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Articles for Category Tag - Building Digital UK

Devon and Somerset UK to Expand Rollout of Superfast Broadband

22nd December, 2017 (20 Comments)

The £171 million Connecting Devon and Somerset project in England has announced that their existing contracts with wireless ISP Airband and “full fibre” (FTTP) provider Gigaclear are set to be extended, which could result in an extra 9,000 rural homes and businesses being reached.

Scotland Publish Tender for Universal R100 Superfast Broadband Rollout

19th December, 2017 (14 Comments)

As expected the Scottish Government has published the OJEU procurement document for their £600 million R100 programme, which aspires to extend superfast broadband (30Mbps+) networks to cover 100% of premises in Scotland (UK) by the end of 2021 (or March 2022 as a financial year).

ICMR 2017 – Ofcom Compares UK Broadband and Mobile to 16 Countries

18th December, 2017 (8 Comments)

Market regulator Ofcom has today published its International Communications Market Report 2017, which compares broadband and other telecoms services in the United Kingdom against 16 other countries. The UK fairs well for 30Mbps+ broadband coverage but our “full fibre” (FTTP/H) needs work.

Ofcom UK Infrastructure Study – 36% Can Get Ultrafast Broadband

15th December, 2017 (7 Comments)

The Connected Nations 2017 report has today been published by Ofcom, which reveals a huge rise in the availability of fixed line 300Mbps+ “ultrafast broadband” services to 36% of the UK (up from 2% last year). Elsewhere 4% (1.1 million premises) still cannot receive speeds of 10Mbps+ (down from 6%).

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

14th December, 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).

Oxfordshire UK Achieves 95% Coverage of Superfast Broadband

13th December, 2017 (9 Comments)

The state aid supported Better Broadband for Oxfordshire partnership with Openreach (BT) has today claimed to have successfully completed their Phase 2 contract by helping to extend “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) connectivity to cover 95%+ of the county by the end of 2017 as planned.

The UK Top 30 Fastest and Slowest Streets for Broadband ISP Speed

8th December, 2017 (11 Comments)

A new study has used data from 1,064,681 consumer speedtests to produce a list of the top 30 fastest and slowest streets for download speed. Thorpe Lane in Trimley St Martin (Suffolk) was the slowest on 0.68Mbps, while Benford Avenue in Motherwell (Lanarkshire) was the fastest at 177.01Mbps.

RBS Bank Closures Hit Areas of Weak UK Superfast Broadband Availability

5th December, 2017 (0 Comments)

Last week the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) managed to cause a storm by announcing the closure of 62 branches for 2018, although at the time the bank said online banking would still allow remote customers to access their accounts. But a new report warns of problems with broadband connectivity.

UPDATE Staffordshire UK Claims 95% Coverage of Superfast Broadband

5th December, 2017 (18 Comments)

The Superfast Staffordshire project with Openreach (BT) claims to have succeeded in its original Phase 2 contract goal, which aimed to make fixed line FTTC/P superfast broadband (24Mbps+) networks available to order by 95% of premises before the end of 2017 (c.97% in terms of the raw “fibre” footprint).

£6.2m Deal for Superfast Broadband to 5300 Worcestershire UK Premises

30th November, 2017 (9 Comments)

As expected the Superfast Worcestershire programme has signed a new £6.2 million extension contract with BT (Openreach), which will push their FTTP/C based “superfast broadband” network out to reach more than 5,300 extra premises (reaching 96% of Worcestershire UK by 2019).

South Norfolk UK Council Bring 10Mbps Wireless Broadband to Rural Areas

29th November, 2017 (2 Comments)

The South Norfolk Council has teamed up with local ISP InTouch Systems, which runs fixed wireless broadband provider ITSwisp, to help them deploy a new 10Mbps+ capable network to parts of the region that won’t benefit from the existing Better Broadband for Norfolk (BBfN) project.

Government Extend UK 2Mbps Rural Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme

28th November, 2017 (6 Comments)

The UK Government’s £5 million Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme, which offers grants worth £400 (maximum) to rural households that are unable to get at least a 2Mbps broadband speed (this helps to get a faster connection installed), has been extended until the end of 2018.

Q3 2017 – UK Gov Extend Superfast Broadband to 4.65 Million Premises

28th November, 2017 (13 Comments)

The £1.6bn+ state aid supported Broadband Delivery UK project has published its latest progress update to September 2017, which confirms that it has so far helped 4,651,700 extra premises across the United Kingdom to be covered by a fixed “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) network.

UPDATE3 Autumn UK Budget 2017 Sees £385m for Full Fibre Broadband and 5G

22nd November, 2017 (17 Comments)

The Government’s Chancellor, Philip Hammond MP, has today given his Autumn Budget 2017 speech and committed to invest £500 million into a “range of initiatives from artificial intelligence, to 5G and full fibre broadband” (£385m for the latter two specifically). But it’s not “new” money.

B4RN Fear 10Mbps UK Broadband USO May Hamper Rural FTTH Rollout

22nd November, 2017 (46 Comments)

The boss of rural ISP B4RN, which is rolling out a 1Gbps community-built and funded fibre optic (FTTH) broadband network to homes in Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, has warned that the UK Gov’s proposed 10Mbps USO may force them to “retrench within our current boundaries.”

UK Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme Issues Over 10,000 Vouchers

15th November, 2017 (5 Comments)

The UK Government’s Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme, which offers grants worth up to £400 to help homes and business that are unable to access a broadband speed of at least 2Mbps, has so far issued over 10,000 voucher codes and consumed £3.1m of its budget. But it’s also about to end.

Naff Rural Broadband in England Helping to Push People into Urban Areas

13th November, 2017 (5 Comments)

The National Housing Federation has warned that a combination of factors (e.g. poor broadband, few jobs, expensive housing, closed post offices and an ageing population etc.) is contributing to a rise in the movement of people out of rural areas and into cities (especially younger people).