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Latest Key Developments

Gov Tightens Huawei 5G Mobile and FTTP Broadband Restrictions

30th Nov, 2020 (10 Comments)

In another telecoms policy surprise the UK Government has today announced that mobile operators, such as Three UK, EE (BT) and Vodafone, must stop installing “any” Huawei equipment in ultrafast 5G networks from the end of September 2021. A 35% cap on kit will also apply to FTTP and gigabit broadband from Jan 2023.

Government Start £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Plan for 85%+ by 2025 UPDATE

25th Nov, 2020 (39 Comments)

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has today published his 2020 Spending Review and in so doing has kicked off the new £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Programme, which previously aimed to ensure that “every home” could access a 1Gbps capable connection by the end of 2025 but now expects a “minimum” of 85% coverage by that date.

ip address Fiber optic cables for backbone lines on blue network background

New Bill Laid to BAN Huawei and Boost UK Telecoms Security

24th Nov, 2020 (12 Comments)

The Government will today publish their Telecommunications (Security) Bill, which imposes new rules to improve the security of UK networks (mobile and broadband) and ban “high risk vendors” like Huawei, while also threatening fines of up to £100k a day (or 10% of turnover) against operators that fail to meet the standard.

ISP Zen Internet Joins Cityfibre’s UK FTTP Broadband Network

20th Nov, 2020 (22 Comments)

Cityfibre has today announced that popular UK broadband provider Zen Internet has just become the latest ISP to join their growing national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, complementing others like TalkTalk and Vodafone. Until now Zen has been focused on selling Openreach’s products to homes.

76,000 Extra Premises in Northern Ireland to Get FTTP Broadband

18th Nov, 2020 (12 Comments)

Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy (DfE) has today confirmed what we first revealed in September (here), which is that alternative network ISP Fibrus have secure the £165m Project Stratum contract and will be extending “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) coverage to 76,000+ extra rural premises by March 2024.

Government Preps Universal Service Obligation for UK Mobile

11th Nov, 2020 (19 Comments)

The UK Government yesterday introduced new powers for the Secretary of State to, among other things, establish a new Universal Service Obligation (USO) for 4G or 5G mobile networks “in the future,” albeit only if that is “deemed necessary.” Questions will now be raised over what such a USO would look like.

Virgin Media Parent Eyes Future 10Gbps and DOCSIS 4 Upgrade

10th Nov, 2020 (38 Comments)

Liberty Global, the parent of cable broadband ISP Virgin Media UK and various other European operators, has informed shareholders that they’ll be starting work on 10Gbps broadband connectivity “pretty quickly” by using a mix of a future DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades and more Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology.

consumer switching uk broadband and phone

Ofcom Extend Broadband ISP Switching and Ban Locked Mobiles

27th Oct, 2020 (9 Comments)

Ofcom UK has set out new measures that will make switching between broadband ISPs on physically separate networks easier (e.g. Openreach to Cityfibre), but due to the complexities involved providers will be given until December 2022 implement it. Mobile operators will also be banned from selling “locked” handsets.

Scotland Boosts Rural Broadband Vouchers by Linking to UK

23rd Oct, 2020 (8 Comments)

The Scottish Government has today linked their new Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) to the UK’s Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme in order to significantly boost the value of their vouchers, which expands the pot up to £8,500 for SMEs and up to £6,500 for homes.

Ofcom Considers Bringing UK Copper Line Retirement Forward

15th Oct, 2020 (12 Comments)

The seemingly rapid progress of Openreach’s (BT) move to replace their old copper phone services with a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network has today prompted Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, to reconsider their time-line for the withdrawal of copper services.

Ofcom Opens Probe into BT Compliance with Broadband USO UPDATE

15th Oct, 2020 (20 Comments)

Ofcom has this morning opened an investigation to examine whether or not BT is complying with their obligations under the new UK Universal Service Obligation (USO), which requires them to help deliver at least a 10Mbps broadband download speed, upon request, to those in poorly served areas.

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150,000 Premises in Wales to Get FTTP Broadband Under New Deal

14th Oct, 2020 (4 Comments)

Cardiff-based UK ISP Spectrum Internet, which earlier this year revealed that they hoped to build a new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to 150,000 homes and businesses across South Wales (here), has today announced that they’ve secured enough investment from Infracapital to get started.

virgin media cable van and two engineers

Virgin Media UK Target 1Gb Broadband for 8 Million More Homes

5th Oct, 2020 (25 Comments)

The new joint venture between ISP Virgin Media and mobile operator O2 (here) appears to have today resulted in an ambition to expand their gigabit-capable broadband network to reach an extra 1 million premises “within 12 months of the merger closing” (total of 16 million) and to then connect a “further 7 million homes.”

Ex-BT CEO to Help UK Gov Hunt for New Telecoms Suppliers

23rd Sep, 2020 (6 Comments)

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced that the Ex-BT CEO and former trade minister, Lord Ian Livingston, will lead a new “Telecoms Diversification Task Force” to help diversify the UK’s telecoms (mobile and broadband) supply chain and reduce reliance on high-risk vendors like Huawei.

OneWeb Set to Restart Launches of LEO Broadband Satellites

21st Sep, 2020 (9 Comments)

Space company OneWeb, which is now owned by a consortium of the UK Government and Indian conglomerate Bharti Global (here), has today confirmed that they will begin sending their high-speed broadband capable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellites into orbit again from December 2020.

Alternative UK Fibre ISPs Support Common Wholesale Platform Idea

16th Sep, 2020 (12 Comments)

Research from the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) has claimed that 88.7% of the UK’s challenger alternative broadband network (AltNet) providers would support the creation of a common platform, through which they could provide wholesale services to third-party providers.

Openreach Name 67 UK Areas for Next FTTP Broadband Rollout

15th Sep, 2020 (104 Comments)

Openreach (BT) have today added 67 new locations into their UK “Fibre Cities” roll-out programme for 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology, which forms part of their £12bn project to cover 20 million premises by around the mid to late 2020s (2025 – 2030).