Wireless in the community

mobile computing

Prior to the widespread availability of ADSL, wireless Internet access was the viable interim solution for community networking projects to provide Internet access for homes in rural areas.

Now with mobile computing eclipsing fixed Internet access, wireless has changed from being a stop-gap to being a necessary service in it's own right.  Community networks still trying to compete with the big telcos in fibre deployment are running in last year's race, it's time to re-focus on what the community needs.

More "winners" in the "race to infinity"

BT have announced the all of the top ten finishers in their Race to Infinity PR stunt will be enabled for their FTTC service.

Naturally the campaigners are pleased but I worry that they will be missing out in the long-term.  With such high levels of community interest in high-speed broadband, they have missed an opportunity to apply the Big Society solution - commission their own network and get much more than BT will be offering.

wholesale dilemma (and solution)

Who wants wholesale access to our community fibre networks?

1. government want to see wholesale access offered if there's public money spent on their construction
2. ISPs believe they have a right to offer services on networks where there is a monopoly operator (irresepective of who paid for it)
3. consumers want a "choice" of ISPs

Sounds reasonable but the downside is that to engineer wholesale access can result in an inferior technical solution.  The standard wholesale architecture sees IP packets to and from a subscriber "tunnelled" to the serving ISP which can be quite some distance away.  Packets can't be processed (routed) at the Digital Village Pump.

BT Wholesale supportive of comunity networks - not!

ISPreview reports that Sally Davis, head of BT Wholesale, is advising the government not to rush to give money to smaller ISPs to build rural fibre access network.

She seems to be worried that once built, BT will have problems providing its services over a "patchwork" (her word) of access networks.  She seems oblivious to the fact that these communities aren't simply putting in access networks to do BT's job for them; they may not want (or need) BT's services at all.

It isn't suprising that BT should be discouraging competitors, but what is galling is BT's assumption that they should be the recipient of any government subsidies to build out their monopoly network, and the arrogance that we should be waiting our turn before BT deigns to sell their limited choice of overpriced services to us.

Open letter to the Fast Capel Broadband campaign

Fast Capel Broadband Campaign
The Village Cottage, Coldharbour
DORKING, RH5 6HD

3rd January, 2011

I read today on BT's Race To Infinity web site that, by BT's measure, Capel's campaign wasn't successful.
 

It may not have met BT's target but it did demonstrate the demand for better Internet access and the resolve of local residents to work together to achieve this.  There is now an opportunity to leverage the support that the campain mustered to go beyond BT's idea of "Infinity."

Wireless Link

Nearly a decade ago I built a wireless access network in my village, as BT had declared that the exchange wasn't viable for their ADSL broadband service.  As it turns out, there was sufficient interest in the wireless network that BT decided the exchange would be viable after all, so they put ADSL in and the wireless network never reached its full potential.

One remaining vestige of the old network is the access point attached to the farm house opposite mine, and the bridge that sits on the window sill in our front bedroom.  It is on this link that my neighbours still receive their Internet service - I share my broadband connection with them.

BET is a non-solution

Broadband Extension Technology (BET) has been touted by BT as solution for rural long-lines, using G.SHDSL equipment tuned to run an impressive 12km at 1Mbps.

BT are keen to promote this as one of the options of fulfilling the old government's 2Mbps universal service promise but it doesn't seem to make sense.