[Satellite TODAY Insider 10-02-10] One of the United Kingdom’s more remote areas will see a $208.5 million broadband project roll-out from BT and Cornwall Council, which could have implications for satellite players hoping to offer satellite broadband services in this region, the companies announced Sept. 30.
    BT and Cornwall Council have initiated plans to create a high-speed network in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly that will be open to all communications providers on a wholesale basis. The aim of BT’s project to give between 80 percent and 90 percent of local businesses and homes access to super-fast fiber broadband by 2014.  Fiber-to-the-premise technology will be heavily featured in the new program, which can deliver broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps.
    BT is providing $124 million in financing, with a European Regional Development Fund convergence investment of up to $84.5 million.
    “Businesses and homes outside the fiber footprint will also receive faster speeds than today through a mix of alternative technologies such as advanced copper, wireless and satellite broadband. These technologies are more suitable to deploy than fiber broadband in the remotest and hardest to reach locations,” BT said in a company statement.
    The announcement comes a week after the European Commission gave its latest recommendations regarding broadband, which offered a mix bag for the satellite industry in Europe.
    Aarti Holla Maini, secretary general of the European Satellite Operators Association, said BT’s project in Cornwall is an example of why satellite has to be considered as part of the overall solution. “The mixed solution, which will endure even over the longer term, clearly shows investment decisions into delivering access must be based on a realistic cost-benefit analysis, rather than on a pre-defined, blind choice of a single technology. As to the speed, satellite, just as other technologies, is continuously increasing its performance, so all Cornish citizens will for sure have what they need.”

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