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Latest Key Developments

Openreach to Trial FTTP Exchange Upgrade Process and Digital Voice

18th Jun, 2019 (20 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has announced two new UK technology trials (i.e. an FTTP Exchange Upgrade process and Digital Voice services) for premises in Salisbury (Wiltshire) and Mildenhall (Suffolk), which forms part of their wider efforts to move toward an All-IP and national “full fibre” broadband ISP network.

Ofcom to Tackle Unfair and Harmful Practices by UK Broadband ISPs

17th Jun, 2019 (11 Comments)

The national UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today begun a new consultation that seeks views on their plans to create a new Fairness Framework (guidelines), which will be designed to explain to broadband, phone and TV providers how they will consider whether their practices and the way they treat their customers is fair.

UK Ranks 5th in 2019 EU Broadband Connectivity Progress Study

11th Jun, 2019 (7 Comments)

The European Commission has published their 2019 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which uses data from 2018 to reveal how the UK’s fixed line broadband and mobile networks compare with the rest of the EU. This year we jumped in overall rank from 6th to 5th out of 28 countries but are only 10th for connectivity.

Ofcom Set March 2020 Launch for 10Mbps UK Broadband USO

6th Jun, 2019 (48 Comments)

The national telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today confirmed the final details for how the new 10Mbps+ (1Mbps upload) Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband – to be supplied by ISPs BT and KCOM – will be delivered and work once it’s introduced from 20th March 2020.

Code of Practice to Boost Fibre Broadband Street Works in Scotland

3rd Jun, 2019 (0 Comments)

The Scottish Government has officially implemented a new Code of Practice in Scotland, which appears to create a uniform technical standard for “narrow trenching” method of civil engineering (i.e. trenches less than 300mm in width) that could help to speed up the rollout of fibre broadband ISP networks across the country.

New UK Consumer Advocate to Tackle Unfair Broadband Practices UPDATE2

3rd Jun, 2019 (4 Comments)

The Government has revealed that they will soon legislate to create a new independent “consumer advocate,” which will be given the task of tackling “unfair” practices within the UK telecoms market (broadband ISPs and mobile operators). On top of that they will also provide “direct support” to consumers.

UK ISPs Sign-up to New Ofcom Fairness for Customers Commitment

3rd Jun, 2019 (7 Comments)

The biggest home broadband, phone, mobile and pay TV providers from across the United Kingdom have today announced that they’re signing up to Ofcom’s new “Fairness for Customers” commitment, which covers a variety of areas from the quality of support to clarity of information and fairness in pricing.

Ofcom Push Dark Fibre and Unrestricted Openreach UK Duct Access

24th May, 2019 (18 Comments)

Ofcom has today proposed changes under their latest UK Physical Infrastructure (PIR) and Business Connectivity Market Reviews (BCMR), which imposes tougher service quality standards upon Openreach’s (BT) network, introduces a regulated Dark Fibre solution and gives ISPs “unrestricted access” to their cable ducts and poles.

SpaceX Successfully Launch First 60 LEO Ultrafast Broadband Satellites

24th May, 2019 (3 Comments)

SpaceX has this morning completed the first successful launch and delivery of 60 small Starlink Satellites, which are Low Earth Orbit (LEO) dwelling spacecraft that could in theory deliver “ultrafast broadband” speeds of up to 1Gbps and low latency times of around 25ms (milliseconds) around the world. Many more will follow.

Mobile Operator EE Set UK Live Date for Commercial 5G Network

22nd May, 2019 (25 Comments)

Mobile operator EE (BT) has today moved to steal some of Vodafone’s thunder by announcing that their own commercial ultrafast 5G mobile (mobile broadband) network will go live (non-trial) from 30th May 2019 in parts of London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester. New rollout locations for 2020 have also been confirmed.

£200m UK Rural Gigabit Broadband Connectivity Programme Starts

19th May, 2019 (33 Comments)

The UK Government has today officially launched their new £200m Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme, which was originally announced during the 2018 Budget and aims to encourage an “outside-in” approach to building new ultrafast broadband ISP networks by focusing on helping to connect rural areas.

Ofcom Force End of Contract Notices for UK Broadband and Mobile

15th May, 2019 (13 Comments)

Ofcom has today set out the final details of their new end-of-contract notification system (sent by text, email or letter) for UK customers of broadband ISPs, Pay TV, landline phone and mobile operators, which is designed to help tackle the so-called “loyalty penalty” and will keep consumers informed about the best available deals.

Vodafone UK Grow to 575,000 Broadband Users and Set 5G Launch

14th May, 2019 (4 Comments)

Fixed line ISP and mobile operator Vodafone UK has released their latest quarterly results to the end of March (Q4 FY19), which saw them add another 50,000 fixed broadband customers (up from +46K in the previous quarter) to total 575,000. Plus they’ve announced the 3rd July 2019 launch of their UK 5G network.

Mobile Operators Strike UK Network Sharing Deal for Rural Coverage

13th May, 2019 (12 Comments)

Mobile operators EE (BT), Vodafone, O2 and Three UK have confirmed a new agreement that could help to boost the rural coverage of their 2G, 3G, 4G and future 5G networks. Under the deal a new infrastructure company will be established to help build masts in remote areas. Now they just need Ofcom to agree.

Openreach Aim for 15 Million UK FTTP Broadband Premises by 2025

9th May, 2019 (10 Comments)

Telecoms giant Openreach (BT) has today confirmed a significant ramping-up of their UK “Fibre First” rollout of 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology, which will now aim to cover 4 million homes and businesses by March 2021 (up from 3m) and an ambition for 15 million by around 2025 (up from 10m).

Ofcom 2019 Report – Avg. Home Broadband ISP Speeds Hit 54Mbps UPDATE

8th May, 2019 (20 Comments)

The national UK telecoms regulator has today published their 2019 study of fixed line home broadband ISP speeds, which reports that the average download rate has risen from 46.2Mbps last year to 54.2Mbps now and uploads hit 7.2Mbps (up from 6.2Mbps). But the gap between urban and rural areas has worsened.

New UK Laws to Make Broadband Routers and IoT Kit More Secure

1st May, 2019 (14 Comments)

The Government has today launched a new consultation on their proposal to introduce new laws that would seek to improve the security of internet connected devices, such as smart TVs, broadband ISP routers, smart speakers and other Internet of Things (IoT) style devices. But “initially” these will only be voluntary.