4 snippets of JFDI FTTH news items this week

Tweet

As it is all the trend to write lists, here is a list of FTTH news items for y'all...

1. COTS Meeting - for all those who missed the first meeting, for whatever reason, the date of the next meeting is Sept 3rd, 1.30 intro for 2 - 4pm start. Make a note in your diary right now. And, good news, it's oop north, in Hull City Council Chamber, thanks to Hull City Council and Fibrestream. The agenda will be finalised tomorrow and released here as well as on the BSG site. Watch this space for booking info - places are limited. However, the event will be webcast and we expect all remote participants to engage through the backchannel on Twitter!

2. FTTH Colloquium - we have been promising a Colloquium for some time on this topic and there is now so much going on, it just has to be done. So, Sept 3rd, 9-9.30 for 10am start. Also in Hull, so you can walk through City Hall to the COTS meeting in the afternoon after partaking of a buffet lunch kindly laid on by Hull City Council.

The Colloquium is really important because whilst standards are being drawn up through COTS, and the Digital Britain Implementaiton plan is out there, many communities and grassroots activists are already out there digging, or planning to start (and finish, long before 2017!). The Colloquium will, with NextGenUs, provide suppliers, councils, community leaders, community champions, rural activists, small businesses, and other interested parties, with the opportunity to get together, discuss ongoing and foreseen problems, find solutions, see demos of equipment, share ideas, and feed information from grassroots and community broadband networks to the COTS meeting in the afternoon.

This is a talking shop, hence the name "colloquium" and is a perfect opportunity to get your community, local or parish council, products, backhaul solutions, and so on into the next gen access eNdGAme. There will be help and advice on funding, business models, sustainability, technical solutions, FiWi, community engagement, mapping, as well a chance to dispel some of the myths about FTTH costs and so on through the experiences of some of those present who have been there, JFDI and got the tshirt.

Once again, spaces are limited, and we always try to have the perfect mix of community/consumer, public sector and industry, so we strongly advise you to book your place early. The booking form will be available later in the week.

3) RNLI Big Dig - yes, as promised, it has all started. Thanks to many who have pledged and then delivered support, the fibre ducting is now all being laid and the fibre will be blown soon. You need to watch the videos....especially this one which now has had over 8000 views ...

4) And more internationally, the EU are looking beyond i2010 and are seeking views on where the Digital Europe strategy should be going. Your chance to have your say on what we require. You don't need to answer all questions in the survey, just those of interest to you so go to it!

More tomorrow....