Swindon council will be getting an LTE network next year, just as residents lose access to what free Wi-Fi the council's last networking project managed to provide. UK Broadband will be kitting up Swindon council offices with LTE connections next year, using the 3.4GHz spectrum it acquired more than a decade ago – and which it …

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Monday 26th September 2011 11:57 GMT aj87

Swindon now the technology epicentre?

Another technology first for the UK in Swindon, Last week it was the first Hydrogen Refuelling station.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/22/uk-gets-first-hydrogen-refueling-station-honda-lot-graciously-p/

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Monday 26th September 2011 12:11 GMT JetSetJim

There's already one there

There's a 2.6GHz network in Swindon (3 sites, anyway), although it's used for drive testing and not available to anyone outside of Nokia-Siemens Networks. Same deal though - there's a network that's available exclusively to a single entity...

Admitedly the existing network goes up and down like a yoyo....

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Monday 26th September 2011 12:45 GMT Anonymous Coward

Are we referring to PCCW/Netvigator/Now etc?

"UK Broadband will be kitting up Swindon council offices with LTE connections next year, using the 3.4GHz spectrum it acquired more than a decade ago – and which it has been filling with a variety of technologies ever since."

More than a decade ago?

Are we talking about the company then known as PCCW? The company which won a handful of licences in the UK fixed wireless access broadband auctions, bought the rest afterwards, and then as far as anyone can tell, simply sat on them, doing basically nothing with them?

Meanwhile Ofcom stood on the sidelines for years, pleased at the income they'd "achieved", ignoring the fact that no matching service was delivered in any meaningful way?

From http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/06/pccw_broadband_netvigator/

"UK Broadband - the wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong telecoms giant PCCW - has finally launched its wireless broadband service in the UK. The Netvigator service is to be made available in the Thames Valley first, in Aldershot, Maidenhead, Reading, Slough, Windsor and Wokingham. "

See also:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/15/pccw_uk_broadband_wireless/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/25/pccw_broadband/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/01/pccw_cautious/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/02/pccw_now/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/12/pccw_vodafone/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/23/ofcom_pccw_spectrum/

etc

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Monday 26th September 2011 15:13 GMT Piro

I work in Swindon, alas

I can tell you anything the council touches + technology is likely to be a sham.

They promised town-wide free wireless - but in the end, they paid twice for the project, the private company ran off with it, and nothing happened.

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Monday 26th September 2011 17:19 GMT Blubster

@I work in Swindon, alas #

Never mind eh? As a consolation you are twinned with Disneyland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNAOkJQg8q4

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1. Monday 26th September 2011 18:49 GMT JetSetJim
  
  @Twinned w/ Disney
  
  Only lasts for a year, though...
  
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Tuesday 27th September 2011 10:11 GMT A 31

This is a council that built the most ludicrous roundabout in the world (bar dacourum of course)

4G should be a piece of cake for them ... of course it won't work as it should but everyone will have to suffer it :D

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