Britain Seeks to Become World's 'Digital Capital'

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown says his goal is for Britain to become the “world's digital capital.” Obviously this isn’t going to happen overnight but the PM says this is all part of his plan to cement his country’s role as a "global economic powerhouse."

Although it currently trails many countries in criteria such as broadband penetration and mobile phone usage, Brown said Britain could leapfrog into the global lead. "Britain is going to lead the world. This is us taking the next step into the future, being the digital capital of the world," he said before the publication of the long-awaited "Digital Britain" report later on Tuesday.
 
God help us!
Our government are utterly shite when it comes to safe implementation of technology or even being wise about what is possible.
He knows bugger all about this and should not pose as someone with his finger in the pie.

Cloneable/fake ID cards or remotely cloneable RFID passports anyone?
As long as the systems allow instant access, they are prepared to accept massive influxes of illegal immigrants and who knows what else!
I mean they must know about this surely so this demonstrates massive incompetence. Either that or they just didnt realise, in which case they are again incompetent.
I'm dismayed at how little they know, I have zero confidence.
 
Well they already have digital cameras on every single damn corner, so I'd say they are almost there.
 
This is akin to Al Gore claiming he invented the internet. Gordon Brown can barely save his own arse from his political rivals. Sounds like public bantering to me.
 
God help us!
Our government are utterly shite when it comes to safe implementation of technology or even being wise about what is possible.
He knows bugger all about this and should not pose as someone with his finger in the pie.

haha, what?
 
haha, what?

He would be better off letting a technology Minister release the news, but still it wont change my opinion of what they have done so far.
They are not proactive at making things safe, only defensive when it goes wrong.
Take for example the lost CDs full of sensitive data that were posted in the mail, un-encrypted!
Then there were the Top Secret documents found "abandonded" on trains, more than once!
Looks like the Intelligence surveillance systems dont work that well. Surprised...?
ps I'm not anti Labour, hugely racked off with them though.
No party is worth voting for this time.
 
Originally posted by QueenLizII @ Twitter:

# Oh dear, what a pickle. The Obamas just left, and now our good silver is missing. That's not a racial thing, it's a missing-silver thing.
9:53 AM Apr 3rd from web

LOL
 
Sounds like he is just fishing for votes from young people who want faster internet connections.
 
That's like Greenland saying "We are a summer destination with our blue water and white sandy beaches"
 
Obviously this isn’t going to happen overnight but the PM says this is all part of his plan to cement his country’s role as a "global economic powerhouse."

I wonder where the bankruptcy of the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the absolute debasement of the pound falls into this master plan.
 
The UK certainly has made some technological strides in recent years, but it still has a long way to go before it can come up to the likes of high tech countries like Japan and South Korea.

Truth. I can't help but wonder how people in the US and UK can get themselves worked up over what to them seems like the latest and greatest technology. Take the iphone, sure it's cool and whatnot (baring the service plan) but diehards who ohh and ahh over it make me laugh. So you are now just getting 3g, gps and accelerometers that work? Really? I was in Japan and SK about a year ago and their phones were more reliable, had video chat, tv, realtime public transit schedules, concierge services, notify the police with autoGPS, paypass store and vending machine checkout and tons more. I could literally buy a pair of underwear, a keg of sake and check into a love hotel all with a cellphone in Japan. And people think making light-saber noises is somehow the evolution of great design...

Good luck with that Brownie.
 
Maybe the guy needs to take a cue from countries like Japan and S.Korea. You don't fund the expansions, you simply give them tax breaks and allow competitors to use others infrastructure.

This would allow more competitors into the market and essentially force ISPs to upgrade their own networks to stay competitive or make profits. Japan doesn't pay to expand networks, but since a single locations can easily have 8-10 ISPs, it's in their own interest to provide better or the best service.
 
Maybe the guy needs to take a cue from countries like Japan and S.Korea. You don't fund the expansions, you simply give them tax breaks and allow competitors to use others infrastructure.

