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Articles for Category Tag - Europe

EU Aims for Universal 100Mbps Ultrafast Broadband Coverage by 2025

19th July, 2016 (3 Comments)

A leaked draft of a new report from the European Commission has revealed that the EU intends to set a new target for broadband and mobile coverage, which will aim to ensure that “all European households” can get a minimum Internet download speed of 100Mbps (Megabits per second) by 2025.

EU Court Adviser Says UK Internet Spying Law Needs “Strict” Safeguards

19th July, 2016 (2 Comments)

The Advocate General for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has said that the UK Government’s ‘Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act’ (DRIP), which is a temporary precursor to the new Internet spying ‘Investigatory Powers Bill’ (IPBill), “may be compatible with EU law“.. with “strict” safeguards.

£21m EU Investment Boosts Hyperoptic’s UK 1Gbps Broadband Roll-out

19th July, 2016 (2 Comments)

Independent ISP Hyperoptic, which is currently rolling out their own 1Gbps (Gigabit per second) Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP/B) broadband network to around 500,000 homes in 20 cities across the United Kingdom, has secured a huge £21m loan from the European Investment Bank.

Telford and Wrekin Prep Big Broadband Grants for 124 Local Businesses

14th July, 2016 (0 Comments)

Some 124 eligible small and medium sized businesses in Telford and Wrekin (Shropshire, England) could soon be offered an average level of grant payment worth £15,000 per business (ranging from £7,000 to £25,000), which will help them to get a superfast broadband service installed.

Change Ensures New Build Homes are Ready for High-Speed Broadband

1st July, 2016 (0 Comments)

From today EU member states, which for now still includes the United Kingdom, are required to adopt the new Broadband Cost Reduction Directive (2014/61/EU) that will push for all newly constructed buildings to be equipped with “high-speed” ready broadband infrastructure.

Internet Campaign Launched to Protect Net Neutrality from Abuse by ISPs

28th June, 2016 (0 Comments)

A new campaign has been launched by Fight for the Future (FFTF) that calls on the EU and telecoms regulators to ensure that their new Net Neutrality rules close any loopholes that allow ISPs to sell “Internet fast lanes” to large companies or limit traffic to online services like VPN or P2P (File Sharing) etc.

UPDATE2 UK to Leave EU – What Next for Broadband and Internet Policy

24th June, 2016 (8 Comments)

It’s impossible to escape today’s big news, which is that the United Kingdom has voted by a tiny margin to leave the European Union. The immediate impact upon UK Internet and broadband policy will be mild, but some areas may be hit harder than others and the future beyond 2018/9 is particularly uncertain.

EU Publish New UK National Broadband State Aid Agreement in Full

23rd June, 2016 (8 Comments)

Last month the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme confirmed that it had established a new EU State Aid agreement (full summary), which would support the on-going roll-out of “superfast broadband” services. The EC has now published the full text of that deal, albeit with a caveat for Leased Lines.

Vodafone Hikes UK Out of Bundle Prices and EU Roaming Charges

16th June, 2016 (11 Comments)

Mobile operator Vodafone has recently started to text customers in order to warn them about an impending price rise that will affect many of their standard out-of-bundle charges, as well as roaming charges in EU regulated countries, all of which are due to hit on 23rd July 2016.

EU Losing Ground in the Race to Roll-out Ultrafast 5G Mobile Networks

14th June, 2016 (2 Comments)

The European Commission has launched a new consultation that aims to devise a coordinated roll-out plan for the next generation of 5G mobile networks across its 28 EU member states, which predicts a 2019/2020 introduction. But the USA, South Korea and China are aiming to launch much sooner.

Blackdown Hills Communities Hope for Better Broadband with EU Money

13th June, 2016 (1 Comment)

Villages in the rural Blackdown Hills, which represents a 370km2 area of natural beauty that straddles the border between Somerset and Devon in South West England, appear to have become tired of waiting for better broadband and have instead put in a bid for £4.6m from the EU to support their own plan.

UPDATE BSG Publish Revised UK ISP Open Internet Code of Practice

8th June, 2016 (0 Comments)

As expected the Broadband Stakeholders Group, which acts as a think-tank for UK government policy, has today published a revised 2016 Open Internet Code of Practice for ISPs that works to protect Net Neutrality by bringing the self-regulatory approach into line with new EU regulation.

EU Telecoms Regulators Consult on New Net Neutrality Guidelines

7th June, 2016 (1 Comment)

The Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC), which represents national telecoms regulators from across the EU (e.g. Ofcom in the UK), has published its first draft guidelines for Europe’s new Net Neutrality rules that require ISPs and mobile operators to maintain an open Internet.

UPDATE UK Gov Reach New Rural Broadband EU State Aid Agreement

26th May, 2016 (43 Comments)

The Government’s Broadband Delivery UK scheme has today established a new EU State Aid umbrella agreement, which will encourage smaller altnet ISPs to take part and allow new contracts to be signed as part of efforts to expand superfast broadband (30Mbps+) towards and beyond the 95% coverage goal.

Europe Clarifies State Aid Rules for Infrastructure and Other Markets

19th May, 2016 (0 Comments)

The European Commission has today published guidance on when public spending falls within, and outside, the scope of EU State Aid control. The new guidance doesn’t specifically change the way in which we already understand state aid to be applied to broadband infrastructure, but some may find its clarification(s) useful.

Video Streaming Providers to Escape EU Ban on Internet Geo Blocking

13th May, 2016 (3 Comments)

Rights holders will be pleased to learn that a leaked draft of the European Commission’s new Digital Single Market policy, which is expected to be published before the end of May 2016, looks set to exempt video streaming providers (e.g. Netflix) from the plan to ban geo-blocking of online content.

UPDATE EU Block Three UK and O2 Mobile Merger – A Concession Too Few

11th May, 2016 (13 Comments)

After several months of work the European Commission has today announced the outcome of their investigation into the proposed £10.25bn merger between Three UK (CK Hutchison Holdings) and rival mobile operator O2 (Telefonica), which blocks the deal.