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By silicon.com, 29 May 2008 11:41

COMMENT

Readers are up in arms over Ofcom claims that the 'digital divide' actually favours rural dwellers - with many disputing the so-called countryside speedy fat pipes. Another familiar topic getting readers hot and bothered this week is ID cards, following the announcement of the shortlisted suppliers for the lucrative IT contracts…

Rural fat pipes fat lie?...
Broadband Blighty gets a rural flavour

Our "rural" phone lines are very unreliable. Also, where they pass through trees they are badly affected by damp or windy weather; ancient streetlights add interference; and any lines which pass near radio masts suffer severe interference.

All this reduces the quality of speech calls but is disastrous for dial-up or for broadband.

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In our hilly area, mobile phone coverage is very weak and patchy.

So, many people have signed up for broadband with ISPs offering "up to 8Mbps", but many are very disappointed with the actual service.
-- Richard, Devon

Not sure where and how Ofcom carried out this survey but we have offices in Southampton, Taunton, Bristol and Birmingham with staff living in 'rural' areas around all of them and have had issues in all regions, and don't get me started on services to the Taunton office!
-- Anonymous, Bristol

Typical Ofcom - completely out of touch with the technology they are supposed to be monitoring. What use is it saying that rural areas have more coverage than towns? They may have wider coverage but certainly not wider bandwidth! Video-conferencing and high-speed downloads are not even worth contemplating for those who work at home.

How many rural users get anywhere near the supposed "up to 8Mb" that they pay for, would be a more relevant issue for Ofcom to monitor and report on.
-- Chris Walker, Staffordshire

…fat lie apparently
Rural fat pipe claims - "beggars belief"

Just because you have broadband access doesn't mean you get broadband speeds. I live in an urban environment but rarely get connections more than a quarter of a megabyte. Without some serious upgrading of the infrastructure this situation will remain for a lot of people - in fact, as more people connect through the same exchanges these speeds are likely to get worse.
-- Drew Stephenson, York

But, if they wished, how many of the remaining 41 per cent of rural dwellers and businesses could get broadband, compared with the remaining 43 per cent of urban ones?
-- Chris Walker, Staffordshire

ID cards
Time to bin ID cards?

I'm not against a basic ID card, photo, name, address, emergency contact details etc. If it was compulsory to carry (as in many countries) this would serve most of the stated aims of the project. There really is no need to go through the whole biometric ID business. The people who can fake passports nowadays will fake ID cards in the future - they'll just cost more on the black market.

And the idea that the government can effectively manage an IT project on this scale with five different suppliers, none of whom will actually be in competition, is farcical.
-- Drew Stephenson, York

£500m to replace the Passport system...

No wonder an adult 10-year passport is £79 and a child's five-year one is £49. They have (our) money to burn.
-- Anonymous, Birmingham

We already have UK ID cards - masquerading as "bus passes".

This is John Prescott's "citizen card" scheme.

Largely unnoticed, the new bus passes issued from April 2008 are actually "smart cards", complete with a passport grade digital photo.

The plan is to issue these first for concessionary travel, then to school children and students, then extend their use to all local services and benefits.

These cards, card-readers and the computer systems have built-in facilities for tracking, surveillance and sanctions.
-- Richard, UK

The ID card will be very useful in tracking those who act in a lawful manor but I fear it will do very little to resolve any other issues. Remember - criminals are very resourceful and nearly always find ways round the system.
-- Radical Meldrew, Suburbs

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