NTL -- in partnership with the Milton Keynes Council -- is in the process of extending its existing small-scale high-speed wireless network in the city by erecting a base station with a 10km range.
The wireless service will be operated on a trial basis at first, costing £24.99 per month for a 600-kilobit-per-second (Kbps) link. There are several hundred places available for local people who want to take part. If the trial -- which uses the 10GHz band of the radio spectrum -- is a success, it's likely that NTL will move to full commercial deployment.
Wireless is seen as a vital part of the challenge of making broadband universally available in Britain, so NTL's decision to extend its Milton Keynes service is significant for a city where only around 85 percent of people can get broadband at present.
"In order to take broadband forward to the next stage, we need more innovation -- in terms of price, products and innovative delivery methods," an industry source told ZDNet UK on Thursday.
Much of Milton Keynes was built in the 1970s, after the UK government decided a new city should be built in the area. But despite -- in part because of -- its modernity, Milton Keynes has a notoriously poor communications system.
Because Milton Keynes is based on a grid system, intersecting dual carriageways criss-cross the city. Telephone networks often route around them and some residents find their phone line goes around three sides of a square -- pushing its length beyond ADSL's 6km limit.
In addition, TPON (Telecommunications over Passive Optical Network) fibre has been used to connect outlying estates to BT's telephone exchanges, some of which are situated in the small villages that preceded the construction of Milton Keynes. This fibre cannot run ADSL, so BT recently added a copper overlay to make ADSL possible. Some of these links are also over 6km, though.
The upshot is that a much higher proportion of the Milton Keynes population can't get broadband through the phone system than is generally the case in similar-sized cities.
BT says that it is putting a lot of effort into solving these problems, as the lessons could be applicable to other broadband blackspots.
NTL itself operates a cable network, bought from BT, in the area, but unfortunately this network is not suitable for high-speed Internet services. A stretch of the Grand Union canal is also said to hamper network deployment.
Talkback
I run an electronic publishing platform from Milton Keynes, and it's been somewhat of an embarrassment to find that my own house could not get ADSL. Full story <a href="http://www.chalkface.com/catalog/html/custom/product_info.py?c_product_id=1083" target="blank">here</a>, for anyone who's interested.
I wish NTL would look into a wireless broadband network for the New Wardon Villages area of Worcester City. This area has 6000 houses only 9 years old and even though the exchange is enabled, the line length is too long, even with the extended reach (must be some line length). BT say it's just tough and there is nothing they can do. With us being in the 3% of people in this category they are not going to be in a hurry.
There is a local wi-fi system being set up that says it will eventually bring broadband to this area, however they are intending to charge £24 for a 256/128 service and £37 for a 512/256 service - which is expensive by today's standards.
NTL don't seem to want the business of only 6000 houses so it seems we will just have to wait for this expensive service to materialise
I have been a subscriber to the wireless trial since the begining of the year and am absolutely delighted with the installation, performance and relaibility of the NTL product. Set up was faultless and I have not encountered any problem whatsoever in four months. In contrast the attempt of BT to find a solution to the MK problem is less than poor. Even after their extended reach inititive is launched there will be huge tracts of the city that will not be able to recieve B'band. The service, response and investment of BT is about as effective as a flea on an elephant. Congratulations NTL
NTL would do well to fill some higher density areas than Milton Keynes that are suffering the same problems.
The Isle of Dogs in London for example, despite being in spitting distance of Canary Wharf, is a broadband black hole. Distances to the exchange are too great for ADSL, the cable tv network is still analogue, and there are no broadband wireless transmitters that service the area either.
After 5 years of trying in vain to get broadband, I'm giving up and moving.
In response to your post about broadband availability in the new Wardon Villages area of Worcester:
I live there, have always wanted broadband, but have always been told I couldn't get it.
Recently I experienced problems with my phone line. The engineer did a few things which i won't bore you with, and at the end, he measured the line distance from the exchange. It measured 4.35km. After several phone calls to BT, they still insist that I can't get broadband, despite the length of the line, without offering a reason.
Referring to NTL, I would support any organisation that brought broadband to the area, providing the fees were reasonably comparable to current options (i.e. not nearly double for a similar product. That would also include changing from SKY for my TV provision if necessary.
I live in Milton Keynes and have to plug my tv ariel into the NTL socket. (Pensioner)
Why have NTL lost channel 4 recently? Other people have lost it too as I rang various realatives and friends (in MK) whenh my channel 4 stopped and they had the same problem.
Today I rang NTL about this and was told an engineer would come to my house tomorrow. If this is a general problem surely it must be your transmiter?
Any one else have this problem?