Many agencies, organisations and businesses in Bristol recognise the vital importance of next generation broadband in building a sustainable economic future for the City. A Citywide partnership has been built, through the Gigabit Bristol programme, with the aim of delivering broadband infrastructure that fits our ambition to be a leading European Green, Digital City.

Recent research by uSwitch.com is suggesting that there are considerable inconsistencies in access to the highest speeds. Here in Bristol there is an 81% variance between the highest and lowest available speeds.

As access to broadband becomes a necessity, and more services are developed for ultrafast infrastructure, this type of inequity could develop into a connectivity divide whereby business and households in underserved neighbourhoods are put at a disadvantage.

The advent of fibre broadband has spawned the phrase ‘superfast’ broadband. Maximum speeds of 100Mb are already widely available and are set to double, and more, in the not too distant future. But why does your business need to be superfast in terms of broadband?

Location, location, location

The broadband postcode lottery can be cruel, especially if you’re on an old copper wire (ADSL) connection. Your exchange may have a maximum speed of 20Mb, but if you happen to be a long way from the exchange you can get a fraction of this.

Copper was initially used for phone lines because it was perfect for transferring calls. Unfortunately, it doesn’t handle data quite so well. It tends to ‘lose’ packets over distance – and the more data packets lost, the more that need to be resent, which of course affects your speed.

Fibre is far more efficient at transferring data, so packet loss over distance is much less of an issue. This means that a fibre line with a max speed twice as fast as your current copper line could actually realise speeds many times faster than you’re used to.

Practical applications of fibre

In terms of practical applications, especially for home broadband, fibre is yet to fulfil much of its potential. However for businesses, where many people can be sharing the same connection at once, the case for upgrading is stronger.

There can be a lot of pressure on an office internet connection. Whether you’re using your line for downloading or transferring large files, video conferencing and streaming or simply accessing a lot of data intensive websites or applications, superfast broadband can offer you the bandwidth to guarantee everything runs smoothly.

In fact, if you’re paying for several ADSL lines you may find a single fibre connection may meet your needs; and actually end up saving yourself some money. And as a bonus, you’re future-proofing your business for when your staff start demanding more data intensive must-have applications.

Every business is different

There are many other business arguments for superfast broadband that will affect people on a business by business basis.

For example, customer-facing businesses such as cafes, hotels and stores are increasingly under pressure to offer Wi-Fi. But there’s nothing worse than offering it and then giving a slow and unreliable service that will harm rather than help your reputation. One good superfast fibre connection should cover the needs of a small business.

Another common bonus of a business fibre connection is a much improved upload speed. Any business that has to share a lot of large files will immediate see the benefit of this upgrade. And it’s the same for uploading data and video streams.

Finally, there’s the savings to be made by businesses that spend a lot of time on the phone; transferring calls onto IP based services can save your business thousands. Whatever your business uses the internet for, there’s a good chance a fibre connection can either save you time, or make/save you money.

Author Bio:

Chris Marling writes for the UK broadband information site Broadband Genie.

The Government has expressed very ambitious targets for connectivity in the UK. The vision is that nine out of ten homes and businesses in every county in the UK should have access to superfast broadband by 2015.

Bristol has its own ambitious ‘Gigabit Bristol’ plan to deliver Ultrafast connectivity in the City, but these projects are not without their challenges. The BBC’s In Business programme this week unpacked some of those challenges in a pretty accessible and digestible programme called “Strike Up the Broadband”. Its well worth a listen if you are at all interested in where are digital infrastructure may be heading.

Bristol has been used as a test bed for 4g for the last few months, but from today you will be able to browse the web in the City using a superfast mobile connection. The first commercial 4g services have been launched by EE (formerly Everything Everywhere) here and in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Southampton.

4g coverage in Bristol

You will need a 4g enabled device and a data tariff to be able to take advantage of this, but the advertised speeds of between 8 and 12 megabits per second (Mbps) should create the potential for new mobile products and services.

Get IT Together in Bristol celebrated its first anniversary at the end of September 2012.  It is part of the UK wide Get IT Together programme which has multiple projects in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The Bristol project is a partnership between Bristol City Council’s digital agency Connecting Bristol, Citizens Online and BT.  The local focus is on increasing digital inclusion in the Bristol area for anyone 55 or over, disabled adults and their adult carers.  This is done by providing free, basic IT courses at multiple locations throughout the city.  The IT courses are offered either by the project’s friendly volunteer trainers at community locations or at a close partner training provider venue.

To reach the project’s demographic it has worked at strategic and grassroots levels, with 22 close partners including Bristol Libraries, Link Age, Local Learning (Learn Direct), Job Centre Plus, The Vassall Centre Trust, Bristol Older People’s Forum, North Bristol Advice Centre, Wecil, Housing 21, Bristol City Council’s Learning Communities and the Tithe Barn.

More than 30,000 people in Bristol have been made aware of the project’s work as well as the digital inclusion agenda.  This has been achieved via local advertising, taster sessions and media press coverage.

Over the last year an overall total of 681 participants completed a basic IT Course through the project or its close partners.  This is the highest number of completed course participants of all UK wide Get IT Together projects within a first 12 month project period.

