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News Google denies Fibre UK launch plans

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 21 Jul 2014.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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  2. mattbailey

    mattbailey What's a Dremel?

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    Bah. Humbug.
     
  3. Phil Rhodes

    Phil Rhodes Hypernobber

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    Well, that's OK - now telecoms are privatised, obviously we'll get it for free, because the telcos will do it for us! We'll get the best possible system and there'll be no government subsidies to worry about!

    Oh, no, wait.
     
  4. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Between Google and Rupert Murdoch, that's like the devil and the deep blue sea.
    Seems like CityFibre made a bad choice for the consumer, or is Sky and/or TalkTalk planning to release 1Gb/s connections ?
     
  5. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Yes; CityFibre is currently rolling out trial 1Gb/s connections in York.
     
    Last edited: 21 Jul 2014
  6. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    No, Sky is not planning on launching their own 1GB connections anytime soon (outside of any partnership with cityfibre anyway). They currently use BTs fibre network, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The reason for this is that although wholesale costs when buying use of the network from BT are relatively expensive, its likely OFCOM will step in soon and regulate them , allowing Sky and Talk talk to either charge less, or give them away for free with TV packages etc. The only reason they aren’t regulated now is that the government want to encourage BT to build out the network, and its only fair to let them recoup the costs of that.
     
    Last edited: 21 Jul 2014
  7. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

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    Nah, but BT is actually in the process of rolling out FTTH (on a very small scale and you pay thousands for installation).

    Of course BT then still has the audacity to artificially cripple upload speeds and only allow 20Mb/s.

    The UK isn't just stuck between a rock and a hard place for fast internet, we have to pay for the rock as well.
     
  8. Phil Rhodes

    Phil Rhodes Hypernobber

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    Well, we have to pay for the rock twice, because the government will pay to build the rock then they'll give it, almost free, to a company, which will then charge us for it.

    You know, like the railways, gas, water, electricity, and yes, now telecoms.

    I try not to be a boring socialist on this issue but I'm not sure there's been a privatisation in the UK that hasn't been a complete and unmitigated disaster for the public. Obviously it's secured a few sinecure directorships for retired MPs, but that's OK too - it's not bribery if they don't pay you off immediately.
     
  9. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    You lot complaining about the state of our infrastructure need a wake up call. I suggest moving to America where you pay £50 a month for ADSL.
     
  10. cool_dude

    cool_dude Minimodder

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    Went on their site, how do you look at their cost per month for such connection?

    Located in London, you'd have thought they'd cover London?

    We really need fibre without the ridiculous line rental costs, what is it now £17 per month!
     
  11. Maki role

    Maki role Dale you're on a roll... Lover of bit-tech

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    I don't really want to start up a large debate on the topic, but surely if you're complaining about the transition of state operated services to private businesses (which was handled by the government), why would it have been any better in the hands of the people who did a poor job privatising it?

    If anything a chief issue is that there isn't competition. If anybody could just pop on over and lay a load of fibre and get a business going, things would be very different most likely.
     
  12. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    Agree with parge, few of my friends in America pay $90 a month for a adsl connection. Crazy money considering how slow it is.

    Norway and Sweden on the other hand, $90 would get you a 100mb/100mb line in most city's.
     
  13. Phil Rhodes

    Phil Rhodes Hypernobber

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    Because the people privatising it had more or less been bought. Anyone running it as a public service wouldn't have had the same motivations and pressures.

    And, even if you don't like that idea, it would at least have been cheaper, if not better per se. Thinking particularly of the railways there.

    Yes, the competition issue is a concern. This is why things that can't reasonably be subject to real competition, at least without ludicrous duplication of effort, are prime candidates for nationalisation.

    P
     
  14. Maki role

    Maki role Dale you're on a roll... Lover of bit-tech

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    The people running it as a public service would have no motivations and pressures. They'd have secure jobs in effectively a monopoly, why would they care about a thing? You see this happen all the time in government services. Look at how much bureaucracy gets in the way, it's incredible.

    Thing is, would it be cheaper? The government wants our money just as much as any business, they just have more avenues of obtaining it. They may, for instance, reduce rail costs, but then increase fuel duty. Why would they ever need to innovate or fix issues? With no competition, there's nowhere else for people to go after all.
     
  15. Phil Rhodes

    Phil Rhodes Hypernobber

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    I'm basing that on the assertion that:

    1) £25 for a 30 minute train ride from here into London is an absurdist mime-show of a charging structure, and

    2) Fares have risen considerably above inflation ever since privatisation, and

    3) The government subsidy to the railways has quadrupled since privatisation, raising the question of whether it's legitimate to call it privatisation at all, and

    4) If we want a high speed railway line, the government has to pay.

    I don't necessarily disagree with you - I don't usually care much how things are funded as long as they're well run, and of course the largest private enterprises and publicly-run organisations tend to share many of the same problems. But I think it's fairly clear that privatisation has made railways more expensive.

    To drag this back on topic, I get the impression telecoms are a rather different situation - although the pressures on infrastructure investment are broadly equivalent, the continued dominance of BT as an effective monopoly distorts things.

    P
     
  16. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    From £250 a month, plus connection fee. Note that this is the cost for an uncontentious business connection; the trial that will see Sky and TalkTalk using CityFibre to run consumer connections doesn't have a price attached. They already run a gigabit FTTH network in Bournemouth, though: Gigler, between £25 and £50 a month for 1Gb/s down and 500Mb/s up. No unlimited packages, though: the £50 a month deal is 1TB, although there are no excess charges - you just get shouted at, throttled and/or kicked off the network if you keep exceeding it.* Half price for three months deal on at the moment, too.
    Far too much competition in London. York, on the other hand - the council'll be offering 'em all kinds of benefits for using York as its testbed location.

    * Turns out there is an overage charge, kinda-sorta: if you exceed your allowance, you'll get throttled to "much, much slower" (no firm figures attached to that - let's face it, my BT Infinity connection running at peak speed is "much, much slower" than a gigabit connection) until the next billing period unless you buy add-on data packs, with the minimum being £5 for 5GB. I couldn't see the full list of fees at a glance, but I'd hope the cost-per-gigabyte drops dramatically the more you buy.
     
    Last edited: 21 Jul 2014
  17. Margo Baggins

    Margo Baggins I'm good at Soldering Super Moderator

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    Are you sure you are not referring to a fibre lease line?
     
  18. S1C_S1D

    S1C_S1D What's a Dremel?

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    I have BT Infinity FTTP and get >150mbps

    Check out my background image for my website www.sicsid.co.uk to see my highest speedtest.

    :)
     
  19. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Not bad at all! I'm on Infinity FTTC, and get ~74Mb/s down and ~19Mb/s up. Apparently they're moving to a new VDSL variant which will allow a rough doubling of speeds at some point in the not-too-distant future, so that'll be nice - and get me closer to your FTTP performance.

    The nicest thing, though? It appears to be genuinely unlimited. I've put over a terabyte through so far this month, and I've not heard a peep.
     
  20. RichCreedy

    RichCreedy Hey What Who

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