Brighton and Hove wins ultrafast broadband funding bid (From The Argus)
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Brighton and Hove wins ultrafast broadband funding bid
1:09pm Wednesday 5th December 2012 in News By Tim Ridgway, Local government reporter
Brighton and Hove is to become “super-connected” after its bid for ultrafast broadband was successful.
Following a high-profile campaign, Chancellor George Osborne has announced the city will receive the funding as part of a £50 million scheme.
The news, which was confirmed in his autumn statement to Parliament, will be heralded locally as business leaders think it is vital if the city is to remain competitive in digital innovation.
Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas, who led the successful campaign to ‘Let Brighton Bid’ which resulted in the government’s original scheme being extended to include smaller cities, described it as a "huge win for the city".
She added: “Becoming a super-connected city is vital if Brighton and Hove is to stay competitive and remain at the forefront of the technology revolution – and I’m absolutely delighted that the campaign, which has been strongly supported by Wired Sussex, Coast2Capital LEP and local business leaders, has been so successful in securing our fair share of this funding.
“I’m also delighted that the other local MPs were able to give their support to the city’s bid for ultra-fast broadband, and that The Argus played such a key role in raising the profile of this important campaign.
“I now look forward to working with local digital and creative leaders and Brighton and Hove City Council to take this exciting initiative forward and make sure our city leads from the front in digital innovation.”
More than 99 per cent of Brighton and Hove is already covered by superfast broadband.
But ultrafast broadband provides a minimum download speed of at least 80 megabits per second - more than three times faster than ‘superfast’ broadband.
The successful bid means 96 per cent of dwellings being potentially able to tap in to "super-connection.
The money will be provided through the Super Connected Cities fund, which the Chancellor extended to so called ‘smaller cities’ earlier this year.
Brighton Kemptown MP Simon Kirby said, “This is fantastic news for the digital sector in Brighton and will help support jobs and growth in other industries across the city.
"The announcement is the culmination of months of hard work lobbying the Chancellor, during which time I held discussions with him about the need to expand the Super Connected Cities fund beyond the original ten largest cities in the UK.
"I was very grateful to the Chancellor for responding to my lobbying efforts so positively, and I knew that Brighton would make an excellent bid for funding once it was permitted.
"It is very pleasing to see that promise fulfilled today, and I know that this news will be welcomed across Brighton and Hove.”
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Comments(32)
magoo
says...
1:34pm Wed 5 Dec 12
PaulOckenden
says...
1:34pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Crystal Ball
says...
1:36pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Man With No Name
says...
1:39pm Wed 5 Dec 12
ruberducker
says...
1:41pm Wed 5 Dec 12
PaulOckenden wrote:starbuck's can afford it.
What does this actually mean? Ultra fact broadband is already available to businesses with deep enough pockets. What extra does this new initiative bring?
paul76
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1:46pm Wed 5 Dec 12
John Steed
says...
2:17pm Wed 5 Dec 12
LolaShabb
says...
2:39pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Morpheus wrote:Apparantly its the city 'business district' http://www.brightonb
This is good news. Although I will be interested to find out what the boundaries of the ultrafast Brighton turn out to be. I suspect it will not go much beyond the centre.
usiness.co.uk/htm/ni
20121002.571390.htm
artyray
says...
2:44pm Wed 5 Dec 12
HJarrs
says...
3:16pm Wed 5 Dec 12
tdwright
says...
3:33pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Hoarder12345444
says...
3:40pm Wed 5 Dec 12
artyray wrote:Well thats about average for a copper line. Superfast is fibre optic based and gives speeds between 50 and 76 mbps. I get 8mbps out of Brighton. That is good but you can get 11mbps on copper. Depends how far you are from the exchange and how good your line is and your router is, etc.
More than 99% already covered with superfast broadband... yeah right. We live in the very centre of Brighton, at the end of East St, more or less opposite the pier and yet we're lucky to achieve 3.5mb speeds on a good day!! Two days ago we lost all connection for hours, it's bleedin useless!
