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Latest Key Developments

2019 Queen’s Speech Sets Out UK Gigabit Broadband Plans UPDATE

14th Oct, 2019 (12 Comments)

The Queen has today carried out the annual State Opening of Parliament, which as per usual included a list of policy plans that the Government intends to put forward over the coming years. As expected this included some planned legislation for broadband and internet safety related matters.

Scotland Pick BT for Part of £600m Superfast Broadband Rollout

10th Oct, 2019 (16 Comments)

The Scottish Government today announced that BT is their ONLY bidder for two of the three areas under the new £600m R100 (Reaching 100%) project, which originally (here) aspired to make “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) ISP networks available to “every single premise in Scotland” by the end of 2021 (March 2022 financial).

New UK Rules to Spread Gigabit Broadband into Big Buildings

10th Oct, 2019 (17 Comments)

The UK Government has today proposed a solution as part of the outcome from their recent consultation, which sought a new way of making it easier for “gigabit-capable” broadband ISPs and mobile network operators to access buildings – usually big apartment blocks (Multi-Dwelling Units) – where “rogue landlords” fail to respond.

Vodafone UK Share Unused 4G Spectrum for Rural Broadband

2nd Oct, 2019 (13 Comments)

Mobile network operator Vodafone UK has, in somewhat of an “industry first,” agreed to help extend Mobile Broadband coverage by sharing some of its “unused” 4G radio spectrum with StrattoOpencell (part of the Digital Colony UK Infrastructure Platform) in order to offer high-speed data in “remote areas without fibre connectivity.”

Openreach Unveil 29 New UK Areas for FTTP Gigabit Broadband

2nd Oct, 2019 (71 Comments)

Network provider Openreach (BT) has today unveiled the next quarterly batch of 29 new UK rollout locations (total of 103 so far) for their 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology, which aims to cover 4 million premises (homes and businesses) by March 2021 and then 15 million by around 2025.

Boris Johnson Splurges £5bn on UK 2025 Gigabit Broadband Target UPDATE3

29th Sep, 2019 (77 Comments)

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, is this week expected to commit £5bn of public funding in order to support his seemingly now watered down ambition to have “Gigabit broadband sprouting in every home” by the end of 2025 (full fibre, cable broadband, 5G etc.).

Ofcom Tackle UK Broadband ISP Pricing to Protect Vulnerable Users

25th Sep, 2019 (10 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has concluded their review of broadband ISP pricing and agreed industry changes that are designed to protect “vulnerable” consumers (e.g. pensioners) from “loyalty penalties,” which references how loyal customers (those who don’t switch or renegotiate) often end up paying more.

Openreach Prices New UK Consumer 550Mbps and 1Gbps FTTP Tiers

18th Sep, 2019 (36 Comments)

A couple of months ago Openreach (BT) cut the wholesale prices for their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) ultrafast broadband lines for UK ISPs (here) and revealed that they were planning to introduce two new top tiers for consumers – 550Mbps (75Mbps upload) and 1000Mbps (115Mbps). Today we’ve learnt how much these will cost.

Ofcom – 10Mb Broadband USO Gap Shrinks to 578000 UK Premises

17th Sep, 2019 (20 Comments)

Ofcom has published a Summer 2019 update to their Connected Nations report, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) UK broadband coverage has risen to 8% (up from 7% four months ago) and the number of premises unable to get 10Mbps+ has declined from 619,000 to 578,000. Geographic 4G mobile cover remains at 66%.

Government to Water Down 2025 Full Fibre for All UK Target – Become Gigabit UPDATE

14th Sep, 2019 (57 Comments)

Several industry sources have indicated to ISPreview.co.uk that they now expect the Government to water down Boris Johnson’s (Prime Minister) pledge to cover the United Kingdom in “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband by 2025, which will instead be replaced by “gigabit” or “gigafast” terminology (i.e. delivery by more than just full fibre).

Openreach Put the Brakes on Future UK G.fast Broadband Plans

11th Sep, 2019 (51 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today informed ISPs that they are holding off giving any further guidance on future build plans for their hybrid fibre G.fast “ultrafast broadband” (100Mbps+) technology, which means that under the existing rollout they will only cover 2.73 million UK premises by March 2020..

Improved Mobile Planning Rules and £30m for UK Rural 5G Trials

27th Aug, 2019 (5 Comments)

The UK Government has commitment another £30m to help up to 10 rural locations conduct “innovative trials” of 5G mobile / mobile broadband applications as part of a new Rural Connected Communities (RCC) project, which could stimulate commercial investment. On top of that they aim to ease mobile planning rules.

Openreach Unveil 36 New UK Areas for FTTP Ultrafast Broadband

31st Jul, 2019 (59 Comments)

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today announced that their multi-billion pound “Fibre First” rollout of Gigabit capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology will – over the next 12 months – be reaching parts of an additional 36 new locations across the UK (total now 74).

Northern Ireland’s £165m Broadband Plan to Help 98000 Premises

25th Jul, 2019 (11 Comments)

The Department for the Economy (DfE) in Northern Ireland has finally begun the procurement phase for Project Stratum, which reflects its plan to invest £165 million in order to ensure that most of the 98,000 premises still awaiting access to “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) ISP networks can get it.

Ofcom Opens UK Radio Spectrum for Smaller Local Wireless Networks UPDATE

25th Jul, 2019 (2 Comments)

As expected Ofcom has today unveiled a new sharing framework that will be applied via four of the United Kingdom’s radio spectrum frequency bands (airwaves), which should make it possible for smaller mobile and fixed wireless broadband ISP networks to be created in order to deliver local coverage or industrial use.

O2 UK Sets October 2019 Rollout for Ultrafast 5G Mobile Broadband

25th Jul, 2019 (1 Comment)

Mobile operator O2 (Telefonica) has today confirmed that their next generation ultrafast 5G (mobile broadband) network will join EE, Vodafone and Three UK by beginning its commercial rollout in October 2019. The aim being to go live in 20 towns and cities this year and a total of 50 by Summer 2020.

Virgin Media UK Rollout 1Gbps Broadband for All on Network by 2021

25th Jul, 2019 (38 Comments)

Cable ISP Virgin Media (Liberty Global) has pounced on Boris Johnson’s appointment to the role of UK Prime Minister by revealing that it will make broadband download speeds of at least 1Gbps (1000Mbps) available to all 15 million premises on their network by 2021, which is thanks to their long-awaited DOCSIS 3.1 upgrade.