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Latest Key Developments

First Projects in Wales Benefit from £10m Local Broadband Fund UPDATE

13th January, 2021 (4 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has today named the first projects to benefit from their new £10 million Local Broadband Fund (LBF), which aims to help bring “fast and reliable broadband” ISP networks (often FTTP powered) to some of the country’s most poorly served rural communities.

Draft Strategy for £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout Published UPDATE

22nd December, 2020 (23 Comments)

The Government has today published the draft procurement strategy for their new £5bn Gigabit Broadband Programme (F20), which is a consultation on their plan to ensure that gigabit-capable networks reach a “minimum” of 85% UK coverage by the end of 2025 (before getting “as close to 100% as possible” thereafter).

Ofcom Ponder Regulated Social Tariff for UK Broadband and Mobile

18th December, 2020 (17 Comments)

Ofcom has published the results of new research into the affordability of consumer fixed broadband and mobile internet services, which finds that 19% of UK households (19%) – c.4.7 million homes – struggle to afford their telecoms services. Some 6% have difficulties paying for their broadband, while 5% struggle with mobile bills.

GigaTAG List Solutions to Boost UK Gigabit Broadband Take-up UPDATE

18th December, 2020 (3 Comments)

The new Gigabit Take-Up Advisory Group (GigaTAG), which is led by paid consumer magazine Which? and various others (FSB, CBI, Ofcom etc.), has today published their first report that identifies a number of areas where improvements could be made to boost the take-up of 1Gbps capable broadband services in the UK.

Broadband ISP TalkTalk UK SOLD to Toscafund in £1.1bn Deal UPDATE

17th December, 2020 (5 Comments)

After an extended period of negotiation TalkTalk, the budget broadband and phone provider that is currently home to around 4.2 million UK customers, has today officially recommend a £1.1bn takeover proposal from Toscafund, which including debt values the company at around £1.8bn.

Online Harms – UK Finalise Plan for Ofcom Internet Regulation

15th December, 2020 (16 Comments)

The UK government has today appeared to finalise their plans for turning Ofcom into a regulator of internet content via a new legal “duty of care“, which will hand them new powers to force websites (e.g. Facebook) into removing “harmful” content (e.g. terrorism, child abuse, self-harm and suicide imagery etc.).

Scotland Reveals BT Fibre Broadband Rollout for R100 LOT 1

15th December, 2020 (8 Comments)

After a long delay the Scottish Government (SG) and BT (Openreach) have finally signed a rollout contract for LOT 1 (North Scotland and the Highlands) of the £579 million Reaching 100% (R100) project, which will see “superfast broadband” speeds of 30Mbps+ reaching many more rural premises (mostly via gigabit FTTP).

G.Network to Invest £1bn in London Gigabit Broadband Rollout

14th December, 2020 (17 Comments)

UK ISP G.Network has today secured a major fund raise from USS and Cube Infrastructure Managers, which will enable them to invest £1 billion to help deploy their gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across 1.4 million premises in London (12 boroughs) over the next 5 years.

Wales Infrastructure Report Wants Focus on Mobile, Not FTTP Broadband

10th December, 2020 (7 Comments)

The National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW) has published a report that calls on the Welsh Government to “urgently establish” a Barrier Busting Taskforce to aid investment in broadband, but they also warn that “too much attention” has been paid to FTTP and “not enough” on improving Mobile Broadband (e.g. 5G).

Openreach Consult on Closure Plans for 4,600 UK Exchanges

3rd December, 2020 (30 Comments)

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today launched a new consultation on their plans to close 4,600 exchanges across the United Kingdom, which is largely reflective of the inevitable move away from copper-based broadband lines and toward a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) orientated future.

Gov Tightens Huawei 5G Mobile and FTTP Broadband Restrictions

30th November, 2020 (10 Comments)

In another telecoms policy surprise the UK Government has today announced that mobile operators, such as Three UK, EE (BT) and Vodafone, must stop installing “any” Huawei equipment in ultrafast 5G networks from the end of September 2021. A 35% cap on kit will also apply to FTTP and gigabit broadband from Jan 2023.

Government Start £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Plan for 85%+ by 2025 UPDATE

25th November, 2020 (39 Comments)

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has today published his 2020 Spending Review and in so doing has kicked off the new £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Programme, which previously aimed to ensure that “every home” could access a 1Gbps capable connection by the end of 2025 but now expects a “minimum” of 85% coverage by that date.

New Bill Laid to BAN Huawei and Boost UK Telecoms Security

24th November, 2020 (12 Comments)

The Government will today publish their Telecommunications (Security) Bill, which imposes new rules to improve the security of UK networks (mobile and broadband) and ban “high risk vendors” like Huawei, while also threatening fines of up to £100k a day (or 10% of turnover) against operators that fail to meet the standard.

ISP Zen Internet Joins Cityfibre’s UK FTTP Broadband Network

20th November, 2020 (22 Comments)

Cityfibre has today announced that popular UK broadband provider Zen Internet has just become the latest ISP to join their growing national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, complementing others like TalkTalk and Vodafone. Until now Zen has been focused on selling Openreach’s products to homes.

76,000 Extra Premises in Northern Ireland to Get FTTP Broadband

18th November, 2020 (12 Comments)

Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy (DfE) has today confirmed what we first revealed in September (here), which is that alternative network ISP Fibrus have secure the £165m Project Stratum contract and will be extending “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) coverage to 76,000+ extra rural premises by March 2024.

Government Preps Universal Service Obligation for UK Mobile

11th November, 2020 (19 Comments)

The UK Government yesterday introduced new powers for the Secretary of State to, among other things, establish a new Universal Service Obligation (USO) for 4G or 5G mobile networks “in the future,” albeit only if that is “deemed necessary.” Questions will now be raised over what such a USO would look like.

Virgin Media Parent Eyes Future 10Gbps and DOCSIS 4 Upgrade

10th November, 2020 (38 Comments)

Liberty Global, the parent of cable broadband ISP Virgin Media UK and various other European operators, has informed shareholders that they’ll be starting work on 10Gbps broadband connectivity “pretty quickly” by using a mix of a future DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades and more Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology.