Web minister Maria Miller: UK WILL hit 2015 broadband target

Culture Secretary Maria Miller insisted during parliamentary questioning that the government's £680m Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project will hit its target of bringing download speeds of at least 2Mbit/s to almost every Brit by 2015. Meanwhile, her department's rhetoric has changed to reflect the fact that many of the rural …

[AndrueC]

at least 2Mbit/s to almost every Brit by 2015

Whup-de-doo.

I don't generally get on the 'faster is better' bandwagon but we're way beyond 2Mb/s as the minimum now. By 2015 we should be aiming for a universal minimum of 20Mb/s.

[Anonymous Coward]

I just want two providers to service my area! then I could have a true redundant connection, right now I have two via the same exchange, great if one line has an issue, not if the exchange goes boom...

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't generally get on the 'faster is better' bandwagon but we're way beyond 2Mb/

Broadband would be a good start in our area, at the moment a 3 dongle (3G) beats the dial-up we can recieve but is very weather / speed linked (and it's in East Anglia), plenty of villages around (30 mile radius) who are in similar position.

256K would be a start, 2Mb would be like the second of the lord (not Steve Jobs, the other one)coming to most here

[Anonymous Coward]

best *

*extensive terms & conditions, as well as exclusions and provisions apply. Don't try to find the full text, as they're being redrawn as and when, to be in full alignment with whatever is currently being pronounced, by this or that hon. Reality? Well, who cares about reality, We SPEAK reality!

[John Sanders]

2MB in rural areas...

2MB is what I get in London. :-(

[Crisp]

Maria Miller Has no experience in telephony or networking

And I have no confidence in her prediction.

[eezatehgeeza]

Re: Maria Miller Has no experience in telephony or networking

Rather:

Maria Miller is a politician - and I have no confidence in politicians...

[Crisp]

Re: Maria Miller Has no experience in telephony or networking

Her background is in marketing and advertising.

So, well... you be the judge.

[Elmer Phud]

Re: Maria Miller Has no experience in telephony or networking

Can I ask why the Culture Secretary is making promises about Broadband?

Is there not a Minister for Technology or even Commerce?

(Damn, nearly forgot, we are all supposed to be on-line to claim our Winter Fuel Allowance and it's local election time again so there are all sorts of sparkly things to lure the unwary. I guess a 'Culture' secretary has to address 'the people' occasionally.)

(but society doesn't exist -- 'growth' is the mantra)

[This Side Up]

Weasel Words

"More than two thirds of premises now have access to superfast broadband"

I guess "have access to" means "could have if they wanted it", not "have got". Anyway since when has 2Mbps been "superfast"?

"Broadband has a fantastic role to play,"

Quite clearly Miller is fantasising.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Culture Secretary Maria Miller insisted during parliamentary questioning that the government's £680m Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project will hit its target of bringing download speeds of at least 2Mbit/s to almost every Brit by 2015."

Presumably in much the same way that a bird hits a window ...

... also note cunning use of the word 'almost'.

[Matthew 3]

Some self-help options

As someone who suffered with a mere 0.5Mbps (surely a breach of fundamental human rights these days?) there are some things you can do yourself to improve things. I managed to get up to the heady heights of 3.5Mbps by moving my router to the BT master socket and disconnecting the redundant bell-wire from my phone extensions. A better quality router did the rest.

If none of those help my council are saying that rural locations with a school have a higher priority and will get fibre first (because of the high cost of their existing connections). Might be worth bearing in mind if you're moving house in the next twelve months.

[Anonymous Coward]

Download, schmownload

Why not give us some upload speeds. Then we can get some half-decent quality on video calls.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Download, schmownload

If upstream speeds were increased, then average citizens could (potentially) also be producers, and this would destabilise the power held by the incumbent media moguls. Gotta keep consumers consuming, hence zero effort to improve upstream.

[AndrueC]

Re: Download, schmownload

My FTTC connection gives me 17Mb/s upstream. That's enough to send at least a couple of HD video streams with a half-way decent encoder.

[Will Godfrey]

Meanwhile...

by then, the remaining 50 million or so will be too poor to even own a computer, let alone connect it to anything.

[Andy The Hat]

... and while this takes place anywhere there's a huge town to service and make it economically viable, I assume they'll continue to supply me with jugs of water to keep my wet string connection damp?