EE - Now a majority data-revenue operator, with the decline of voice revenues and rise of data

Telco 2.0 reports recent results from EE (Everything Everywhere):

Importantly, EE is now a majority-data carrier, with 51% of its revenue being non-voice, and 82% of its postpaid subscriber base on smartphones

We’re also a little amused by the fact 0.77% of total 4G traffic is accounted for by Speedtest.net, the 10th biggest single attraction - that’s got to be worth something in terms of publicity.

Shetland - Community broadband in Burrafirth (Shetland) launches 25 Mbps service

Cable reports a new wireless broadband services in West Burrafirth, Shetland:

Big communications firms have been unwilling to upgrade broadband networks in the area, so members of the West Burrafirth Community Broadband Group (WBCBG) took matters into their own hands by urging a local firm to carry out the work, reports the Shetland Times.

Lottery funding was secured for the project, prompting Shetland Broadband to install a wireless link at Engamoor capable of delivering speeds of around 25Mbps.

The service is set to go live today (May 1st 2013), offering residents and businesses a significant boost on the 160Kbps speeds previously available.

See the original story in the Shetland Times.

Kickstarter - Six months in Scotland shows 68% success rate raising £0.7M with median value of £1,461

Twintangible blogs on the first six months of Kickstarter in the UK, analysing the projects based in Scotland, though funding may well come from the UK or anywhere else on the Internet. Interestingly, nearly all the money was raised for projects in Edinburgh, with Aberdeen a not especially close second.

Of the eye catching projects the greatest total was raised by RunRev in Edinburgh whose project to take the Livecode software open source raised £493,795 from 33442 backers. But in terms of over achieving their target the Omega Titanium Wallet project from Fireti in Aberdeen outstrips all others by starting off looking for £4800 and raising £103,899 – a 2164% success rate!

UK - Review of rural broadband calls for more action and increased funding

Farmers Weekly has returned to its campaign Battling for Broadband which it ran in April 2012. It aimed to raise awareness of the "lack of adequate broadband in rural areas".

On the government's scheme to provide rural broadband, it quotes Charles Trotman, head of rural business development at the Country Land and Business Association (CLA):

The funding process has been horrendously complex...

For communities to match fund you're talking a lot of money and, in theory, they're supposed to have it completed by 2015 ... It could have been a lot easier.

FW complains that BT will pick up more than 40 local contracts, with 18 already signed.

The government has put aside £20m of which £10m came from DEFRA and the other £10m comes from the BDUK fund, which it will be allocated to community-run projects.

According to a DEFRA study, 92% of farmers had broadband, only 32% of had speeds of over 2Mbps, with 6% still using dial-up technology.

Glasgow - Smart City project to include 400 CCTV "super intelligent" cameras

The BBC reports that Glasgow City Council will install 400 super-intelligent cameras for CCTV intended to counter terrorism and prevent suicide.

This is part of the Future Cities Demonstrator funded by the UK Technology Strategy Board.

Cornwall - Superfast broadband reaches 80% coverage with a target of 95% including the Isles of Scilly

Telecoms.com reports that BT has reached 80 per cent coverage of Cornwall with Superfast Cornwall and expected to reach 95 per cent:

Take-up is also building strongly with over 24,000 subscribers through 32 service providers, including over 3,000 small businesses. Businesses continue to do great things with these connections.

And we also announced we would take fibre to one of Europe’s most isolated communities – the Isles of Scilly – comprising just 2,000 people on five islands 40km off-shore into the Atlantic. This innovative scheme will re-use two international service cables while navigating one of Europe’s most environmentally protected zones.

UK - OFCOM invites applications for a experimental white space technology

OFCOM has invited experimental services that use the "white space" in conventional television signals:

Ofcom is inviting industry to take part in the pilot, which is intended to take place in the autumn. The locations for the trial will be chosen once trial participants have been identified.

Following a successful completion of the pilot, Ofcom anticipates that the technology could be fully rolled out during 2014, enabling the use of white space devices across the country.

Under Ofcom’s plans, a TV white space device will not be able to start transmitting until it gets clearance from a database qualified by Ofcom and listed on a dedicated Ofcom website.