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Latest Key Developments

Ofcom 2018 Study – Average Home Broadband Speeds Hit 46.2Mbps

9th May, 2018 (9 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual study of fixed line home broadband ISP speeds across the United Kingdom, which reveals that the average download rate has risen from 36.2Mbps last year to 46.2Mbps now, while uploads hit 6.2Mbps (up from 4.3Mbps). Sadly the gap between urban and rural areas persists.

2018 Study Compares Big UK Mobile and Broadband ISPs by Quality

3rd May, 2018 (3 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual study of service quality, call waiting times, complaints and service provision among the largest UK ISPs and Mobile operators, which among other things found that Plusnet had the longest call waiting times (7:50 mins) and the highest broadband satisfaction (86%).

Ofcom Prep More Contract Clarity for Broadband and Mobile Consumers

27th Apr, 2018 (9 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has hinted that it intends to improve “end of contract notifications” for phone, mobile and broadband consumers, which among other things could require ISPs to “proactively inform” customers when they are approaching or are at the end of their minimum contract term.

Northern Ireland to Consult on £150m Ultrafast Broadband Boost

25th Apr, 2018 (1 Comment)

Last year the Conservative UK government agreed to hand £75m per year (over two years) to “help provide ultra-fast broadband” (100Mbps+) across Northern Ireland, which formed part of a political deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in order to secure the support of their 10 MPs.

Terms Agreed for Bidco to Buy UK FTTH Builder CityFibre for £538m

24th Apr, 2018 (5 Comments)

Fibre optic (FTTP/H) network builder Cityfibre has announced that they’ve agreed the terms of a recommended £537.8m cash acquisition by Connect Infrastructure Bidco Limited (Bidco), which is a newly-incorporated company that is jointly-owned by a consortium of two key infrastructure investors.

Government Proposes Tougher Rules to Protect UK Consumers

11th Apr, 2018 (7 Comments)

The Government has today published a new Green Paper that proposes a number of changes to help protect consumers from bad practices, such as by simplifying Terms & Conditions (T&Cs), bundles and protecting people from “unexpected payments” that may arise via subscription services.

Ofcom Reveal Initial UK 4G and 5G Mobile Spectrum Auction Winners

5th Apr, 2018 (12 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has today revealed the preliminary winners from their auction of the new 4G Mobile friendly 2.3GHz and future 5G destined 3.4GHz radio spectrum bands. All of the major mobile operators have won a slice and the total value of the principal stage is £1,355,744,000.

Ofcom Tweak Final Pricing for Openreach 40Mbps FTTC Broadband

28th Mar, 2018 (11 Comments)

Ofcom has today published a final statement on their recent UK Wholesale Local Access Market Review (WLAMR), which is broadly unchanged from last month’s major announcement (here) but there has been a tweak to wholesale FTTC “fibre broadband” pricing for UK ISPs.

Government Detail Final 10Mbps For All UK Broadband USO Design UPDATE

28th Mar, 2018 (28 Comments)

As promised the Government has today set out their chosen design for the new Universal Service Obligation (USO), which pledges to give everybody in the United Kingdom the “legal right” to request a 10Mbps+ capable “high speed broadband” connection from 2020, but challenges remain.

Scotland Name ISP Bidders for 100% Superfast Broadband Rollout

22nd Mar, 2018 (8 Comments)

A meeting of the UK Wireless Internet Service Providers Association has named the four suppliers that are bidding on Scotland’s R100 project, which aspires to make “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) available to 100% of the country by the end of 2021 (March 2022 as a financial year).

Government Launch £67m UK Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme

15th Mar, 2018 (5 Comments)

The UK government has launched a new nationwide Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which is funded by a pot of £67m and aims to provide vouchers worth up to £3000 for businesses (SME) or £500 to residents to help with the costs of connecting to “full fibre” (FTTP/H) broadband.

Government Allocate First £95m for UK Full Fibre Local Networks UPDATE

13th Mar, 2018 (31 Comments)

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has given his 2018 Spring Statement and confirmed the first £95m allocation from the government’s £190m Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) challenge fund, which was setup to stimulate commercial investment in “gigabit capable” broadband (rural and urban).

Scotland Unveil £25m Mobile Infill Project to Boost 4G Coverage

12th Mar, 2018 (6 Comments)

The Scottish Government has today announced a new investment of £25 million that will be used to fund the 4G Infill Programme, which aims to help build new mobile network masts in locations with no existing 4G coverage in order to improve local connectivity.

Virgin Media UK Begins Rural FTTH Build in the Dun and Test Valley

12th Mar, 2018 (3 Comments)

Last year we revealed that a new community project with Virgin Media would extend the operator’s 350Mbps FTTH broadband and TV network to 12 small rural villages (around 4,000 premises) in the Test and Dun Valleys of Hampshire (England). Today the build phase has finally begun.

Age Verification and UK ISP Internet Porn Ban Quietly Delayed UPDATE

12th Mar, 2018 (10 Comments)

The government has quietly delayed their new age verification rules until the end of 2018, which was set to be targeted at websites and “apps” that contain pornographic content. Broadband ISPs would also be required to block sites that fail to comply with the new rules.

Government Mulls Regional Franchises to Boost Full Fibre Broadband

11th Mar, 2018 (20 Comments)

A newspaper report has claimed that the UK government’s on-going ‘Telecoms Infrastructure Review‘ is giving serious consideration to the old idea of adopting regional franchises, which they claim might help boost the coverage of “full fibre” (FTTH/P) broadband, particularly in rural areas.

ISPs and Openreach Working to Improve UK Broadband Repairs

7th Mar, 2018 (0 Comments)

The Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA2) confirms that UK ISPs have raised a new Statement of Requirement (SOR) request to encourage more data sharing for both ADSL and FTTC (VDSL2) based broadband products, which could result in a more effective engineer repair process.