Ofcom lays out £400m plans for 2010 UK regulator Ofcom intends to spend the next couple of years figuring out why some of us aren't connected, and ensuring that the Olympics are. The Ofcom Annual Plan 2010/11 (pdf) explains how the regulator, whose remit covers everything from children's television to aircraft radios, intends to spend its £400m+ budget over the …
And I live roughly 50m away from the site.
Actually, it's quite fun watching them build it all. It's all a bit HG Wells, with the towering cranes and the bomb^construction sites. Could do without the CCTV staring at my flat though. I've returned the compliment by parading around in my knickers all day long.
What has providing wireless for the Olympics (R)(TM(C) got to do with Ofcom? The Olympics (R)(TM(C) are just another sports event, albeit a ridiculously big, and insanely expensive one, that will do untold damage to British sport and cultural provision for years to come. If existing WiFi coverage in the area is inadequate for their needs then the organisers need to make the appropriate arrangements with the various providers to upgrade the service, at their expense. Purely a commercial matter, nowt to do with Ofcom or anyone else.
And anyway, why does someone running a marathon or swimming 100m actually need WiFi?
Share how you did it with your Yank friends. We have been bitching about this for years over here, and supposedly some telcos will "unbundle" the ADSL from a voice line, giving you a "dry pair" of copper with no dial tone.
Not anywhere I am, though. But I fear it will not matter as cable Internet services are beginning to tromp all over the old copper-pair providers in everything but support. Yeah, call ComCast residential services some time. Either they make you feel like an idiot or they will enrage you to the point of a coronary. Okay, to be fair, every once in a while you might find a shining star so bright you absolutely must speak to a supervisor to exclaim your surprise at receiving quality service.
Paris, unbundled surprise.
Oh, how we laughed down in Dorset when we heard the plans to install high speed broadband for the Olympic Yachting in Weymouth & Portland.
Yes, we're going to be wired in with something faster than the bits of old string and old coat hangers we've got at the moment. But as soon as the circus leaves, they're rolling it all up and taking it back to That London.
Cheers for that, Sebby.
Hey Ofcom,
why don't you go deal with punters complaints (vs. dropping over the walls) and send me the £400m to connect you up.
Ever heard of Telehouse East -- it's a BIG building by the Reuters Bldg East India area where 1/2 of London's fibre goes through? I'll even carry the fibre to your head-in, terminate and provision it for you.
Job done
Yes, why indeed.
Of course, you have to have the *line* (unless you're getting wireless broadband) but there's no reason (apart from why you should compulsorily have to pay for the *voice* part.
Lines cost money to provide and maintain, so the rental cost isn't going to go away, indeed I get the impression it has gone up more than should be necessary over the last few years. *BUT* there is absolutely no reason why the user shouldn't have the *choice* between free bundled calls and a free basic broadband service.
I reckon if Ofcom was competent and insisted on giving proper choice, we could choose a limited 12Gb/year broadband service (enough for email and occasional web browsing) as an optional alternative to having free outgoing calls on the line.
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