is going into the box. The 7606 chassis itself is just
I went to the bi-monthly Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) board meeting today. ISPA has four new council members representing BT, Eclipse Internet, Everything Everywhere and O2.
That these large organisations are keen to participate in the running of the ISP industry Trade Association is a reflection of the amount of legislative activity going on surrounding the internet in the UK.
I’d go so far to say that government attempts to regulate the internet are currently at an unprecedented level – I guess as our daily lives move into the cloud this is not a surprise but should not be seen as inevitable.