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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“.

Government Calls on UK Broadband Operators to Limit Poles

15th Mar, 2024 (53 Comments)

The UK Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, has published a new letter to “telecoms firms” (Virgin Media, Openreach and KCOM etc.) that calls for them to “limit installation of telegraph poles” when deploying new fibre broadband networks because they risk upsetting communities by “inappropriately or unnecessarily throwing up new infrastructure.”

Engineers in Training up Telegraph Poles

Gov Ponders Action to Tackle Broadband Pole and 5G Mast Complaints

14th Mar, 2024 (29 Comments)

The UK Government’s Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, has revealed that she will next week hold a roundtable with colleagues, as well as Ofcom, to discuss rising community complaints against the use of broadband poles and wireless masts to deliver digital infrastructure. But this time, some action may follow.

New Launch Date for Delayed Faster UK Broadband ISP Switching

12th Mar, 2024 (11 Comments)

The industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which is responsible for implementing Ofcom’s solution for faster consumer switching between UK broadband ISPs on different networks (aka – One Touch Switch), has announced that the now heavily delayed system will aim to go live on 12th September 2024.

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More UK Providers Commit to Protect Vulnerable Users During Digital Phone Switch UPDATE

11th Mar, 2024 (11 Comments)

The government has announced that seven UK broadband and phone operators, including Openreach, CityFibre, AllPoints Fibre, CommunityFibre, Ogi, KCOM and WightFibre, have today signed a charter that commits them to protect “vulnerable customers” (e.g. those with telecare devices) when upgrading phone lines to a new digital (IP) based network.

Broadband Operators Call on UK Gov to Help STOP Physical Network Attacks

7th Mar, 2024 (4 Comments)

A group of full fibre broadband operators, which are being led by alternative network providers Ogi and Vorboss, have today called on the UK Government and Ofcom to urgently help tackle a recent rise in attacks – often committed by criminal gangs and vandals – against vital national telecoms infrastructure and the engineers who build it.

Broadband ISP Zzoomm Slows UK Full Fibre Build and Warns of Job Cuts UPDATE

5th Mar, 2024 (40 Comments)

Oxfordshire-based alternative network provider and ISP Zzoomm, which originally aimed to cover 1 million premises with their FTTP broadband network across 85 UK towns by the end of 2025, has today notified ISPreview that “new network construction is stopping” (some existing work will continue) and redundancies are expected.

Netomnia Reveals Plan for 50Gbps UK FTTP Broadband Network

26th Feb, 2024 (46 Comments)

Network operator Netomnia, which is supported by retail ISP YouFibre and has already covered almost 1 million UK premises with their alternative 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, has quietly revealed that their network is being upgraded to support ADTRAN’s 50Gbps (50G PON) kit.