News

Recent news items from the Independent Networks Cooperative Association are listed below. Also in this section of the site we have brought together recent news and opinion from a number of respected sources, including SamKnows.com, thinkbroadband.com, and Adrian Wooster's influential blog.

Defra Launches the Rural Community Broadband Fund

RCBF launches with £20 million designed to enable more rural communities to access faster broadband services.

Typical Rural English scene

Defra has today launched the Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF), with confirmed funding of £20m. The RCBF is jointly funded by Defra and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), and complements BDUK’s mainstream broadband rollout programme.

The Fund enables the funding of superfast broadband projects in the most hard to reach areas in England, bringing superfast broadband to a greater number of communities than would otherwise be reached. This will ensure that a greater proportion of businesses and consumers in those communities can take advantage of the benefits of superfast broadband.

The Fund is being delivered as part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). More information about the fund and details on how to apply can be found on Defra’s RDPE Network webpage http://rdpenetwork.defra.gov.uk/funding-sources/rural-community-broadban...

(Photo © Copyright Ron Hann and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)

Is BDUK on the Right Track?

Whilst not unexpected Geo UK Ltd’s announcement on 16 November that it is withdrawing from the BDUK Framework and future NGA procurements marks a sad day.

Is BDUK on the Right Track?

INCA Statement on Geo’s withdrawal from the BDUK Process

Whilst not unexpected Geo UK Ltd’s announcement on 16 November that it is withdrawing from the BDUK Framework and future NGA procurements marks a sad day. Even more so since Cable & Wireless Worldwide has apparently pulled out of the Cumbria procurement and there are rumours that BDUK’s shortlist may be getting shorter by the day.

Geo is a well-organised and effectively-led company that is actually delivering fibre networks in both urban and rural settings. In fact they are just the sort of company that government should be encouraging in the context of next generation networks. However Geo can’t make its model work under BDUK’s current approach.

Climbing Out of the Silos

Whilst the government agency BDUK is in the process of deploying £530m to support broadband services in the ‘final third’ another part of government, the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC), is planning to spend around £11.3bn on a smart metering system for all homes and businesses, of which £1.5bn will be spent on the communications element.

At the Parliament and the Internet conference on 13th October the Information Society Alliance (EURIM) ran a workshop to discuss joining up the broadband and smart metering/smart grid energy agendas. It was a timely and useful debate. Whilst the government agency BDUK is in the process of deploying £530m to support broadband services in the ‘final third’ another part of government, the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC), is planning to spend around £11.3bn on a smart metering system for all homes and businesses, of which £1.5bn will be spent on the communications element. So far it seems that government has been unable to join up these two agendas.

Even at the level of sharing existing infrastructure (ducts, masts and poles) linking the broadband and energy agendas seems to be difficult in this country. Efforts by civil servants to bring the utility companies into this debate appear to have borne little fruit so far.