BT have revealed that more than one million South West homes and businesses will have access to super-fast broadband by the end of next year. Some of the communities to be added to the roll out include Bedminster, Bishopsworth, Eastville, Henbury and Kingswood.

Barbara Janke, Bristol City Council leader, said:

“Bristol is well-known as a digital leader amongst cities.  It is very welcome news that more communities and companies across Bristol are going to have access to super-fast broadband. The investment means faster connections, better access to online services and more incentive for people to get online.

“We are keen to work with partner providers such as BT to make sure the infrastructure is there for our companies to thrive and grow, and all our residents have the opportunities to benefit from using the internet.”

For more information on Openreach’s super-fast broadband programme visit www.superfast-openreach.co.uk

In his autumn statement the Chancellor George Osbourne has announced funding to create a hub of super-fast cities with broadband speeds of between 80 to 100Mbps and city-wide high-speed mobile connectivity.

£100million has already been set aside to enhance connectivity in London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, with up to 6 more cities to be chosen by National competition. Once the terms of the competition have been announced we will be making sure that Bristol’s case is well represented. We will post up more information as it becomes available.

Nominet have launched a new ‘Accidental Outlaw’ campaign which highlights that we are all in danger of becoming ‘accidental outlaws’ by not fully understanding how the law affects us online.

They have launched a free online test which lets consumers test their understanding of how the laws apply online and check out how to stay out of trouble. www.knowthenet.org.uk/accidentaloutlaw

They also commissioned research which explored consumers’ ability to spot online activities that break the law.

On average 44% of people were unable to correctly identify illegal activities when presented with a range of possible online scenarios including defamation, copyright, infringement and hacking.

Read more about the research here: http://www.nominet.org.uk/news/releases/?contentId=8863

15 free places are available at a special workshop at the NextGen conference that will explore the role Next Generation broadband will play in driving economic growth, business success and regeneration in the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.

The workshop is being held on 16 November, between 10am and 1pm. It will feature presentations by key speakers at the UWE Exhibition and Conference Centre, Bristol, and a guided tour of the Zone. It forms part of the Next Gen 11 conference and exhibition, the UK’s premier platform for Next Generation broadband infrastructure investment.

To book a place, which are offered on a first come first served basis, contact robin.mcdowell@bristol.gov.uk . Please indicate whether you wish to attend both the presentations and tour, or the tour alone.

Those who take up the offer of free places at the workshop will be given a complimentary pass for Day 2 of the Next Gen 11 conference.

Next generation broadband is going to unlock a range of new opportunities as it rolls out across the UK. The first superfast exchages are already appearing in the City and will be quickly followed by more in the months to come.

According to Openreach, the body responsible for the UK’s local access network infrastructure,  these upgrades can deliver superfast broadband download speeds of upto 40Mbits/s and upload speeds of 15Mbit/s with fibre to the cabinet or  anything between 110Mbps and 300Mbps with the Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) options.

As well as the potential to download albums in minutes and watch TV in 3D or HD, it could also realise the full potential of a host of new services such as telehealth care or telepresence videoconferencing.

If you are interested being one of the first people in Bristol to benefit from next generation broadband find out more at the Openreach website at www.superfast-openreach.co.uk.

NextGen is the UK’s showcase for Next Generation broadband activity – enabling a wider understanding of digital network investment as the essential foundation for local economic growth and innovation.

There will be a NextGen Roadshow taking place in Nottingham on Wednesday 6 July and Bristol City Council will be host to this year’s NextGen 11 Conference on 15 and 16 November. Registration for this event opens 1 September 2011.

If  you and your neighbours are keen to receive super-fast broadband you can now register your interest with BT and push them to consider prioritising the upgrade of your local infrastructure.

This Race to Infinity initiative builds on a similar approach BT implimented during the roll out of first generation broadband. Local communities were encouraged to raise awareness and campaign in order to demonstrate that a viable local market existed before BT invested in network upgrades in marginal areas.

BT’s goal is to enable 5 of these demand driven exchanges by 2012.

UPDATE: Bradley Stoke Residents are taking advantage of this opportunity to raise the profile of their case for faster broadband.

Next generation broadband is on its way to Cornwall. The project, expected to cost around £140 million, will provide  state of the art connectivity to 90% of the Counties homes and businesses by 2014. The work has been jointly funded by the European Regional Development Fund and BT.

B-Open innovative data projects competition, part of Media Sandbox 2010, is now live.

B-Open is one of the digital city projects being developed by Connecting Bristol in support of the 20-20 City Strategy. Its about openly sharing council/city data and working with local digital businesses and communities to create new applications and services that bring added value to citizens and help achieve greater connection with the city environment. Whether its engaging with peak oil, climate change or the wider green agenda.

Media Sandbox is a development programme enabling companies to research emerging possibilities in interactive, digital media, create new ideas and deliver innovation to the market.  In its third year Media Sandbox, managed by i-shed, is offering seven £10,000 commissions to support research and development of innovative experiences content, applications of experiences under two strands: open data and pervasive media.

A launch event is taking place on the afternoon of 30 June at Watershed in Bristol.
Further details and registration are available here.

Resources:-

Bristol City Council Open Data Scoping Document.
A copy of the B-Open logo can be download here

The controversial Digital Economy Bill had its second reading in the Commons yesterday with only five percent of MPs attending the debate while thousands of citizens Twittered their views watching live at home.

Proposals to levy a 50p landline tax to fund the expansion of next generation broadband were dropped from the legislation but measures to significantly enhance anti-piracy provisions are going forward to a final reading. These measures include compelling Internet Service Providers to suspend alleged filesharers’ internet connections.

One of the consequences of the legislation may be that the owners of publicly-accessed wi-fi will be held responsible for content that is illegally downloaded by individuals using the hotspot. This could signal the end of freely accessible, public wifi in cafes, restaurants and pubs all over the Country.

The remaining stages (committee stage, report stage and third reading) before the Bill becomes law are expected to be completed this evening and can be watched live on the BBC.