This would allow more competitors into the market and essentially force ISPs to upgrade their own networks to stay competitive or make profits. Japan doesn't pay to expand networks, but since a single locations can easily have 8-10 ISPs, it's in their own interest to provide better or the best service.

and we have that here in the UK. The UK actually has some of the fastest broadband around. What the PM is talking about is deliverying broadband to all with Cable offering 50MBits and my ISP is trialing 48MBits over copper

I severly doubt that out in the mountains in SK and Japan they get the level of broadband that is avail in the cities. AND that is what this is about

Compare me in Birmingham who is connected to an ADSL2+ exchange (using BeThere as an ISP) I subsribe to 24MBits and I actually get 19MBits (20 on a good day) which is fantastic.
Now compare that to my lasses parents who live in a quaint village in the middle of nowhere. They pay for a 8MBit service but actually get somewhere near 400KBit simply because they are quite some distance from the ADSL1 exchange

THIS is what the PM is talking about. Already ISP are upgrading exchanges to ADSL2 and 2+ to compete BUT what about those on the very end of the copper?

The PM is talking about sending optics out either to all houses or to mini-exchanges so that ONLY the last mile is copper (it has always been about the last mile).


I am for this £6/year additional "tax" so that the ENTIRE country gets routed and broadband and really good digital services is available to EVERYONE not just those in cities and towns.
 
and we have that here in the UK. The UK actually has some of the fastest broadband around. What the PM is talking about is deliverying broadband to all with Cable offering 50MBits and my ISP is trialing 48MBits over copper

I severly doubt that out in the mountains in SK and Japan they get the level of broadband that is avail in the cities. AND that is what this is about

Compare me in Birmingham who is connected to an ADSL2+ exchange (using BeThere as an ISP) I subsribe to 24MBits and I actually get 19MBits (20 on a good day) which is fantastic.
Now compare that to my lasses parents who live in a quaint village in the middle of nowhere. They pay for a 8MBit service but actually get somewhere near 400KBit simply because they are quite some distance from the ADSL1 exchange

THIS is what the PM is talking about. Already ISP are upgrading exchanges to ADSL2 and 2+ to compete BUT what about those on the very end of the copper?

The PM is talking about sending optics out either to all houses or to mini-exchanges so that ONLY the last mile is copper (it has always been about the last mile).


I am for this £6/year additional "tax" so that the ENTIRE country gets routed and broadband and really good digital services is available to EVERYONE not just those in cities and towns.

Port speed means jack shit. I wish people would understand this.
 
Port speed means jack shit. I wish people would understand this.

ok I actually download at 2megabytes/sec while downloading Openoffice from a good mirror
How is that.

My point still stands "Port speed" varies depending on where you are from the exchange.
This digital bill is to try to raise the floor figure so things like BBC's iPlayer (which EVERY British citizen pays for) can actually use (at present not everyone can)
 
This is just a pipe dream. Tech needs to have freedom in order to inovate. They are gonna choke any real progress.
 
and we have that here in the UK. The UK actually has some of the fastest broadband around. What the PM is talking about is deliverying broadband to all with Cable offering 50MBits and my ISP is trialing 48MBits over copper

I severly doubt that out in the mountains in SK and Japan they get the level of broadband that is avail in the cities. AND that is what this is about

In S.Korea, no. In Japan, yes. They can get up to 100 Mbps. I use to live in Fussa and I had a friend living in Okutama. It was out in the mountains with like a population of around 6k ppl. Even in a village like that, you still get ISP competition, due to the sharing of networks.

While I lived in the UK, there was no real competition. You had to get a BT phone line, cause that's what your DSL went over. Even if it's a completely different ISP, you needed a BT line, which I'm sure the ISP has some kind of fee to BT for the usage.

I went with NTL cable while I was there. Old home was in Burwell, Cambridgeshire. Just a crappy 10 Mbps connection, but it was the best I could get. Zero DSL options and no other competition. Either NTL broadband or BT dialup.

Right now, I'm rocking a very crappy 16 Mbps connection from T-Mobile Deutschland, but at least I'm actually getting 2 MB/s. I of course live in the downtown area of the largest city within 100 km.
 
ummm I am talking about villages with a population of a few hundred or hamlets with population of a few 10's
 
"what this is all about" is delivering blazing fast internet to hamlets?

in short... yes
There is something like 30% of this country that cannot get access to any form of broadband because they are too remote and in a community too small for ISP's to invest in

By putting down this phoneline "tax" cable can be placed to link closer to these remote places so all within the british isles can get access to broadband

BT is already laying cables to houses within cities, but there is finacial incentive todo that (they have already made $$$ from alot of ppl there).
Likewise every british citizen has to pay for a TV licence (for the BBC), part of this licence actually funds the BBC iplayer, a facility which you NEED! broadband. It is not good that 30% of the country is paying for something they cannot utilise

As long as this digital bill and this tax is used to reach out to the remote locations (and not to subsidise ISP's upgrading inner-city exchanges) then this is a VERY GOOD THING.
 
