Yorkshire councils lose over £100m in Digital Project Shocker

[gremlin_mick 10]

It's also dearer than fibre services from the "big" companies like Sky and BT. I know it's not got the financial clout to compete with those companies, but surely more people would be interested if it was cheaper?

 

My exchange (Attercliffe) is only fibre enabled by DR companies, yet because it's dearer than my "normal" broadband, I'm not getting much of an incentive to sign up.

 

I've noticed LOADS of Digital Region stickers on cabinets recently. A case of too little too late methinks.

[hsb98c 19]

It's also dearer than fibre services from the "big" companies like Sky and BT. I know it's not got the financial clout to compete with those companies, but surely more people would be interested if it was cheaper?

 

My exchange (Attercliffe) is only fibre enabled by DR companies, yet because it's dearer than my "normal" broadband, I'm not getting much of an incentive to sign up.

 

I've noticed LOADS of Digital Region stickers on cabinets recently. A case of too little too late methinks.

 

You've got to make sure that you compare like for like. The DR is FTTC which can be many times faster than your current broadband. If you don't need the extra speed don't buy the faster product.

 

I couldn't get Sky Fibre when I joined Origin and when I did join, Sky were charing £30/month for the privilege in other areas. Origin was only £17.50 (now £18.50) but I did get free install and 3 month half price.

 

So in fact the DR is MUCH cheaper than the big companies.

[geared 303]

The biggest problem Origin and all the other ISPs had is the lack of advertising and online signup.

 

This 100%

 

I knew NOTHING about digital region until it hit the news recently.

 

I'd been living in an enabled area for YEARS but because it was so poorly advertised I didn't realise I could get it.

[dawny1970 10]

dr tho doesnt cover that much of sheffield tho, thats the big problem, it ran around the inner part of sheffield when most of sheffield is on the outer part

 

 

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[JIbbo 10]

Imagine if the council had decided to spend this sort of cash improving Don Valley.......

[Blackbeard 10]

Imagine if the council had decided to spend this sort of cash improving Don Valley.......

 

I suspect that it would get as much take up as the digital service got, when did you last use Don Valley?

[ZalzanKavol 10]

Part of the problem with DR is that, the same as BT, it is fibre to the cabinet. In many of our large cities loads of homes (mine included) are connected directly to the exchange with copper cable. This means there is no benefit from switching to fibre until someone finally deigns to roll out fibre to the premises. I tried to get on digital region as soon as it was available, but can't for the above reason. For the same reason I can't get BT infinity and so the only option for a decent broadband speed is to sign up with Virgin.

 

I hadn't realised until reading this thread that digital region was just focussing on the city centre...where the greatest proportion of properties connected direct to the exchange are. That's not going to help with demand.

 

See here (and in particular the comments) for more.

[rtbcomp 10]

^^

 

Exactly my situation. There are fibre cabinets down the road to me, but I'm stuck with copper all the way to BT's Wadsley Bridge exchange.

 

I've asked Virgin to came and have a chat about this, especially since BT/Yahoo email has started playing up.

[geared 303]

I suspect that it would get as much take up as the digital service got, when did you last use Don Valley?

 

What would I (general member of the public) use it for again???

 

---------- Post added 25-07-2013 at 13:05 ----------

 

Part of the problem with DR is that, the same as BT, it is fibre to the cabinet. In many of our large cities loads of homes (mine included) are connected directly to the exchange with copper cable. This means there is no benefit from switching to fibre until someone finally deigns to roll out fibre to the premises.

 

BT will begin the rollout of FTTP services soon.

 

50 exchanges (probably all in London) are going to be enabled by the end of the year.

[dawny1970 10]

i would just love an exchange nearer, mine is 1/2 mile away so only get 23 meg max, fttp would be amazing

 

 

Posted from Sheffieldforum.co.uk App for Android

[rtbcomp 10]

Beats my 2 Mbits/sec

[onlineo 10]

Looks like the plug may finally be pulled on this fiasco according to today's Star.

 

Mr Fallon launched a blistering attack on South Yorkshire councils and former development agency Yorkshire Forward for the failure of the initiative, describing it as “deeply flawed” and the contracts for the project as “very poor and badly negotiated.”

 

He told MPs: “By about this point it (Digital Region) was intended to have attracted 20 per cent of households in South Yorkshire, which would equate to 108,000 customers. It actually has 3,000 customers.

 

But of course Sheffield Council will claim that somehow it's all the Government's fault.

 

You've got to make sure that you compare like for like. The DR is FTTC which can be many times faster than your current broadband. If you don't need the extra speed don't buy the faster product.

 

I couldn't get Sky Fibre when I joined Origin and when I did join, Sky were charing £30/month for the privilege in other areas. Origin was only £17.50 (now £18.50) but I did get free install and 3 month half price.

 

So in fact the DR is MUCH cheaper than the big companies.

 

I have plusnet fibre. We pay £16pm, have landline with a different provider. Over wifi I get 24mb/s download and 8mb/s upload. Hardwired we get 60-63mb/s.

 

We got plusnet fibre when it first came out 2-3 years ago, at the time we could not get DR broadband. About 3 months later it became available, but it is slower and more expensive. Why would people move to it?