Why the Broadband Delivery UK Scheme came about
Despite being the sixth (6th) biggest economy in the world, leading the way in Europe for Internet adoption and connection speeds in the 90s and early 00s, the UK now falls way behind, at 31st in the worldwide rankings of average Internet connection speed.
One of the newest initiatives pushing the next generation of connectivity in Britain is the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme. Telcom is a proud supporter of the scheme for many reasons but mostly because it aligns with our mission to achieve a #GigaBritain future, where everyone in the UK has access to a gigabit connection.
I know many of you might think “but I don’t need a gigabit connection”. It’s really difficult to explain with words how beneficial this can be for you and your business. It can reduce tenfold the time you need to complete tasks, it gives you the option to transfer many of your operations in the cloud, it even has the ability to create new revenue channels for your business. If you want to learn more please contact us and I will be happy to help you understand how this can be adapted to your needs, and become a game-changer for your business.
Goals of the BDUK Scheme
The purpose and focus of the BDUK grant is to accelerate the penetration of superfast broadband services making it available for everyone. The problem, in most cases both for commercial and residential units, is the ‘last-mile’. This is the distance from the street cabinet to the premises or in some cases from the local exchange to the premises. Solving this issue will vastly change the landscape of Internet connectivity is UK.
In 2010 Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) started BDUK as a pilot programme to explore the opportunity and market need. By May 2011 BDUK programme was upgraded to a ‘detailed development’ project and started to expand in different areas across UK. At that time DCMS expressed its ambition that UK “will have the best superfast broadband network and connected society in Europe by 2015” (Source: Britain’s Superfast Broadband Future report as published on December 2010).
In this report DCMS describes the three main problems in implementing a nationwide Superfast Broadband network upgrade. The focus is in three main axes: availability, cost, and tailored value to customer needs:
- A network that can provide superfast broadband to half the population but nothing to everyone else is not best in Europe.
- A network that can provide superfast broadband access to everyone, but at prices that few can afford is also not best in Europe.
- A network that provides superfast broadband that few are interested in using will not be best in Europe.
The above problems if properly addressed are anticipated to accelerate the process of rolling out a programme like BDUK.
Getting Superfast Internet with the BDUK Scheme and Telcom
At Telcom we are working hard to help propel Britain into a superfast digital future. We believe in that goal and we work day and night to achieve providing: “Internet for the people”. We believe superfast broadband Internet should be available to everyone. But what does this actually mean? For you it means we use latest technologies to achieve the fastest possible network expansion and turn-around connection time.
This is where the BDUK programme acts as an enabler for ISPs to change the rules. The scheme is a catalyst that generates genuine interest for this type of service. At Telcom we attempt to provide a clear explanation of the costs and the type of service you can get, in a way that you understand us and in an extent you feel confident to trust us.
This is one of the main reasons we introduced our transparent flat (per product) pricing as we don’t like to charge people based on how deep is their pocket. So it’s in our core to make superfast broadband Internet affordable for everyone.
We like to work closely with our customers to help them understand how best to take advantage of their superfast broadband connection to improve both their personal and business lives. Through posts like this, we want you to know who we are and what we do. On top of this we want to better understand you and your business as we provide solutions for you to grow your business.
If you are interested in getting set up with the BDUK scheme or finding out more - you can read more about it and how to apply on our BDUK Scheme page. If you have any questions, we have a lovely team who’d be happy to answer them in our support section.