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News Government announces £440m broadband funding 'windfall'

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 23 Dec 2016.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

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

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    Gareth Halfacree, 23 Dec 2016
    #1
  2. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    At the same time they're trying to destroy the UK tech sector and possibly the entire internet. :thumb:
     
    Corky42, 23 Dec 2016
    #2
  3. Jimbob

    Jimbob Minimodder

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    Instead how about using some of the £billions that Openreach made, as, you know they are supposed to do this anyway.
     
    Jimbob, 23 Dec 2016
    #3
  4. Weekly_Estimate

    Weekly_Estimate Random bird noises.

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    Still waiting on google fibre here, max speed i get is 5mb/s -.-
     
    Weekly_Estimate, 23 Dec 2016
    #4
  5. ev1lm1nd666

    ev1lm1nd666 What's a Dremel?

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    Virgin Media et al have to fork out to install infrastructure but BT gets a massive cash gift just to catch up?
    Why can't BT cough up the cash to do it, not like they don't make enough money ripping people off as it is....
     
    ev1lm1nd666, 23 Dec 2016
    #5
  6. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Got to build a solid infrastructure to dispense government propaganda and spy on people. :D

    [​IMG]
     
    Nexxo, 23 Dec 2016
    #6
  7. Disequilibria

    Disequilibria Minimodder

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    obviously they think the issue with rural areas voting the wrong way is lack of internet :p

    The real headline should be "government magically finds half a billion down the back of the sofa in austerity britian"
    [​IMG]
     
    Disequilibria, 27 Dec 2016
    #7
  8. IanW

    IanW Grumpy Old Git

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    £440m to be spent on "fact-finding committees" rather than actually doing something.
     
    IanW, 29 Dec 2016
    #8
  9. Gareth Halfacree

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

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    C'mon, guys, read the piece before sniping: the reason it's a 'windfall' rather than a grant is that it's not actually the government's money in the first place (rendering Disequilibria's comment moot), and it's all going to BT to spend on infrastructure (rendering IanW's comment moot).

    Basically, to recap the piece, there's this thing called the Broadband Delivery UK Programme (BDUK). Under BDUK, a portion of the cost of a consumer or business getting broadband goes into a central pot overseen by the government; this pot is then doled out to telecoms companies (read: BT) to help with the cost of getting decent-speed broadband to those who do not currently have it and who telecoms companies (read: BT) argue they can't afford to reach under their own steam. That's where a chunk of the £442 million has come from; the rest has come from renegotiated contracts and cost-cutting that has saved cash on contracts and projects the government has already started with telecoms companies (read: BT) and which has been put back into that same central pot. Not a single penny has come from directly from general taxation, and not a single penny is being spent on committees.

    Think of it like the house Monopoly rule where fines are paid into a central pot and whoever lands on Free Parking gets to take it home, except the fines are "a percentage of the cost of the broadband connection" and the Free Parking space is "BT asked nicely and/or bribed the right people."
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 30 Dec 2016
    #9
  10. iggy

    iggy Minimodder

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    They could just take it out of the billions they've managed to find to refurbish the Queens house. Or the billions allocated to the refurbishment of Westminster.

    Or better yet, take even more from people who can barely afford to eat.
     
    iggy, 31 Dec 2016
    #10
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