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Latest Key Developments

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Gov Proposes Tougher UK Penalties for Nuisance Calls and Texts

9th Sep, 2021 (14 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced that their planned data reform, which covers a multitude of areas (many of which are outside our focus), will also set out plans to impose tougher penalties and fines for nuisance calls and text (SMS) messages. But it’s unclear how much impact this will actually have.

Gov Starts GBP4m Trial to Build 5G via More UK Street Furniture

9th Sep, 2021 (3 Comments)

The UK Government has today invested £4m to support a new 2-year project (DCIA) trial, which aims to make it easier for network operators to access and deploy 5G mobile (mobile broadband) infrastructure on street furniture and public buildings, such as CCTV poles, traffic lights, lampposts, bus shelters and so forth.

Gov Start Build of Project to Map UK Underground Cables and Pipes UPDATE

9th Sep, 2021 (7 Comments)

The UK Government has announced that their project to create a National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), which reflects a digital map of underground pipes (water etc.) and cables (fibre optic broadband, power etc.), is entering the “Build Phase” and could help to cut some of the £2.4bn (per year) cost of accidental utility damage.

Ofcom Begin New Review of UK Net Neutrality Rules Post Brexit UPDATE

7th Sep, 2021 (22 Comments)

The national telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today started a review of their existing Net Neutrality rules, which were designed to ensure no serious blocking or slowing of access to legal websites or internet services by broadband ISPs and mobile operators. But such protections may soon change.

Openreach Waive UK Broadband Install Fees for Low-Income Homes

7th Sep, 2021 (3 Comments)

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has announced the launch of a new “Connect the Unconnected” offer, which will make it possible for UK ISPs to waive “superfast broadband connection fees” for any customers who receive ‘Universal Credit’ with no other earnings, and who aren’t currently connected to its network.

Progress Update on North Scotland’s R100 Broadband Rollout UPDATE

3rd Sep, 2021 (14 Comments)

The Scottish Government has today issued a progress update on their £600m Reaching 100% (R100) programme with Openreach (BT), which provides more detail on their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) dominated plan for extending “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) across the LOT 1 area – North Scotland and the Highlands.

Welsh Gov Consults on Gigabit Broadband Coverage in Wales

24th Aug, 2021 (1 Comment)

The Welsh Government has today launched a new Open Market Review (OMR) for Wales, which aims to identify any existing or planned commercial coverage of gigabit broadband ISP networks. The review will help to establish the areas where public investment may be needed to deploy the service.

Project Stratum FTTP Rollout in N.Ireland Adds 8500 Extra Premises

24th Aug, 2021 (7 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (DCMS) team has today announced that their £5bn Project Gigabit programme will supply an extra £25m for the Project Stratum contract in Northern Ireland, which will enable the rollout of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology to reach an additional 8,500 premises.

Wales Mandates Gigabit Ready Broadband for New Social Housing

18th Aug, 2021 (5 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has just published an updated version of their quality requirements for any new affordable homes that are funded by the WG itself (e.g. social housing), which among other things will require that they must now be made “ready” for gigabit-capable broadband ISP connections.

The UK Gov’s Technical Definition of Gigabit Capable Broadband

13th Aug, 2021 (55 Comments)

One aspect of the UK Government’s new £5bn Project Gigabit programme that we haven’t touched on much is the “technical definition” for how they actually define such broadband ISP products, which is partly because this has been in a state of flux as the project evolved. But it now looks much closer to final.

Construction worker repairing a broken water pipe on the concrete road.

Gov to Trial Running UK Fibre Broadband Lines via Water Mains

9th Aug, 2021 (40 Comments)

The UK Government (DCMS) has today unveiled a new £4m ‘Fibre in Water‘ project trial, which will experiment with connecting homes, businesses and mobile masts to gigabit-capable broadband in “hard-to-reach areas” (e.g. remote rural) by running Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) style lines through the water mains.

copper vs fibre optic openreach engineer

Openreach List Next 86 UK Areas for Copper Phone to Fibre Switch – Tranche 5

3rd Aug, 2021 (46 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has published the next – Tranche 5 – list of 86 UK exchange locations where they plan to move away from old copper-based analogue phone (PSTN / WLR etc.) services and on to a new all-IP network, which will occur in areas where over 75% of premises can get their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network.

Gigabit shiny bubble sign with shadow on white background

Gov Publish Next Phase of UK Rural Gigabit Broadband Rollout Plan

2nd Aug, 2021 (32 Comments)

The UK Government will today publish the next phase (inc. Phase 1a, 1b and 2) of their £5bn Project Gigabit programme, which in this batch aims to spread 1Gbps capable broadband ISP networks to a further 1.85 million rural premises (2.2 million confirmed so far) across 26 counties in England. Gigabit vouchers have also been boosted.

Virgin Media O2 to Upgrade Existing UK Network with Full Fibre

29th Jul, 2021 (56 Comments)

The latest combined Q2 2021 results from broadband ISP, TV and mobile operator Virgin Media and O2 has, among other things, revealed that they plan to completely upgrade their existing Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFX) network – some 14.3 million premises – with Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband tech by the end of 2028.

satellite_broadband_LEO_MEO_constellation_uk_space by 123rf

Ofcom UK Propose Rule Changes for LEO Broadband Satellites

26th Jul, 2021 (2 Comments)

The new generation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) based ultrafast broadband satellite constellations, such as from Elon Musk’s Starlink (SpaceX) and British-registered OneWeb, has today prompted Ofcom to launch a new consultation on several licensing changes to help support them and tackle potential interference.

Cross-Party UK MPs Consult on ECC Changes to Boost Fibre Rollout

22nd Jul, 2021 (1 Comment)

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Broadband and Digital Communication has launched a new inquiry, which will examine how reforms to the Electronic Communications Code (ECC) could help boost the deployment of “full fibre” broadband in rural and urban areas across the UK.

Ofcom UK Opt Not to Propose Regulated Social Broadband Tariff… Yet

22nd Jul, 2021 (12 Comments)

Ofcom has today revealed the conclusion of their latest bout of research into the impact of affordability and debt on broadband ISP customers, which found that around 2 million UK households “struggle to afford internet access.” But they aren’t going to force a regulated social tariff onto the industry.. yet.