Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Digital Agenda (160 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Digital Agenda

New EU Rules to Protect Open Internet, Cut Mobile Prices and Boost Broadband

12th September, 2013 (1 Comment)

The European Commission (EC) has published its official proposal for the construction of a new EU Single Telecoms Market, which promises even cheaper mobile roaming charges, stricter guidelines to help safeguard open internet access (Net Neutrality) and new measures to boost superfast broadband development.

EU Reignites Idea of Higher Copper Broadband ISP Prices to Fund Fibre Optic

31st August, 2013 (31 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has braced the telecoms market for the imminent introduction of new rules to correct for the current “regulatory mess” that is allegedly “hurting” investment in the rollout of next generation superfast broadband networks and leaving consumers “stuck in the internet slow lane“.

EU Survey Finds Small Decline in UK Homes with Broadband Access

13th August, 2013 (2 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has today published its annual E-Communications Household Survey of around 28,000 people across all 27 member states (1,308 were in the UK), which revealed that 61% of EU households now have broadband access and this rises to 70% in the UK (down by -1% Dec 2011).

A Need for 1Gbps Broadband by 2020 Could Deepen the UK Digital Divide

24th July, 2013 (38 Comments)

Telecoms analyst firm Point Topic has today published a short health check of the United Kingdom’s drive towards making superfast broadband (25-30Mbps+) speeds available across the country, which warns that the future demand for 1000Mbps (Gigabit) broadband connections will widen the digital speed divide between urban and rural areas. So is it time for FTTH?

FTTH Council Criticises Poor Superfast Broadband Progress in Europe

17th July, 2013 (27 Comments)

The FTTH Council Europe, which campaigns for the adoption of a fully fibre optic telecoms and internet infrastructure, has heavily criticised Europe’s “lacklustre performance” after a recent progress update showed that the EU was still a long way from achieving their Digital Agenda targets for superfast broadband.

Leaked EU Laws and Police Raid on ISPs Raise Net Neutrality Concerns

15th July, 2013 (0 Comments)

The European Commission’s recent promise to “guarantee” Net Neutrality by ensuring that broadband ISPs and mobile operators give citizens access to the full and open internet, “without any blocking or throttling of competing services” (here), has been called into question after a draft of the new regulation was leaked.

Nearly Half of EU Internet Users Would Swap ISP for Faster Broadband

8th July, 2013 (0 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has revealed that 45% of EU citizens would upgrade their broadband connection or swap ISP entirely to get faster internet speeds. Separately another 40% said that they found it difficult to access internet content and services due to “insufficient speed or download capacity“.

Europe and Japan Aiming to Build 100Gbps Fibre Optic Internet

4th July, 2013 (8 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) and Japan have announced the launch of six joint research projects, supported by £15.3m+ (€18m) in funding, that aim to build networks which are “5000 times faster than today’s average European broadband ISP speed (100Gbps compared to 19.7Mbps)“.

UPDATE EU Study of Real Broadband ISP Speeds Shows Mixed UK Results

24th June, 2013 (5 Comments)

Europe has published its first study into the actual broadband internet speeds experienced by 9,104 homes across the continent (30 countries and over 250 ISPs), which reveals that the average peak time download rate for DSL (ADSL) services is just 7.19Mbps (Megabits), rising to 33.08Mbps for Cable and 41.02Mbps for fibre optic (FTTC/H).

EU Scoreboard Shows UK Superfast Broadband Penetration Improving

12th June, 2013 (5 Comments)

The European Commission has published its annual Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2013, which reports that 95.5% of EU homes are covered by broadband access (99.8% in the United Kingdom) and 53.8% can get a 30Mbps+ capable superfast broadband connection (70.3% in the UK). But “ultra-fast” connections (100Mbps+) still have a way to go.

New Safeguard to Guarantee Open Internet Access without Restrictions

4th June, 2013 (7 Comments)

The Vice-President of the European Commission (EC) responsible for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, has proposed a new EU “safeguard” to ensure that broadband ISPs and mobile operators give every citizen a “guarantee of access to the full and open internet, without any blocking or throttling of competing services“.

UK Opposes EU Measures for Cutting Broadband Deployment Costs

29th May, 2013 (0 Comments)

The House of Commons has advised the President of the Council of the European Union that it objects to the European Commission’s proposals to cut the cost of broadband related civil engineering tasks (e.g. digging up roads to lay new fibre optic cable) because the measures “do not comply” with the principle of subsidiarity.

Europe Seeks One Telecoms Regulator to Rule Them All – Replace Ofcom

21st May, 2013 (6 Comments)

The European Commission’s Digital Agenda boss, Neelie Kroes, will next month unveil her plans for a single telecoms market that is expected to propose the semi-abolishment of national regulators and the creation of one regulator to govern the whole of Europe (telecoms policy).

The Whole of the EU Could Get Superfast Broadband for GBP69 Billion

21st May, 2013 (6 Comments)

A new report from Point Topic has claimed that the cost of making superfast broadband (30Mbps+) available to 100% of the UK and Europe could be just £69 billion (EUR 82bn), which is considerably less than the original estimate of up to £228 bn (EUR 270bn). The catch is it would be hybrid-fibre (FTTC/N) and not true fibre optic (FTTH/P).

BT Adjusts PIA to Meet Latest BDUK and EU State Aid Broadband Rules

17th May, 2013 (14 Comments)

BTOpenreach has launched a new “Plus” variant of its Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product, which allows rival ISPs access to use BT’s underground cable ducts and telegraph poles. The updated solution has been designed to meet the latest EU rules governing the use of state aid to improve UK broadband infrastructure.

Northumberland UK Win GBP2.74m from EU for Better Business Broadband

10th April, 2013 (9 Comments)

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) appears to have awarded a grant worth £2.74 million to help over 2,600 small and medium sized businesses in Northumberland (North East England) gain access to superfast and ultrafast broadband ISP connectivity via a “range of incentives“.

Broadband Commission Wants High-Speed Internet to be in Post-2015 Plan

8th April, 2013 (1 Comment)

The ITU and UNESCO’s Broadband Commission has called upon the United Nations to ensure that high-speed broadband internet access “features prominently” in any plans for a Post-2015 Development Agenda, which is expected to set various world targets for the next five or so years until at least 2020.