Superfast rural broadband may cost taxpayer £1bn

[AtW]

It's all very noble but it would cost millions upon millions to even cover the island where I grew up

And? It cost 150-300 times more to bail out banks and you get from this higher charges, at least broadband will remain for a long time.

[minestrone]

And? It cost 150-300 times more to bail out banks and you get from this higher charges, at least broadband will remain for a long time.

So the governemnt 'bailed out the banks' and you are getting excited about a billion that 'could' be spent in an area of the country you have never lived in.

Hell, what is a billion? Can you not see that this is an empty promise?

[AtW]

So the governemnt 'bailed out the banks' and you are getting excited about a billion that 'could' be spent in an area of the country you have never lived in.

Look, I don't live in Scotland either but I do support high speed rail link that would finally give this country quick service like people enjoy in Japan, France, Germany. It will cost £20 bln but it will connect this country and help make it stronger.

You might lack some strategic thinking (among other things) to understand the important of such things, but thankfully even Labour Govt gets it.

[minestrone]

Look, I don't live in Scotland either but I do support high speed rail link that would finally give this country quick service like people enjoy in Japan, France, Germany. It will cost £20 bln but it will connect this country and help make it stronger.

You might lack some strategic thinking (among other things) to understand the important of such things, but thankfully even Labour Govt gets it.

A high speed rail link is exactly what people in the islands have been asking for. You have the finger on the pulse of rural economies.

[AtW]

A high speed rail link is exactly what people in the islands have been asking for. You have the finger on the pulse of rural economies.

You can't have 200 mph link build to every small island, it would cost £20 bln just to have mainline going through London/Birmingham/Manchester/Glasgow.

With broadband however it is possible to link up even fairly remote places.

[minestrone]

You can't have 200 mph link build to every small island, it would cost £20 bln just to have mainline going through London/Birmingham/Manchester/Glasgow.

With broadband however it is possible to link up even fairly remote places.

It cost a fortune to get mains electricity to some of these houses, a phone was seen as a luxury. Laying a cable over 40 miles then laying it 1 mile from the main road is not what the country should be spending money on.

[AtW]

Laying a cable over 40 miles then laying it 1 mile from the main road is not what the country should be spending money on.

Wireless can deal with the last mile - but you need high quality fiber optics backbone not that far off houses: there is no capacity in networks in this country thats why BT gives like 20-40 GB traffic - it's total joke.

£1 bln is not a lot of money to get universal broadband coverage, if its use is spread over 20 years then it works out about £1 per UK person per year.

[TykeMerc]

I doubt that £1bn would get universal broadband coverage even at todays ADSL speeds let alone 50 meg.

That said it's high time Britain got some sizable infrastructure improvements in telecoms, transport and services as we're lagging well behind many First world countries in all of these areas.

[Pickle2]

Will the bumpkins stop whinging about fox hunting now then?