Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Building Digital UK (2483 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Building Digital UK

Construction worker repairing a broken water pipe on the concrete road.

Trial to Run Fibre Optic Cables via the UK Water Mains Has Stalled

5th September, 2024 (10 Comments)

The UK Government’s (DSIT) c.£6.2 million “Fibre in Water” trial (Project TAWCO), which aimed to test the deployment of fibre optic (FTTP) broadband cables through a live water mains (used for drinking water), has still not progressed to Phase 2 after a decision was taken to “stop the live build trial” due to several key obstacles.

UK Tops New G7 Focused Digital Connectivity Readiness Index

4th September, 2024 (0 Comments)

Technical consultancy firm FarrPoint has today published their first International Digital Connectivity Readiness Index (IDCRI), which ranks the United Kingdom top against the G7 nations. The index ranks countries by the quality and coverage of their digital infrastructure (broadband, 5G etc.), as well as other areas like digital skills and online security etc.

Gov Considers Easier Access to Blocks of Flats for UK Broadband Upgrades

3rd September, 2024 (11 Comments)

The new UK Government has begun informally consulting with the telecoms industry after network operators called on them to make it easier and cheaper to access large residential buildings (MDUs – blocks of flats or apartments), which could help to upgrade related buildings to gigabit-capable broadband. Easier said than done.

Fusion Fibre Group Engineer Mike Loten next to full fibre cabinet

Fusion Fibre Extend Northumberland FTTP Build to Hedley on the Hill

29th August, 2024 (0 Comments)

Rural network operator and UK ISP Fusion Fibre Group (formerly FACTCO) has today announced that their existing deployment of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in Stocksfield and Mickley is being extended to include 70 “hard-to-reach” properties in the Northumberland village of Hedley on the Hill.

MS3 and Brsk Face More Protests Against UK Broadband Poles

29th August, 2024 (34 Comments)

Alternative network operators MS3 and Brsk are separately facing more public protests against their use of wood poles for the deployment of new gigabit-speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP networks, this time in Hull (East Yorkshire) and St Helens (Merseyside), respectively.

62,000 Premises in Scotland Benefit from R100 Fibre Broadband Build

27th August, 2024 (3 Comments)

The latest progress update on the Scottish Government’s state aid supported £600m Reaching 100% (R100) project with Openreach (BT), which is predominantly rolling out full fibre (FTTP) broadband, has revealed that a total of 62,000 premises in some of the hardest to reach parts of the country have now been reached (up from 57,000 last month).

Government Appoints Interim Chair of Building Digital UK Agency

22nd August, 2024 (6 Comments)

The new Labour-led Government (DSIT) has this afternoon announced that they’ve appointed Hazel Hobbs to act as the “interim” chair of their broadband and mobile centric Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency, starting on 1st September 2024. She replaces Simon Blagden, who resigned “with immediate effect“ a month ago (here).

fibre optic blue strands cosmetic broadband picture 123rf

Leicestershire UK’s GigaHubs Full Fibre Build Connects 43 Public Sites

19th August, 2024 (0 Comments)

The Leicestershire County Council (LCC) has revealed that their recently completed £1.5 million “GigaHubs” project has now connected 43 public sector sites (schools, libraries etc.) to a new gigabit-capable full fibre broadband network, which forms part of the UK Government’s wider £5bn Project Gigabit programme.

New UK Gov Reiterates Call for Limits on Building Broadband Poles UPDATE

17th August, 2024 (24 Comments)

The new Labour-led UK Government has somewhat echoed the previous administration today by calling on broadband operators to “end the deployment of unnecessary telegraph poles” when rolling out new gigabit-capable networks. But they have “at this stage” rejected the idea of removing Permitted Development (PD) rights for poles.

ISP Wessex Internet Puts FTTP Live in 2 Hampshire UK Villages

16th August, 2024 (3 Comments)

Rural broadband ISP Wessex Internet, which is rolling out a gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural parts of Southern England, has today revealed that homes and businesses in the Hampshire villages of Sway and Brockenhurst are now going live on the new network.

Openreach Win UK Project Gigabit Broadband Contracts and Help 312k Premises

13th August, 2024 (21 Comments)

The Government claims to have kicked off a “renewed push” today to “reach full gigabit [broadband] coverage by 2030“, which they’ve done by announcing that Openreach (BT) has secured several contracts under the £5bn Project Gigabit scheme. This could eventually be worth up to £800m (state aid) and may upgrade 312,000 premises in remote rural areas of Scotland, England and Wales.

HS2 Claims HS2 Could Boost UK Mobile and Rural Broadband

8th August, 2024 (3 Comments)

New analysis published by High Speed 2 Ltd, which is a non-departmental public body that is wholly funded by the UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT), has claimed that the HS2 rail project could help “thousands of properties” across 538 postcodes to gain access to “ultrafast broadband speeds” and better mobile connectivity.

reams of fibre optic cables on surface uk gigapixel

AssetHUB Claims 100,000km of UK Fibre May be Left Underutilised

8th August, 2024 (16 Comments)

Asset reuse specialist AssetHUB has today claimed that an estimated 100,000km of publicly funded full fibre broadband cables in UK rural and hard to reach areas, allegedly worth over £1.4bn (total state aid), could be “left underutilised due to a lack of visibility” and “despite open networking being a condition of receiving taxpayers’ money“.

Scotland Partly Pauses R100 Gigabit Broadband Voucher Applications

6th August, 2024 (1 Comment)

The Scottish Government (SG) has confirmed to ISPreview that they will be introducing a “temporary pause” on Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) applications for gigabit-capable projects covering multiple premises, which is intended to ensure the “best use of public funds” and to help “deliver an optimised roll out schedule“.

Pound sterling broadband voucher by 123rf (100296328)

Welsh Government Suspends ABC Broadband Voucher Scheme

3rd August, 2024 (3 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has chosen to “pause” their long-running Access Broadband Cymru (ABC) grant scheme, which offered funding to help rural homes get a faster broadband service installed in areas of slow connectivity. But given the greater focus on gigabit-capable connections, ABC was starting to look a bit dated.

Quickline-engineer-working-on-outside-wall-2024

Quickline Secure £250m Funding to Boost UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

1st August, 2024 (2 Comments)

Broadband ISP Quickline, which is deploying a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and fixed wireless (5G FWA) network across parts of the North East and Midlands of England (mostly rural), has today secured a £125m term loan and £100m debt guarantee from the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB), alongside a £25m term loan from NatWest.

Study Claims Poor Broadband and Mobile Drives People Out of UK Rural Areas

31st July, 2024 (9 Comments)

A new Strand Partners survey of 4,000 members of the UK public, which was commissioned by broadband and mobile providers Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2), has claimed that over a third of rural residents (or 66% of “young people“) are likely to be considering a move away to a town or city in the next 12 months. Poor internet connectivity is one of the key drivers for this.