Home » UK ISP News Archive » Key Developments (722 Posts)

Latest Key Developments

broadband vouchers ultrafast gigabit uk full fibre by 123rf

New UK Gigabit Voucher Scheme Terms Add Satellite and Caveats UPDATE

6th Apr, 2021 (16 Comments)

As part of their £5bn Project Gigabit programme the UK Government will this week (8th April) start a new rural focused £210m gigabit broadband voucher scheme. A quick look at the new Terms and Conditions for this reveals some key changes, such as the inclusion of satellite, a £100k funding cap on project changes and other caveats.

Openreach UK Raise Copper Line Prices to Fuel Full Fibre Rollout

31st Mar, 2021 (75 Comments)

As expected (or feared) Openreach (BT) has today announced a series of wholesale price increases for UK ISPs that use certain legacy copper line broadband, FTTC (VDSL2, G.fast, SOGEA) and phone products, which are intended to help the operator to afford their £12bn roll-out of 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology.

Ofcom UK Makes Changes to Rules for Landline and Mobile Calls

30th Mar, 2021 (8 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published a final statement on their latest Wholesale Voice Markets Review 2021–26 (WVMR), which among other things has set some new caps on call termination charges and deregulated other areas.

BDUK Start Open Market Review for UK Project Gigabit Phase 1

25th Mar, 2021 (18 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK team has today launched an Open Market Review (OMR) for Phase 1b and 1a of their new £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out scheme, which is the process used to identify the commercial coverage plans for 1Gbps networks over the next 3 years (i.e. confirms where public money will be needed).

Gov Starts GBP5bn UK Gigabit Broadband and Voucher Schemes UPDATE

19th Mar, 2021 (53 Comments)

The UK Government has today revealed new details of how their £5bn gigabit broadband roll-out scheme will work and rebranded it as “Project Gigabit“. As part of that they’ve also confirmed £210m for an extension of their rural Gigabit Voucher scheme and £110m to connect up to 7,000 rural GP surgeries, libraries and schools.

BDUK Consults on Gigabit Broadband Coverage in Essex UK

18th Mar, 2021 (6 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK team has today begun a new consultation to help them identify what existing or planned commercial gigabit-capable broadband coverage exists in Essex (England), which will help to establish the areas where public investment may be needed to deploy the service.

network cables and fiber optic closeup with keyboard background

Ofcom Unveils 2021 Changes to Boost UK Full Fibre Broadband UPDATE

18th Mar, 2021 (55 Comments)

Ofcom has today published the outcome of their Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review 2021-26 (FTMR), which sets out how various changes (Dark Fibre Access, copper retirement, regulation that varies by geographic area etc.) will be used to boost UK investment in “full fibre” broadband and high capacity Ethernet services.

Preliminary Winners of Ofcom’s UK 5G Mobile Auction Revealed

17th Mar, 2021 (42 Comments)

Ofcom has today revealed the winners from the “principal stage” of their latest 5G focused mobile (mobile broadband) spectrum auction for the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands, which saw operators spend a total of £1.356 billion across the various bands and EE (BT) appears to have gobbled up the most (£452m).

router broadband connection cut by 123rf 158727424

The New UK Telecoms Security Bill is Starting to Look a Bit Ugly

16th Mar, 2021 (10 Comments)

At present most of the mentions you’ll see around the UK Government’s new Telecoms Security Bill (TSB) tend to involve Huawei’s ban (here) and its impact upon FTTP broadband or 5G mobile networks, but as time goes on it’s becoming increasingly clear that the bill hides a number of other nasty surprises.

Cityfibre Name 285 UK Areas for GBP4bn Gigabit Broadband Rollout UPDATE

12th Mar, 2021 (98 Comments)

Alternative network builder CityFibre has today confirmed the full list of 285 UK cities, towns and villages where they plan to deploy their new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTHP) broadband platform, which will work alongside ISPs like Vodafone and TalkTalk to cover 8 million homes and businesses. Rural areas will also benefit.

Two UK Broadband ISPs Trial New Internet Snooping System

11th Mar, 2021 (72 Comments)

Two unnamed broadband or mobile ISPs are reportedly helping the UK Home Office and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to trial a new internet snooping system on their customers, which is being conducted as part of the controversial 2016 UK Investigatory Powers Act (aka – snoopers charter).

Ofcom to Start UK 5G Mobile Auction for 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz

10th Mar, 2021 (47 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today confirmed that their auction of the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz radio spectrum bands will begin this Friday (12th March). The move should ultimately help to improve the coverage and speed of 5G mobile (mobile broadband) networks.

New UK Law Passed to Spread Gigabit Broadband into Big Buildings

5th Mar, 2021 (18 Comments)

After a long wait the new Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill is set to become law, albeit with a few changes, after passing through parliament. The law aims to make it quicker and cheaper for “gigabit-capable” ISPs to access big blocks of flats or apartments (MDU) when “rogue landlords” fail to respond.

Virgin Media UK Trial Claims 400Gbps Speeds via a Single Fibre

3rd Mar, 2021 (47 Comments)

A new trial conducted by broadband ISP Virgin Media UK (Liberty Global) has harnessed a prototype of Infinera XR Optics technology in its existing network, which they claim could potentially deliver multi-gigabit speeds to customers by boosting symmetric transfer rates up to 400Gbps in a single fibre.

Q4 2020 Progress Update on Wales BT FTTP Broadband Rollout

1st Mar, 2021 (7 Comments)

The Welsh Government has issued a Q4 2020 progress update on their £52.5m Phase 2 Superfast Cymru contract with BT (Openreach), which is deploying a 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 39,000 extra premises in rural Wales. The data to December 2020 shows 15,649 premises have now been completed.

New UK Infrastructure Bank May Boost Gigabit Broadband and 5G

28th Feb, 2021 (7 Comments)

The HM Treasury has announced that its plan to setup a new UK Infrastructure Bank, which was first proposed in last year’s Spending Review, will be supported by an initial £12bn in capital investment and £10bn in loan guarantees. In theory this could help to unlock more private investment, such as to boost the gigabit broadband rollout.

GBP5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout Starts in Central Scotland

27th Feb, 2021 (20 Comments)

In a surprise twist the UK Government has technically started the rollout phase of their £5bn Gigabit Broadband Programme early by reaching a unique agreement with the Scottish Government’s existing £579m Reaching 100% (R100) project, which will see them replace FTTC with FTTP in rural parts of Central Scotland.