Nearly 40 volunteer tutors have been recruited, trained and managed to ensure that the courses are offered in a professional and friendly environment.  Many volunteers have run four or more new rounds of courses at a specific location to help deal with the high level of participant demand.

Once completing their course participants are able to use a mouse and keyboard, navigate Windows, search the internet and use email.  Participants are then given the option to progress onto a close partner’s intermediate course should they wish.  In addition course participants are made aware of the Council’s Computer Reuse Scheme which provides affordable computers to Bristol residents who fall within the entry criteria.

For a more detailed summary of the project success, an annual report is available at: http://www.citizensonline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Bristol-Annual-Report-2011-12_External.pdf

If you know someone who may benefit from these courses or you’re interested in volunteering, contact Marius on 07785 462 568 or email marius.jennings@bristol.gov.uk

Marius Jennings works within the Connecting Bristol team as our digital inclusion co-ordinator.

Marius Jennings (left) and Pete Britten (right)

He develops and delivers the Get IT Together in Bristol project to help people previously unable to use IT get the confidence and skills to use computers and the internet. He has just completed year one of a three-year secondment from the Citizens Online charity, funded by BT.

I’m in the Council House this morning, but my day can start anywhere in Bristol as we deliver training across the city.

Our courses are for people most likely to be disadvantaged around computer use. These include disabled people, those on means tested benefits, older people and carers. We take people from the very basics – powering up and logging on, mouse and keyboard use, through to doing web searches, email and using online services.

This morning I make some calls to volunteers. They’re crucial in delivering our training and we’ve around 25 active people involved.

It’s also a chance to catch up with Connecting Bristol team colleagues and talk through some work with Pete Britten. Pete is a council apprentice who is now working with me, which is great as I’ve been flying solo for a year!

We discuss the waiting list – we try to respond to people’s requests for training quickly, but there’s often a wait. We’re also sorting out Pete’s role in the council’s Computer Reuse Scheme. This scheme reconditions redundant PCs and provides them for a nominal charge to people who would not otherwise be able to afford a computer.

After a quick coffee I walk over to the Central Library. We’ve a course running there next week. We have a strong relationship with Bristol Libraries. They’ve been very supportive in finding us space and helping promote the training.

Lunchtime I’m in Fishponds. I’m trying to locate another course venue. We know there is local demand and need to get a course running here. The Vassal Centre is already hosting some training for disabled people, but we need another option.

By the afternoon I’m down in south Bristol at a Jennings Court, a Housing 21 sheltered housing scheme, not named after me! I’ve been leading a course here for the last few weeks. A couple of volunteers are involved. Ideally our course ratio would be one-to-one, but that’s not possible. Today we’ll have seven trainees.

It’s a great to see people get over their computer fears and begin to benefit from IT. Our current group are set to use the internet to stay in touch with friends, develop their interests and access services.

After the session I check emails and update some reports on the scheme’s overall performance – looking back we had a good first year. One hundred and thirty people trained, several hundred more supported to get training or computer access elsewhere and we found 15 training locations around the city. Those figures are still rising and that’s what funders and the council want reported on and that’s what I’ll do – online of course…

If you know someone who may benefit from these courses or you’re interested in volunteering, contact Marius on 07785 462 568 or email marius.jennings@bristol.gov.uk

Over the next three years Bristol will see an enormous investment in the City’s broadband infrastructure to bring it in line with World Leading digital cities like Tokyo and Singapore.

The CBI has just published “Better connected, better business” a report that underlines the importance of broadband and other infrastructure in growing the local economy. According to the reort;

• over 80% of firms see the quality and reliability of transport and digital infrastructure as significant considerations in investment decisions
• firms are positive about digital connectivity, but less so about mobile broadband networks
• over 60% of firms judge infrastructure elsewhere in the EU to be better than in the UK

Do you know someone who wants to get online at home but is worried about the cost or intimidated by the technology? The National Get Online @ Home initiative might be just what they need to join the connected community.

Computers are available from £99 for eligible applicants, and laptops for £169, and now there is a special offer of £50 off for combining Talk Talk broadband with a machine.

Get Online at Home is an initiative led by Microsoft, with the support of Simplify Digital, an OfCom-accredited price comparison website able to mediate the provision of broadband solutions from a selection of independent Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher (MAR) and Microsoft Registered Refurbisher (RRP) Partners, to provide low cost refurbished desktop and laptop computers to support the Go ON UK digital inclusion programme led by Martha Lane Fox.

The NextGen 2012 National Broadband conference takes place in London on 8th and 9th October. The event will feature presentations on Next Generation Connectivity from policy makers, network operators, manufacturers, service providers, analysts and local decision-makers. There are still some places available if you would like to attend.

Bristol was initially nominated and now has been shortlisted for the Award for Urban Network Enterprise for our B-Open Wi-fi network. We’re up against four other strong projects so fingers crossed.

There has been a good deal of excitment and news coverage generated by the announcement that Bristol is to receive £11.3m to enhance broadband provision in the City. ITV produced a video package which nicely illustrates the impact it will have on jobs and growth in our digital and high tech industries.