Notspot surveys

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After years without any reliable information gathering about where the notspots in the UK are which cannot get 'broadband', (careful with the definition of that term because if you use the 1984 def of 2Mbps+ symmetrical, most of the country is still without broadband), we now seem to have two notspot surveys/reports ongoing.

SamKnows and the BBC have been collating information on notspots and this will be shown on BBC News tomorrow Wednesday 27th May. If you are in any way interested in the broadband 'state of the nation', you need to keep an eye on BBC news and the website over the coming days, particularly the comparison of Uk with other countries, and the message which hopefully will come over loud and clear that this Govt needs to start spending on basic and vital infrastructure. ThinkBroadband have just announced their notspot survey too so if you are in a crap spot or a notspot, add your details.

The mapping clearly shows that this problem is widespread and affects all areas of the country, even those within urban/sem-urban areas who one would assume would have decent coverage. The previous notspot report conducted by ABC and CBN showed exactly the same back in 2004/5, so sadly, little has changed in 5 years. Whilst for some the speeds may have risen, for those in notspots and crapspots, it really hasn't. Far too many people are still reporting substantially below 512kbps, and there are plenty below 2Mbps. For those who have tried, even 2Mbps isn't sufficient for Youtube, iPlayer etc when the quality of the network, in particular the first mile, remains so dire.