In order to realise these benefits, this requires a quality, consistent and symmetric, same upload and download, of 1Mbps per staff member.

Elastic Domain Cloud Computing readily generates ongoing cost savings of 30% to 40% which is hugely significant when you consider a conventional 30 users business network has a 3 year Total Cost of Ownership of £150,000 or more.

This is an interview from BBC Radio Scotland, “The Business” with Graham Stewart  – podcast here from 17 Minutes 50 Seconds onwards and archived at the end of this post.

Transcript::

GS: Let me bring in Guy Jarvis, who runs telecommunications solutions specialists FibreStream – Guy you are very much engaged with the Next Generation of Communications Technology, what is it you offer?

GJ: We take an alternative approach to Next Generation Access, the simplest way to describe the Fibrestream difference is we say the First Mile rather than the Last Mile…

This is because where communications networks are concerned, its the people in communities, the businesses, particularly in rural areas, who pay for the services, who make it happen, so they need to be put first in this mix.

This means as much mutual NextGenUs ownership as it does the technology itself.

Our sense of The Carter Report is that it is not a bad report per se, it just a little bit conservative with small c in terms of its aspirations for the country.

GS: Why… 2017 for extra fast broadband, what’s wrong with that?

GJ: We are talking about aspirations, being world leading, let’s take just the two examples of the South Korean and Japanese Universal Service Obligations – 100Mbps upload and download today, their aspirations are for 1000 Mbps in 2012, this is in contrast to Carter’s 2Mbps download-only for 2012 and perhaps 50Mbps for 2017.

GS: Do we really need those speeds though?

GJ: Yes I think we do, if we are looking at the direction that business computing is moving in.

One of the really big growth areas is what’s called Cloud Computing which mean low cost machines in the business, less requirement for scarce and costly support staff on site as everything works remotely.

This is instead of having a lot of expensive equipment on the premises especially in rural areas where also there are often issues with power supplies and reliability.

GS: Final question to Danny  – As regards the economy of Scotland and the Highlands, are we at risk of remaining second class citizens on the global information highway?

Danny Alexander MP – I think there is a real danger of that and it is very interesting to hear what Guy has just been saying about other countries ambitions and I think we should be setting our ambitions for Scotland and the Highlands at the same level too  -the answer though is in our own hands….

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