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Latest Key Developments

First BT EV Car Charger from UK Broadband Cabinet Goes LIVE

1st May, 2024 (37 Comments)

Telecoms giant BT, specifically their awkwardly named UK digital incubation team, Etc., has today “powered up” their first Electric Vehicle (EV) charger under a 2-year pilot, which is one of potentially tens of thousands that could be established by repurposing Openreach’s old fixed broadband street cabinets.

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Gov Enforce New UK Internet Security and Broadband Boosting Law

29th Apr, 2024 (21 Comments)

The UK Government has this morning announced that new laws, which are designed to help protect consumers from cyber criminals, such as by requiring that network devices, like broadband ISP routers, receive greater protection (e.g. regular security updates and stronger default passwords), have finally come into force.

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Ofcom Spring 2024 Study – Gigabit Broadband Covers 24 Million UK Homes

24th Apr, 2024 (4 Comments)

Ofcom’s spring 2024 study of UK fixed broadband and mobile coverage has reported that “full fibre” (FTTP) now reaches 62% of the UK (up from 57% in Sept 2023), while 80% are within reach of a gigabit-capable network (up from 78%) and 85-92% of premises can get an outdoor 5G signal from at least one operator (largely unchanged).

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Alternative Full Fibre Networks Grow to Cover 12.9 Million UK Premises

23rd Apr, 2024 (15 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) and Point Topic have released their 2024 report into the impact of alternative “full fibre” (FTTP/B) gigabit broadband networks (AltNets), which reveals that their UK coverage grew by 57% in 2023 to top 12.9 million premises (up from 49% and 8.22m in 2022) and could reach 16.7m in 2024.

Government Reject Calls by UK Mobile Operators for 4G SRN Delay

23rd Apr, 2024 (5 Comments)

The CEO of the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency, Dean Creamer, has told MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that officials have rejected a request from several mobile operators to delay completion of the 4G roll-out for Partial Not-Spot (PNS) areas under the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project by 18-months.

Scotland’s State Aid Broadband Projects Benefit 1 Million Premises

20th Apr, 2024 (9 Comments)

The Scottish Government (SG) has announced that both of its past and present broadband roll-out programmes, accounting for a total public investment of £1bn, have now helped more than 1 million extra premises (homes and businesses) in poorly served areas to gain access to a faster broadband ISP network.

Connexin Temporarily Pauses Broadband Pole Installations in Hull UPDATE

11th Apr, 2024 (17 Comments)

Following a “productive meeting” with KCOM yesterday, alternative UK broadband ISP Connexin has announced that they will “temporarily pause” the deployment of new telecoms poles in parts of Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire (England) as they “explore the viability” of the incumbents recent infrastructure sharing offer.

April 2024 UK Gov Update on Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout

10th Apr, 2024 (20 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK agency has released their April 2024 (spring) progress update on the £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme, which is so far running 37 live contracts and procurements worth £1.9bn in state aid (£1.38bn for 31 signed contracts) to help extend coverage up to an extra 1 million hard to reach premises.

Gov Awards Six New UK Project Gigabit Broadband Build Contracts UPDATE2

10th Apr, 2024 (11 Comments)

The Government has this morning announced a mass of additional contract awards under their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout programme, which includes builds for West Herefordshire and the Forest of Dean, the Peak District, Dorset and South Somerset, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and finally, Mid West Shropshire.

KCOM Push Ahead with Broadband Infrastructure Sharing in Hull UK UPDATE

26th Mar, 2024 (5 Comments)

Broadband ISP and network operator KCOM, which is the dominant operator of Hull’s broadband and phone network in East Yorkshire, has today responded to Connexin’s negative criticism (here) of their recent feasibility study on infrastructure sharing (cable duct and pole access) by offering rivals a “quicker way forward“.

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Ofcom Start Next Major Market Review to Boost UK Gigabit Broadband

26th Mar, 2024 (28 Comments)

The national UK telecoms, media and internet regulator, Ofcom, has today begun the early evidence gathering and development phase for their next major review of the UK’s wholesale telecoms market – Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR), which will look to make changes that “promote competition and investment” in gigabit broadband and business connectivity.

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Openreach to Pilot Alternative UK Analogue Phone Line in May 2024

22nd Mar, 2024 (32 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has informed ISPs and phone providers of their plan to pilot the new SOTAP for Analogue product from 1st May 2024, which is a phone line service that does NOT require broadband to function and will be targetted at vulnerable users who would otherwise struggle with migrating to an All-IP (internet) based phone service by 2025.

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Ofcom Protect UK Consumers from Mobile Roaming BILL SHOCKS UPDATE

22nd Mar, 2024 (12 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today finalised new rules – due to be enforced from 1st October 2024 – that will require mobile network operators, such as Three UK, Vodafone, EE and O2 (inc. MVNO operators), to protect consumers who travel abroad from mobile BILL SHOCKS on data (broadband), call and text charges.

CMA Warn Vodafone and Three UK Merger Risks Price Rises and Less Competition

22nd Mar, 2024 (29 Comments)

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has this morning concluded its Phase 1 investigation of the proposed mega-merger (here) between mobile operators Three UK and Vodafone, which, much as expected, has raised concerns over the reduction in market competition and the potential for consumers to pay higher prices.

Government Boosts Resilience of UK 999 Calls After BT Fault

21st Mar, 2024 (0 Comments)

The UK Government has today proposed a series of recommendations to help “bolster the resilience” of the 999 emergency call handling system, which is operated by BT, following a technical fault (“complex software issue”) last summer (here) that resulted in 11,470 unique emergency calls being “unsuccessfully connected“.

Scotland Set to Tender for Rural Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout

20th Mar, 2024 (4 Comments)

The Scottish Government and the Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency have quietly revealed that they intend to publish the first official contract notice for the Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme in Scotland, starting this month. Some £450m has already been allocated (here) to help this project spread 1Gbps speeds across rural Scotland.

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Government Extend UK Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to 2028

15th Mar, 2024 (5 Comments)

According to our sources, the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has this afternoon informed UK network operators that their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which was originally due to end in March 2025, has been extended up to financial year 2027 to 2028, and “possibly beyond if needed“.