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Latest Key Developments

Cityfibre Take Ads Watchdog to Court Over Fibre Broadband Promos

5th Mar, 2018 (64 Comments)

Fibre optic network builder Cityfibre has filed for a Judicial Review of last year’s decision by the UK Advertising Standards Authority, which ruled that it was “not materially misleading” for ISPs to describe slower hybrid fibre services (e.g. FTTC / HFC DOCSIS) as “fibre broadband.”

New Ofcom 2018 Code Gives Clarity on Home Broadband ISP Speeds

1st Mar, 2018 (6 Comments)

Ofcom has today posted their final 2018 Voluntary Code of Practice (CoP) for broadband ISP speeds, which will provide UK consumers with more information about their estimated line performance and make it easier to exit your contract if related problems cannot be resolved within 30 days.

Ofcom Changes to Boost UK Full Fibre Broadband and Cut FTTC Prices

23rd Feb, 2018 (66 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today completed several wholesale market reviews, which among other things will force Openreach (BT) to adopt stiffer Quality of Service standards (installations and repairs), open up their cable ducts to rival ISPs and introduce a big price cut on 40Mbps FTTC broadband lines.

Churches to Help Spread Wireless Broadband into Rural England

18th Feb, 2018 (12 Comments)

The UK Government has reached a new accord with the National Church Institutions (NCIs) of the Church of England, which should make it easier for churches to be used in order to help distribute faster wireless broadband and WiFi services across rural communities.

Openreach Aim FTTP Broadband for 3 Million Premises in 8 UK Cities

1st Feb, 2018 (49 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today announced that they intend to deploy Gigabit capable “full fibre” (FTTP) ultrafast broadband to 3 million premises in 8 major UK cities by 2020 via their new ‘Fibre First‘ build programme, which is up from the current target of 2 million by the same date.

Welsh Gov Detail New 30Mbps Superfast Broadband Plan for Wales UPDATE2

30th Jan, 2018 (19 Comments)

As expected the Welsh Government has this afternoon set out the first tentative details of their new strategy to help make “fast reliable broadband” (defined as 30Mbps+) available to “every property” in Wales, which will involve several contracts (3 lots) and could cover 88,000 premises.

Government Hails 95% UK Coverage of 24Mbps Superfast Broadband

29th Jan, 2018 (60 Comments)

Completed on time. The Government has today confirmed that an estimated 95% of the United Kingdom can now access a 24Mbps+ capable fixed line “superfast broadband” network as a result of their national £1.7bn Broadband Delivery UK programme, but many gaps remain.

Scotland Commit £600m for 100% Coverage of 30Mbps Broadband

14th Dec, 2017 (16 Comments)

The Scottish Government has today confirmed that it plans to spend £600 million on gap funding for their R100 programme, which aims to make a superfast broadband (30Mbps+) capable network available to 100% of Scotland by the end of 2021 (March 2022 when viewing as a financial year).

Ofcom Aid Full Fibre Broadband by Stopping Targeted BT FTTC Price Cuts

1st Dec, 2017 (9 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has opened a new consultation on a change to help foster the roll-out of “full fibre” (FTTP/H) broadband networks by preventing BT from reducing its wholesale charges for slower hybrid fibre (FTTC) connections in areas where rivals are building new networks.

BT Dark Fibre Ruling Forces Ofcom to Revoke Business Connectivity Changes

23rd Nov, 2017 (6 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has today announced that they are revoking and re-examining the changes imposed under their 2016 Business Connectivity Market Review (e.g. Dark Fibre Access), which follows a BT supported ruling from the Competition Appeal Tribunal against their market definitions.

UPDATE ASA Rule UK Fibre Broadband ISP Adverts for Part Fibre Do NOT Mislead

23rd Nov, 2017 (33 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today determined that it is “not materially misleading” to describe broadband services that use fibre optic cables for only part of the connection to consumers’ homes (e.g. FTTC) as “fibre broadband“, much to the annoyance of UK MPs and critics.

ASA Forces UK Broadband ISPs to Advertise AVERAGE Peak Time Speeds

23rd Nov, 2017 (8 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority has today given notice to Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the United Kingdom that, with effect from 23rd May 2018, they will expect all broadband ISPs to advertise “average” speeds (the median measured at peak time) for their headline packages.

UPDATE FINAL Details on Automatic Compensation for Broadband ISP Faults

10th Nov, 2017 (7 Comments)

As expected Ofcom has today set out the final details for their new automatic compensation system, which will force UK ISPs to compensate consumers (cash or bill credits) for a total loss of broadband connectivity, albeit only under certain circumstances (e.g. the outage lasts longer than 2 working days).

Openreach Find “broad support” for Large Scale UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

31st Oct, 2017 (34 Comments)

After conducting an industry consultation Openreach (BT) has today claimed that ISPs offered “broad support” for their proposal to conduct a “large scale” rollout of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) ultrafast broadband across the UK, which could in theory reach 10 million premises by 2025. But no deal.. yet.

Ofcom Nudge BT to Slash UK Standalone Monthly Line Rental Costs by £7

26th Oct, 2017 (15 Comments)

Consumers who take a landline-only phone service from BT will, from 1st April 2018, pay £7 per month less for their line rental following a decision by Ofcom (i.e. £11.99 inc. VAT per month instead of £18.99). The move will benefit up to 1 million of the operator’s customers, especially elderly users.

UPDATE Openreach Dark Fibre – New OSA Filter Connect Product for ISPs

18th Oct, 2017 (0 Comments)

Openreach has today advised us about the forthcoming launch of their new Optical Spectrum Access (OSA) product for ISPs (OSA Filter Connect), which appears to be a Dark Fibre style solution that has been designed to address many of the perceived failings of a “one-size fits all” regulated product.

Ofcom Enhances UK Code of Practice for Broadband ISP Speeds

6th Oct, 2017 (9 Comments)

Consumers will soon benefit from more accurate information on what broadband line speeds they can expect from their ISP and what they can do if this isn’t delivered. The changes form part of a proposed update to Ofcom’s voluntary code of practice for residential speeds.