HJarrs
says...
3:42pm Wed 5 Dec 12
tdwright wrote:What do expect? This is the Argus!
I love how the article acknowledges that the bid was lead by Caroline Lucas, but then goes on to give a 3 paragraph quote to Simon Kirby...
chilliman
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4:15pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Laserluke
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4:16pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Kiddon72
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4:26pm Wed 5 Dec 12
mimseycal
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4:32pm Wed 5 Dec 12
faded green
says...
5:23pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Hoarder12345444 wrote:At work, in the North Lane,I used to get 10Mbps+ about 4 years ago with BT. Then I signed up for the new 20Mbps contract and am lucky if I get 7Mbps (sometimes down to 0.5Mbps).
artyray wrote:Well thats about average for a copper line. Superfast is fibre optic based and gives speeds between 50 and 76 mbps. I get 8mbps out of Brighton. That is good but you can get 11mbps on copper. Depends how far you are from the exchange and how good your line is and your router is, etc.
More than 99% already covered with superfast broadband... yeah right. We live in the very centre of Brighton, at the end of East St, more or less opposite the pier and yet we're lucky to achieve 3.5mb speeds on a good day!! Two days ago we lost all connection for hours, it's bleedin useless!
At home, Fiveways, I get 6Mbps.
At both addresses, I have regularly registered for BT Infinity for several years (yes years) and have never ever received any update.
I am not anymore willing to believe all this rubbish and would like to see a proper map and timetable for this so called superfast broadband.
Kate234
says...
8:45pm Wed 5 Dec 12
HJarrs wrote:The most successful business sector that Brighton has is leisure and tourism. The Greens have managed to provide the equivalent of hundred and possibly millions of pounds of bad PR for the City (in the Economist, front page articles in National newspapers etc) through their persecution of car drivers and expecting people to cycle down here with their families for conference and holidays. Yes this is good news but realistically the damage they have already done to businesses in the leisure and tourism sector in the city (amongst others) will take years to repair and has already cost jobs.
These Greens, they are destroying the city...oh wait a minute...yet more investment coming to the city. They must be the most unsuccessfull city destroying administration ever!
Less time to download videos is great and ultrafast broadband for those that can afford is brilliant. However without doubt I can never remember a any other party listening less to the people and causing anywhere near the damage to the city as the Greens have.
qm
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9:44pm Wed 5 Dec 12
Brighton_Lad
says...
10:23am Thu 6 Dec 12
We don't even have cable here. We still can't play Youtube videos without having to pause them and wait minutes for them to load.
Ultrafast broadband? Ha! We don't even have quite slow broadband yet.
Claude Back
says...
11:44am Thu 6 Dec 12
Kate234 wrote:Well said. The Greens have wasted so much money on stupid projects, especially Cycle Lanes that are hardly used and just clog up traffic.
HJarrs wrote:The most successful business sector that Brighton has is leisure and tourism. The Greens have managed to provide the equivalent of hundred and possibly millions of pounds of bad PR for the City (in the Economist, front page articles in National newspapers etc) through their persecution of car drivers and expecting people to cycle down here with their families for conference and holidays. Yes this is good news but realistically the damage they have already done to businesses in the leisure and tourism sector in the city (amongst others) will take years to repair and has already cost jobs.
These Greens, they are destroying the city...oh wait a minute...yet more investment coming to the city. They must be the most unsuccessfull city destroying administration ever!
Less time to download videos is great and ultrafast broadband for those that can afford is brilliant. However without doubt I can never remember a any other party listening less to the people and causing anywhere near the damage to the city as the Greens have.
Never has so much been done by so few for so little.
Tallywhacker
says...
12:07pm Thu 6 Dec 12
toldsloth
says...
1:33pm Thu 6 Dec 12
PaulOckenden wrote:Nothing other than bringing forward the exisiting plans a couple of years.
What does this actually mean? Ultra fact broadband is already available to businesses with deep enough pockets. What extra does this new initiative bring?
