Hebrides.net
The project rolls on and on, and remains a source of some contention.
It is therefore quite amusing to obtain a copy of some recent "In confidence" minutes, which includes the classic line (page 2) to justify £1m plus of further expenditure.....
What HIE should be worried about it not 'reputational risk' i.e looking like an arse, but quality and cost-effectiveness of the service delivered. That their priority is elsewhere speaks volumes.
It is therefore quite amusing to obtain a copy of some recent "In confidence" minutes, which includes the classic line (page 2) to justify £1m plus of further expenditure.....
Maintaining the roll-out of Infill infrastructure and services to meet customerPerhaps someone somewhere has the information to allow us to do the sums as to just how much it has cost so far. I fear that the number is so large as to be unbelievable......
demand and reduce reputational risks for HIE
What HIE should be worried about it not 'reputational risk' i.e looking like an arse, but quality and cost-effectiveness of the service delivered. That their priority is elsewhere speaks volumes.
7 comments:
I was a cyber numptie and pretty much still am. I am not interested in footering about trying to get something going.... I only want it to work. Anyway, changed from dial up to broadband only to be told that I needed to upgrade my computer, duly done. Then decided to do the local support thing and opt for the connected communities super duper connection as I am at the limit of landline broadband. Ho hum, two weeks later still waiting, and then decided to go to BT as they supply the landline, guess what? package installed in 4 days from date of first contact.
Point being, what is the justification for the whole Connected Communities other than another white elephant from those who would tell us what we 'need'.
Can anyone come up with a figure for what the whole fiasco has cost so far; not only in capital and running costs for the project but the cost to the individuals that have been at the receiving end and getting crappy, expensive, irrelevant advice.
Please can I get a job as a 'consultant' to a public body, all my trials would then be over.
Hmmm, suppose it depend which gravy train you are on. Amazing the amount of money which disappears on this island. It seems to depend who you know. Quite astounding that no-one (gov/quango officers) seems to drive down the road and see with their own eyes what we see with ours. Where did that £400K go? Wasn't there meant to be a something there? Thought this land was meant to be under management? Where are the sheep?
Nuff said !
There are a whole bunch of jobs going in Connected Communities, all advertised on the CNES new and updated website..ho..ho..ho.
I guess there is no pint applying as they are probably lined up for someone's rellie, mate, donkey or whatever. As 10.57pm explains, for all their faults, BT do get you up and running on broadband within a week. It is easy to set up yourself unless you have zero computing experience.
Just imagine how fabulous the islands could be if all the money that has been poured into 'local job creation' had been spent on something actually worthwhile and economically viable.
As it is we are inevitably going to see public funding drying up with nothing to show for it but an island full of expensive follies which no-one can afford to run. A few business men have got rich, some very short term jobs have been and gone and what next .....
There is a petition with the European Parliament about the ConCom initiative. We are complaining that the European funding that was used to set up ConCom has been to our detriment because it "expressly excluded" us from being part of the 2005 UK Government initiative when all the other non-commercial BT exchanges were upgraded and therefore denied us a better service. If the 21 exchanges had been upgraded as part of that initiative the cost would have been around £1.2M and given most households broadband in 2005 but instead around £8M has been spent on a service that still can't provide coverage. Also the fact that we are being forced into accepting a one ISP service goes against EU competition laws as their website states that "Effective competition to provide goods and services cuts prices, raises quality and expands customer choice. Competition allows technological innovation to flourish. The European Commission has wide powers to make sure that businesses and governments stick to EU rules on fair competition." They have already intervened with Microsoft, who were denying customers choice, and we are asking the same been done here. There is a window of opportunity here to make your feelings known, we are being heard in February, so please write to them and let them know what you think of the ConCom project, and tell others to do likewise. Speak now or forever hold your peace. We have been consistantly ignored by the political process in this country because nobody here wants to admit they have been involved in a flawed project, I think that Europe will be more objective, they are afterall listening to our complaint, which never happened here, so please make your feelings known to them. Write quoting Petition No.1249/08 to; The Secretariat of the Committee on Petitions, European Parliament, Rue Wiertz, B-1047, Brussels, Belgium.
I see that the rulers of the totalitarian state of South Uist are at it again - Heb.news.
I wager that this sort of thing is going to become prevalent as the cash-strapped community trusts try and ring fence all available resources and opportunities in direct competition, and obstructing enterprise.
It should be made a condition of public funding that any 'Trust' initiative must not conflict with private initiatives.
Mmmmmm an illegally funded enterprise asking for more funding when they already fail to meet their original remit of providing the islands with a broadband service at similar levels and comparable prices to the mainland. I mean £450 a month for a 4mb connection?
I identified a serious problem with their system and well after 12 months later they finally sorted it even though it was a ten minute job. No refund was offered even though it halved my service speed.
Who runs this company, who makes the pricing decisions = WIE, well one person in particular who will gladly disconnect me (once again) when he reads this post ;-)
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