<![CDATA[Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks....]]>Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks....

And at the same time B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North) continues to organically expand through the work of communities to bring world class broadband to non-urban areas.

Its almost like a community business model is more effective than a commercial one?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/62bee710-6187-4a0e-8414-01abae4e7125/once-again-the-ft-reports-things-are-not-well-in-the-altnet-sector-of-broadband-provision-with-a-number-of-operators-struggling-to-find-sufficient-users-to-cover-the-investment-costs-of-digging-in-full-fibre-optic-networks....RSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 03:40:12 GMTSat, 09 May 2026 10:07:29 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 11:19:50 GMT]]>@gcvsa I am enjoying considering your different point of view. I suspect there is a middle ground.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/KimSJ/statuses/116544345897624642https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/KimSJ/statuses/116544345897624642Sat, 09 May 2026 11:19:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 11:18:19 GMT]]>@ChrisMayLA6 seems to me another example of predatory capitalism and brain washed consumers.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mindly.social/users/Herefordrob/statuses/116544339939921620https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mindly.social/users/Herefordrob/statuses/116544339939921620Sat, 09 May 2026 11:18:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 11:15:11 GMT]]>@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6 Indeed, primarily from a US perspective, although I am in the old colonies, which are as compact as the UK.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544327597588598https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544327597588598Sat, 09 May 2026 11:15:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 11:14:45 GMT]]>@KimSJ @gcvsa

Hilarious..... I thought the original reply was ironic; when it appeared it wasn't I was heartened by the responses - here in 'rural' NW Lancs, B4RN is not only a successful unfitly it underpins a range of business from services to agriculture that in the modern world need good broadband access..... yes, things might be different in the USA, but this was a post about the UK (I accept my using a US instance may have confused matters)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://zirk.us/users/ChrisMayLA6/statuses/116544325911817691https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://zirk.us/users/ChrisMayLA6/statuses/116544325911817691Sat, 09 May 2026 11:14:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 11:04:34 GMT]]>@gcvsa @ChrisMayLA6
Are you talking from a US standpoint? I accept that the drivers in America may be very different. UK is a lot more compact than most countries.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/KimSJ/statuses/116544285842044273https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/KimSJ/statuses/116544285842044273Sat, 09 May 2026 11:04:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 11:00:04 GMT]]>@annehargreaves @ChrisMayLA6 You are of course free to "disagree", but if your disagreement is based in nothing more than "but people live (or want to live) in rural areas", I'm supremely uninterested in listening to mere opinions on the subject of people's pastoral fantasies that are destroying our society.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544268152840797https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544268152840797Sat, 09 May 2026 11:00:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 10:57:40 GMT]]>@annehargreaves @ChrisMayLA6 In actual fact, mechanization of primary industry means that an exceedingly small percentage of our populations are now actually working in primary industries.

The vast majority of people now living in rural areas are doing so primarily because the availability of cheap transportation allows them to substitute transportation costs for rack rents.

Unrestricted electrification, telephony, and cars gave us sprawl. We can subsidize farmers without permitting sprawl.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544258736286385https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544258736286385Sat, 09 May 2026 10:57:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 10:53:57 GMT]]>@annehargreaves @ChrisMayLA6 Again, you are not thinking this through.

Yes, there are always going to be people whose employment in primary industries dictates that they will need to live in rural areas; however, that does not imply that we ought to serve every single cowpath with fiber optics and electricity distribution grids.

I would suggest that you would do well to investigate the actual proportion of your population that is engaged in primary industry. The truth may shock you.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544244095304339https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544244095304339Sat, 09 May 2026 10:53:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 10:52:20 GMT]]>@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6 For the record, although this is my personal account, and not my official one, I am a politician in a rural region, whose professional background is in communications network technologies, and I stand by these words very firmly. It's an uncomfortable truth to face, but one which we must nonetheless face, if human civilization of any advanced form is to survive this century.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544237793122383https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544237793122383Sat, 09 May 2026 10:52:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 10:50:34 GMT]]>@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6 You're not thinking this through. Yes, there are always going to be people whose employment in primary industries dictates that they will need to live in rural areas; however, that does not imply that we ought to serve every single cowpath with fiber optics and electricity distribution grids.

I would suggest that you would do well to investigate the actual proportion of your population that is engaged in primary industry. The truth may shock you.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544230796581113https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544230796581113Sat, 09 May 2026 10:50:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 10:45:05 GMT]]>@gcvsa @ChrisMayLA6
I assumed when I first read that post that it was sarcasm. On re-reading I’m not so sure, but if it’s not, it’s seriously misguided.
Yes, large conurbations are usually the greenest way to house people, but there will always be a need for some folk to live rurally. We should not condemn them to a second class lifestyle.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/KimSJ/statuses/116544209239900972https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/KimSJ/statuses/116544209239900972Sat, 09 May 2026 10:45:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 10:34:54 GMT]]>@gcvsa @ChrisMayLA6 Sorry I completely disagree. People do live in rural places. Existing inequality of income & opportunity between rural & urban areas won't be improved by denying what is now another utility without which it's very difficult to cope with normal life. Where UK went wrong in comparison with countries with the best coverage was in failing to put in nationalised infrastructure at the start.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://ioc.exchange/users/annehargreaves/statuses/116544169232836050https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://ioc.exchange/users/annehargreaves/statuses/116544169232836050Sat, 09 May 2026 10:34:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 10:27:21 GMT]]>@ChrisMayLA6 Utility service to rural areas is the biggest technological mistake humanity has ever made.

Rural electrification and telephony are what made flight from the city possible and comfortable for those who could afford personal motor vehicle transportation.

We must not make the same mistake twice.

We must converge all future development primarily on existing population centers, and abandon the hinterlands.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544139542604102https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116544139542604102Sat, 09 May 2026 10:27:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Once again the FT reports things are not well in the AltNet sector of broadband provision, with a number of operators struggling to find sufficient users to cover the investment costs of digging in full-fibre optic networks.... on Sat, 09 May 2026 10:18:40 GMT]]>@ChrisMayLA6 but how do BlackRock benefit?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/sashabilton/statuses/116544105406478439https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/sashabilton/statuses/116544105406478439Sat, 09 May 2026 10:18:40 GMT