UK ISP BT has issued the latest biannual October 2022 update on the progress they’ve made in delivering the 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband, which confirms that they’ve so far built a USO connection to over 5,900 premises (up from 4,600), with more than 2,000 further builds in progress (down from 2,300).
The USO first went live in March 2020. The obligation was aimed at those who can’t yet receive a 10Mbps or faster download speed and aren’t planned to get one in the next 12-months. Ofcom states that 83,000 UK premises currently fall into this gap (i.e. those outside of both fixed line, fixed wireless and suitable 4G mobile coverage), or 513,000 premises if you exclude wireless solutions (here), but some homes are still too expensive for even the USO.
Back in 2020 we reported on various examples (here) where people had been hit with quotes for excess costs that ran from tens of thousands of pounds and went all the way up to £1-2m. Since then, some improvements have been made to the USO (here), but there’s no escaping the reality that some properties will not be economically viable to reach via this method.
Advertisement
We should point out that the government are STILL exploring how to reach those who live in “Very Hard to Reach” areas (here) – roughly equating to the final c.0.3% of premises. In the meantime, the USO gap is slowly continuing to shrink, which is thanks to the expansion of rural 4G / 5G coverage and the impact of the government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme (e.g. funding to help build gigabit broadband in rural areas).
Overall, by the end of September 2022, BT had built a USO connection to over 5,900 premises, with more than 2,000 further builds in progress. The number of USO requests appears to have fallen since earlier this year, but after checking, a majority of these requests are often found to be ineligible for the obligation (i.e. this is usually because a suitable USO option already exists) – details below.
As for confirmed orders (there were just 10 in September), it’s noted that BT has generally been delivering these within up to 12-18 months (Ofcom allows up to 24 months for total build completion). But the latest report doesn’t say very much and is largely just a broad statistical update on the USO’s progress. Overall, it’s hard not to see the USO as being a bit of a disappointment, which often isn’t able to deliver on its ‘universal’ namesake.
Advertisement
i’d say they’ll be the most advantage people in the land . . .the last to know when the bomb has been dropped.
At the rate of installation that BT have published to date . . They’ll have plenty of time to work out a “Lessons learned” story . . In fact tbe next 40 years.
More’s been spent providing support to Ukraine than on this domestoc requirement
@Nick Roberts
You comparing the broadband USO with support for Ukraine is probably the craziest thing I’ve ever seen written on here. You are absolutely selfish.
Broadband USO was a joke from the start when they allowed BT to utilise wireless technology BT saw this as a massive opportunity to screw a huge amount of the population who would’ve otherwise benefited out of any possibility of getting a decent connection. The minimum speed for USO is 10Mbs but the 4g option BT offer is a maximum of 15Mbs capped speed for the maximum that can possible charge for the service under USO obligations. Or for an extortionate £62.10 they up the speed to a maximum of 30Mbs capped. It can only be viewed as a blatant attempt to to offer least attractive possible option to those in need so they do not have to fulfil obligations to governing bodies. While hold up a massive middle finger to all those they have failed over years of mismanagement and flagrant profiteering.
I’ve 4G at home. The phone reports a reasonably good signal upstairs. The mast is however quite some distance away. The phone reports a speed a lot lot faster than my FTTC connection. However due to contention and distance the actual data through put achieved means it’s just not a viable alternative to FTTC. I pity those living in a rural area falling for use 4G/5G or having to use mobile data for thier internet.
Not just rural areas. It’s an urban/suburban issue too.
Where FTTC cabinets are full because there’s no alternative network, the only options are ADSL or mobile broadband. If ADSL is too slow to meet the 10Mbps USO requirement, BT offer a 4G service capped at 15Mbps for the maximum price they are allowed to charge under the USO, as noted in an earlier comment.
There is no financial incentive for BT group to upgrade or increase FTTC capacity where they have customers paying £45 for up to 15Mbps over 4G. They will milk that for as long as they can.
Also gigabit vouchers are not available if the area is classified as urban.
Does anyone know who i can contact to get a real update on a USO FTTP project. We have a local village, which is getting FTTP as residents pooled their £3400 and after more than 12 months only some houses are connected but not others. I dont seem to be able to get any update from anyone? Thanks
USO builds are very specific and only have to cover the properties that are on their build list, not a whole village.
Don’t forget, the provider pays towards the build for their customer, and not all providers will fund USO projects.
Thansk Tony,
Yes, all premises i am trying to find out about are in scope – they all pledged £1100 each via BT’s pledging site, on top of the £3400. But so far only some have been made live, even though some are next door neighbours. Thanks
Are you sure it’s not an FCP (Funded Community Project, used to be called CFP) rather than a USO?
There should be a community lead who acts as the go between for you and they speak to their FCP lead.