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Latest Key Developments

Gigaclear Settles Broadband Lawsuit with Scottish Government UPDATE

25th Aug, 2020 (17 Comments)

We’ve just been informed that UK ISP Gigaclear has today reached a settlement in their R100 (Reaching 100%) legal dispute with the Scottish Government. The case had been preventing the LOT 1 part of the deployment contract from being award to BT and thus delaying the roll-out of “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+).

Ofcom 2020 Study Ranks UK Mobile and Broadband ISPs by Quality

21st Aug, 2020 (13 Comments)

Ofcom UK has published their 2020 survey of broadband and mobile service quality, call waiting times, complaints and install times among the largest ISPs and mobile operators. Overall TalkTalk attracted the lowest satisfaction for home broadband (78%) again, while Three UK were the same for mobile (89%).

Scotland Unveil New Superfast Rural Broadband Voucher Scheme UPDATE

18th Aug, 2020 (20 Comments)

The Scottish Government has this afternoon revealed the details of their new voucher scheme, which aims to help “ensure superfast broadband access for all” by provide funding of up to £5,000 to help homes and businesses not in scope of either their R100 contracts or commercial roll-outs to obtain a 30Mbps+ capable connection.

Ofcom Propose Changes to UK Mobile and Landline Call Charges

13th Aug, 2020 (0 Comments)

The way we all use UK landline phone and mobile calling services is changing and as a result Ofcom are today proposing changes to their regulation via the new Wholesale Voice Markets Review 2021-26 (WVMR), which among other things will set new caps on call termination charges and deregulate other areas.

Gov’s £1bn Helps 493,600 UK Premises Get Gigabit Broadband

8th Aug, 2020 (33 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced that nearly half a million premises have been connected to gigabit-capable broadband since summer 2018, which stems from £1bn of public investment. But in order to push take-up they’re now launching a new Gigabit Take-Up Advisory Group (GigaTAG).

New £900m Getting Building Fund Brings Broadband Boost to England UPDATE

5th Aug, 2020 (0 Comments)

The UK government’s new £900m Getting Building Fund (GBF), which seeks to help create new jobs, skills and infrastructure across England in order to aid the recovery from COVID-19, has announced its allocations to various regions. A few of the projects also include funding for new gigabit broadband and “full fibre” networks.

BDUK Pilot Consumer Led Approach to Gigabit Broadband Vouchers

30th Jul, 2020 (19 Comments)

The UK Government’s (DCMS) Building Digital UK team, which is responsible for implementing much of their “full fibre” and gigabit broadband deployment plans, has begun piloting a new consumer led (instead of supplier led) approach for the Rural Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Ofcom to Help BT Fibre Rollout Reach 3.2 Million Rural Premises UPDATE

29th Jul, 2020 (74 Comments)

Ofcom has proposed to change their UK regulation as a result of Openreach’s (BT) recent commitment to extend their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to a further 3.2 million rural properties, which will allow the operator to include these investment costs in its prices upfront.

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More Big UK Home Broadband ISPs Commit to Fairer Pricing

28th Jul, 2020 (2 Comments)

Industry regulator Ofcom has today secured new commitments from UK ISPs EE, Plusnet and Sky Broadband to reduce prices automatically for “vulnerable customers” who are out of contract, which mirrors a similar move agreed last year with BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media. Savings of £270m are forecast.

Ofcom UK Opens 6GHz Radio Band for Use in Faster Home Wi-Fi

24th Jul, 2020 (12 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today made it possible for future home WiFi networks to harness 500MHz of radio spectrum frequency in the new 6GHz band, which will significantly boost the speed of licence-exempt indoor home wireless networks (i.e. via the Wi-Fi 6/6E – 802.11ax standard).

New Ofcom Guidelines for Fair Treatment of Vulnerable UK People

23rd Jul, 2020 (0 Comments)

At present the COVID-19 crisis has shown that phone, pay TV and broadband ISPs have adopted different approaches for how they deal with “vulnerable customers” (i.e. those suffering from financial, health or emotional problems). Ofcom has today produced new guidelines that attempt to standardise how the market tackles such issues.

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Big UK Rule Changes to Boost Gigabit Broadband and 5G Rollout

22nd Jul, 2020 (30 Comments)

The UK Government has today confirmed a series of changes to both the Electronic Communications Code (ECC) and Mobile infrastructure planning, which when taken together are intended to help boost the on-going deployment of both “gigabit-capable” broadband and 5G mobile networks (as well as the Shared Rural Network).

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Wales Extends BT FTTP Broadband Rollout to 39,000 Premises UPDATE

20th Jul, 2020 (18 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has just announced that their Phase 2 Superfast Cymru contract with BT (Openreach), which is currently building a 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 26,000 premises by March 2021 (here and here), is to be extended to reach 39,000 premises.

Ofcom Propose Tweaks and Dark Fibre for KCOM in Hull UK

16th Jul, 2020 (2 Comments)

After a bit of a COVID-19 delay. Ofcom has today opened a review of regulation on KCOM’s network in the Hull (East Yorkshire) area, which last year completed the roll-out of a new gigabit Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband service across their entire network and is now expanding beyond that footprint.

NO Huawei – UK Gov BANs New 5G Mobile Kit from Dec 2020 UPDATED

14th Jul, 2020 (62 Comments)

The UK Government has today confirmed a dramatic U-turn, which means that new core and non-core 5G kit from Chinese tech giant Huawei will be banned from use in mobile networks from 31st December 2020. But existing kit will get until 2027 for removal and a decision on FTTP broadband ISPs will come later.

Virgin Media Start UK Rollout of Remote Phy to Improve Network

10th Jul, 2020 (53 Comments)

Cable ISP Virgin Media has just made their first UK deployment of a new-ish technology – Remote Phy (R-PHY) – on their Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) based DOCSIS broadband and TV network in Coventry. The development will make their network more efficient, which should lead to better internet speeds and reliability.

Progress on BDUK Plan for £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout

8th Jul, 2020 (15 Comments)

Over the past few months’ we’ve seen the UK Government step-up market engagement exercises as part of work to develop a framework for their £5bn investment, which aims to ensure that “every home” can access “gigabit-capable” broadband by the end of 2025. As a result we now have a better idea of what this will look like.