I f a business wants fast connectivity now they can have it with bonded ADSL, leased lines etc. This really is a load of old bunkum and merely serves to allow Loony Lucas to say "we did this isn't it great". No it's nothing of the sort and will not make a jot of difference to the town.
The Greens have done so much other damage to the economy in the city that this certainly not going to make the slightest difference in redressing the balance.
toldsloth
says...
1:37pm Thu 6 Dec 12
HJarrs wrote:Another ridiculous clearly made comment by a Green supporter.
These Greens, they are destroying the city...oh wait a minute...yet more investment coming to the city. They must be the most unsuccessfull city destroying administration ever!
When the dust settle son their one and only term in office, you will see what the real damage is and how much it will cost to fix it.
We can only hope it won't be too late to reverse the rot.......
Dealing with idiots
says...
3:40pm Thu 6 Dec 12
Vote of no confidence in the Green administration e- petition now live on the Brighton and Hove City Council website. If you love your city and want to end the waste and destruction of the Greens, please sign the petition. We need 1250 signatures to get this discussed in full council. Surely there are 1250 angry people in the city who want to make a difference? Save Our City.
http://present.brigh
ton-hove.gov.uk/mgEP
etitionDisplay.aspx?
ID=360&RPID=6033530&
HPID=6033530
faded green
says...
5:07pm Thu 6 Dec 12
Dealing with idiots wrote:This link is impossible to follow unless you type it.
You can do your bit to stop the rot.
Vote of no confidence in the Green administration e- petition now live on the Brighton and Hove City Council website. If you love your city and want to end the waste and destruction of the Greens, please sign the petition. We need 1250 signatures to get this discussed in full council. Surely there are 1250 angry people in the city who want to make a difference? Save Our City.
http://present.brigh
ton-hove.gov.uk/mgEP
etitionDisplay.aspx?
ID=360&RPID=6033
530&
HPID=6033530
The e-petitions page is located on the council site, Council & democracy, then click on "petitions and e-petitions" in the column on the right hand side.
Pass on the info...
mustaphaLeeko
says...
7:49pm Thu 6 Dec 12
faded green wrote:Just Google "brighton council current epetitions"
Dealing with idiots wrote:This link is impossible to follow unless you type it.
You can do your bit to stop the rot.
Vote of no confidence in the Green administration e- petition now live on the Brighton and Hove City Council website. If you love your city and want to end the waste and destruction of the Greens, please sign the petition. We need 1250 signatures to get this discussed in full council. Surely there are 1250 angry people in the city who want to make a difference? Save Our City.
http://present.brigh
ton-hove.gov.uk/mgEP
etitionDisplay.aspx?
ID=360&RPID=6033
530&
HPID=6033530
The e-petitions page is located on the council site, Council & democracy, then click on "petitions and e-petitions" in the column on the right hand side.
Pass on the info...
Much simpler!!!
grumblegoat
says...
9:32pm Thu 6 Dec 12
Dealing with idiots
says...
11:24am Fri 7 Dec 12
If you are bored this evening you might try popping down to the Friends meeting house this evening and listen to his highness Ian Davey wax lyrical on their transport policy. Should be good for a laugh.
Omnishambles_1
says...
11:31am Fri 4 Jan 13
Kiddon72 wrote:'In the grand scheme of things', as you so unintelligibly put it, at the base line; businesses are able to expand, large and small. The private and to a lesser extend public sector will get a financial boost and Brighton and Hove will benefit enormously. The ability to send and receive data as fast as possible is one of the cornerstones of modern technology. It is the reason hospitals and medical centers are able to operate better to meet various stringent guidelines, I hope you are aware of the new hospital that has already been commissioned at a cost of £500,000,000 by the NHS, approved by ALL council members at Planning to be built in place of the old General Hospital? Ergo the health and needs of the public receive a higher form of care. I would say that, as a start, this is good wouldn't you?
In the grand scheme of things, who actually benefits and who actually gives a **** ?
Morpheus says...
1:26pm Wed 5 Dec 12