It doesn't make sense to bother wiring them. Even if you did, the odds of them even having a computer is pretty low. Guess what? Fast broadband is not a necessity. If it were, those 30% will die soon.

Also not ever British citizen has to pay for a TV license. Only those who have a TV that is capable of picking up the stations. They only force those who are going to use it to pay. They don't force every single person to pay. I was in England for 3 years, I sure as hell didn't pay the stupid TV tax. I bought a US TV for that very reason. It's incapable of picking up the PAL signal.
 
*sigh*
every house that can pick up BBC television (be it via airwaves,satilite,cable...) must pay for a TV licence. The VAST majority of the population accomodation is in a position where they must pay for a licence

HOWEVER, the vast majority of the population cannot recieve broadband
This digital bill is trying to address this by providing funds todo the initial laying down of fibre needed to bring broadband to those area's of the UK that are economically too far away from an exchange.

30% is a significant figure and they are not about to die... likewise most of these proporties are in quite sort after locations (my lasses parents have a tudor B&W house which is worth over 500k) - they can't get anywhere close to 1Mbit/sec and are unable to use BBC iplayer YET they pay for it

I fail to see why non-brit are even bothering to object to
1) British Gov'n wanting to improve the digital contectivity for BRITS
2) a tax on BRITISH phonelines
since it only effects... BRITISH PEOPLE
 
Likewise your weakstrawman w.r.t. "only those who can get broadband should have a computer" is weak

1) you do not need broadband to have a computer
2) there are many uses besides browsing broadband web content that a computer can do
3) dialup is still used in this country and is still accesible for those 30%
4) the PM wants to raise the floor of what "broadband" is. those out in the sticks can get get nowhere near the 8Meg that they are sold but some may be buying broadband services to make use of ADLS instead of tying up the phoneline

you are making alot of assumptions about 30% of the population which it seems you are relying on just dying...
 
in short... yes

hamlets dont need internet access, much less broadband :p

There is something like 30% of this country that cannot get access to any form of broadband because they are too remote and in a community too small for ISP's to invest in

yeah lack of competition alongside screwy regulation is a problem here in the states too. actually id say its even more of a problem here. wheres my fiber optic line already?
 
*sigh*
every house that can pick up BBC television (be it via airwaves,satilite,cable...) must pay for a TV licence. The VAST majority of the population accomodation is in a position where they must pay for a licence

HOWEVER, the vast majority of the population cannot recieve broadband
This digital bill is trying to address this by providing funds todo the initial laying down of fibre needed to bring broadband to those area's of the UK that are economically too far away from an exchange.

30% is a significant figure and they are not about to die... likewise most of these proporties are in quite sort after locations (my lasses parents have a tudor B&W house which is worth over 500k) - they can't get anywhere close to 1Mbit/sec and are unable to use BBC iplayer YET they pay for it

I fail to see why non-brit are even bothering to object to
1) British Gov'n wanting to improve the digital contectivity for BRITS
2) a tax on BRITISH phonelines
since it only effects... BRITISH PEOPLE


Guess what? Brits aren't the only ones who live in Britain and pay taxes. I was there for 3 years and had to pay the stupid taxes. There's also the change I'll end up back there again. Course I'd rather pay their stupid taxes, then ever be in Germany again.
 
Likewise your weakstrawman w.r.t. "only those who can get broadband should have a computer" is weak

1) you do not need broadband to have a computer
2) there are many uses besides browsing broadband web content that a computer can do
3) dialup is still used in this country and is still accesible for those 30%
4) the PM wants to raise the floor of what "broadband" is. those out in the sticks can get get nowhere near the 8Meg that they are sold but some may be buying broadband services to make use of ADLS instead of tying up the phoneline

you are making alot of assumptions about 30% of the population which it seems you are relying on just dying...

1) duh
2) duh
3) yes, but guess what? Satellite internet for those who want something faster.
4) buyer beware. If you know you can't get an actual 8 Mbps connection, then why they hell aren't you going for the cheaper ADSL selection? Tiered services.
 
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