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Latest Key Developments

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.

EE UK Set to Expand 4G Mobile Cover to 579 Rural Areas in 2021

24th Feb, 2021 (9 Comments)

Mobile operator EE (BT) has today announced that, as part of the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) industry project, they will expand their 4G (mobile broadband) network in 579 rural areas during 2021 in order to improve signal coverage (333 in England, 132 in Scotland, 76 in Wales, and 38 in Northern Ireland).

BDUK Consults on Gigabit Broadband Coverage in Cumbria UK

9th Feb, 2021 (5 Comments)

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

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Ofcom Details New UK Broadband ISP Switching Process for 2022

3rd Feb, 2021 (23 Comments)

As expected the UK telecoms regulator has today published detailed proposals for a new simpler “one touch” switching process for all broadband customers, which from December 2022 will make it easier for consumers to switch between ISPs on physically separate networks (e.g. Openreach’s full fibre to Cityfibre or Virgin Media etc.).

DCMS Update on Plan for UK Rural Gigabit Broadband Vouchers

1st Feb, 2021 (4 Comments)

The UK Government (DCMS / BDUK) has confirmed a few more details about the future of their £200m Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme to broadband ISPs, which is due to end on the 31st March 2021 but is widely expected to be superseded by a new programme with a fresh pot of “over” £250m.

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Gov Consults on New ECC Changes to Aid UK Broadband Rollout

28th Jan, 2021 (2 Comments)

The UK Government has launched a consultation on a series of proposed changes to the Electronic Communications Code (ECC), which aims to put right some of the problems caused by their last revision in 2017 and could thus make it quicker for broadband and 4G or 5G mobile operators to deploy their networks.

O2, Three UK and Vodafone to Share 222 Rural 4G Mobile Masts

27th Jan, 2021 (32 Comments)

The £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) industry project made progress today after mobile operators O2, Three UK and Vodafone reached a related agreement to both build and share 222 new 4G mobile masts, which will be used to boost mobile voice and mobile broadband coverage in rural parts of the country.

Cityfibre’s UK FTTP Broadband Rollout Tops 500,000 Premises

23rd Jan, 2021 (38 Comments)

For the first time Cityfibre has revealed to ISPreview.co.uk that their £4bn programme, which is deploying a new gigabit-capable (1000Mbps+) Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to 30% of UK homes and businesses over the next few years, has now reached a total of over 500,000 premises passed.

First Projects in Wales Benefit from £10m Local Broadband Fund UPDATE

13th Jan, 2021 (4 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has today named the first projects to benefit from their new £10 million Local Broadband Fund (LBF), which aims to help bring “fast and reliable broadband” ISP networks (often FTTP powered) to some of the country’s most poorly served rural communities.

Draft Strategy for £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout Published UPDATE

22nd Dec, 2020 (24 Comments)

The Government has today published the draft procurement strategy for their new £5bn Gigabit Broadband Programme (F20), which is a consultation on their plan to ensure that gigabit-capable networks reach a “minimum” of 85% UK coverage by the end of 2025 (before getting “as close to 100% as possible” thereafter).

Ofcom Ponder Regulated Social Tariff for UK Broadband and Mobile

18th Dec, 2020 (17 Comments)

Ofcom has published the results of new research into the affordability of consumer fixed broadband and mobile internet services, which finds that 19% of UK households (19%) – c.4.7 million homes – struggle to afford their telecoms services. Some 6% have difficulties paying for their broadband, while 5% struggle with mobile bills.