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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

Fresh Broadband Delays Hit Gigaclear’s Herefordshire UK Rollout

10th October, 2021 (14 Comments)

The Fastershire project has revealed that UK ISP Gigaclear’s rollout of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in Herefordshire is suffering from “delivery challenges,” which without “significant additional resources” could make it difficult to reach up to 2,324 of the planned premises.

BDUK Accepting Councils to Gigabit Voucher Top-Up Scheme Again

8th October, 2021 (2 Comments)

After a delay that was caused by a data backlog regarding previous voucher schemes, the Government’s (DCMS) Building Digital UK team have confirmed that they are now actively onboarding local councils that are interested in setting up a top-up boost for their £210m rural gigabit broadband voucher scheme.

Rivals Sigh as Ofcom Clear Openreach FTTP Broadband Price Cut UPDATE3

30th September, 2021 (50 Comments)

Ofcom looks set to stoke anger among alternative UK network (AltNets) builders after the regulator today flatly rejected their concerns over Openreach’s “Equinox” offer, which will introduce a “major” price cut (details) to the incumbents wholesale Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband products for ISPs.

Labour Conference Backs Free Full Fibre Broadband for All UK Again

27th September, 2021 (79 Comments)

Delegates at the UK Labour Party’s annual conference have passed a key motion on public ownership, which technically commits the party to nationalise the “broadband-relevant parts of BT” (Openreach) and “deliver free full-fibre broadband to all by 2030.” It also adds a new “jobs guarantee” to protect workers. Easy to say, hard to do.

TalkTalk and UK Gov Offer 6 Months Free Broadband to Job Seekers

27th September, 2021 (5 Comments)

Budget UK ISP TalkTalk and the Government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will today launch a scheme that enables job hunters across the country to apply for a new voucher scheme, which when redeemed will enable them to get 6 months of free broadband via the internet provider’s “Fibre” 35Mbps (FTTC) package.

BT Appeals its UK Full Fibre Business Rates Relief Certificate

25th September, 2021 (12 Comments)

Telecoms giant BT has lodged an appeal against its business rates relief “certificate” from HMRC’s (UK Government) Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which credible industry sources have told ISPreview allegedly relates to the issue of how much tax (rates) they pay on their new fibre optic broadband lines.

Solution Found to Tackle UK Gigabit Voucher Concerns by AltNets

24th September, 2021 (13 Comments)

The CEO of alternative full fibre broadband ISP B4RN, Michael Lee, has revealed that the UK Government (DCMS / Building Digital UK) are proposing “Voucher Priority Areas” as a semi-solution to the disruption caused by their new £5bn Project Gigabit programme in rural parts of Cumbria and Northumberland.

Uncertainly Grips Vacant Post of UK Digital Infrastructure Minister UPDATE

21st September, 2021 (12 Comments)

Last week’s cabinet reshuffle saw Matt Warman MP being somewhat unexpectedly sacked from the role of ‘Minister for Digital Infrastructure‘ within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). Replacements are normally appointed within 24-48 hours, but six long days have nearly passed without any clarity.

Parliament to Debate B4RN’s Gigabit Voucher Scheme Concerns UPDATE3

21st September, 2021 (13 Comments)

Last month we reported that the UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme was threatening to disrupt B4RN’s rollout of a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in rural parts of Cumbria and Northumberland. The good news is that Tim Farron, Lib Dem MP, has secured a parliamentary debate on the issue.

CityFibre trenching engineers fttp build

CityFibre Secure GBP1.1bn to Fuel UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

16th September, 2021 (6 Comments)

CityFibre, which currently aims to cover 8 million UK premises with their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network by around the end of 2025, has today secured another major investment boost of £1.125bn from the owner of Ikea (Interogo Holdings) and Mubadala (Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund).

Gov Appoints Nadine Dorries as UK Digital and Culture Secretary

15th September, 2021 (23 Comments)

The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has today moved Oliver Dowden to be the Co-Party Chairman and appointed Nadine Dorries to replace him as the Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), who among other things is tasked with overseeing the roll-out of gigabit broadband.

Q2 2021 Status Update on BT FTTP Broadband Rollout in Wales

13th September, 2021 (3 Comments)

The Welsh Government has issued a Q2 2021 progress update on their £52.5m Phase 2 Superfast Cymru contract with BT (Openreach), which reveals that 20,490 premises (up from 19,919 in Q1 2021 and 15,649 in Q4 2020) have now gained access to the operator’s 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network.

Persimmon Homes ISP FibreNest to Launch UK Wholesale Service

10th September, 2021 (8 Comments)

FibreNest, which is the full fibre (FTTP) broadband network for UK new build home sites developed by Persimmon Homes, has announced their intention to launch a wholesale division (FibreNest Wholesale) so that rival ISPs can finally offer services via their new gigabit-speed network.

smartphone with incoming call from unknown person

Gov Proposes Tougher UK Penalties for Nuisance Calls and Texts

9th September, 2021 (14 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced that their planned data reform, which covers a multitude of areas (many of which are outside our focus), will also set out plans to impose tougher penalties and fines for nuisance calls and text (SMS) messages. But it’s unclear how much impact this will actually have.

Gov Starts GBP4m Trial to Build 5G via More UK Street Furniture

9th September, 2021 (3 Comments)

The UK Government has today invested £4m to support a new 2-year project (DCIA) trial, which aims to make it easier for network operators to access and deploy 5G mobile (mobile broadband) infrastructure on street furniture and public buildings, such as CCTV poles, traffic lights, lampposts, bus shelters and so forth.

Gov Start Build of Project to Map UK Underground Cables and Pipes UPDATE

9th September, 2021 (7 Comments)

The UK Government has announced that their project to create a National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), which reflects a digital map of underground pipes (water etc.) and cables (fibre optic broadband, power etc.), is entering the “Build Phase” and could help to cut some of the £2.4bn (per year) cost of accidental utility damage.

Update on BT’s Subsea Fibre Broadband Rollout to 15 Scottish Islands

6th September, 2021 (7 Comments)

Earlier this year the Scottish Government named 15 islands under their £600m Reaching 100% (R100) project which, supported by BT (Openreach) and Global Marine, would gain access to superfast broadband ISP speeds via 16 new subsea fibre optic cable links (here). Today we have a small progress update on this.