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Articles for Category Tag - Europe

UPDATE2 New Homes Development in Bonnyrigg Stuck with Slow Broadband

9th May, 2016 (11 Comments)

A group of residents on the new Hopefield development in Bonnyrigg (Scotland), which is managed by Taylor Wimpey, have setup a campaign to get their local Openreach (BT) Street Cabinet upgraded to FTTC (“fibre broadband”) after becoming frustrated by the areas super slow Internet.

Europe Cuts Mobile Roaming Charges, But it Becomes Free in 2017

30th April, 2016 (9 Comments)

The price of making a call, sending a text or surfing the Internet (Mobile Broadband) from your mobile phone while roaming abroad within Europe has today dropped another level following last year’s regulatory changes (here) and the extra charges will be completely removed from 15th June 2017.

Cornwall UK Moot Third EU Funded GBP16m Superfast Broadband Rollout

22nd April, 2016 (3 Comments)

The Cornwall Council in South West England has unveiled tentative plans for a third “Superfast 2” contract (total value of up to £16.25m) to further expand the local availability of superfast broadband (30Mbps+) services to some of the approximately 39,400 premises that have yet to achieve such speeds.

UPDATE Competition Watchdog Tries to Halt O2 and Three UK Merger

11th April, 2016 (5 Comments)

The Competition and Markets Authority has today written a last ditch letter of appeal that urges the European Commission not to approve the proposed £10.25bn merger of Three UK (CK Hutchison Holdings) and O2 (Telefonica), which it says will result in “long-term damage to the UK mobile telecoms market.”

Sky and Virgin Media Moot Mobile Network Capacity Deal with Three UK

7th April, 2016 (0 Comments)

Reports indicate that Virgin Media and Sky (Sky Broadband) could both sign significant mobile network capacity deals with Three UK (CK Hutchison Holdings), which is dependent upon whether or not the European Commission approves the proposed merger with O2 UK (Telefonica).

Ofcom Release Final UK vs EU Broadband Scorecard Results for 2015

5th April, 2016 (5 Comments)

Ofcom has published the final version of their most recent European Broadband Scorecard, which shows how the United Kingdom compares with Europe’s other major countries in terms of delivering the Government’s ambition for us to have the “fastest broadband of any major European country by 2015“.

EU Court Says Public WiFi Networks Not Liable for Internet Piracy by Users

16th March, 2016 (1 Comment)

The European Court of Justice has today offered a preliminary “opinion” on the long-running “McFadden case” in Germany, which effectively concludes that operators of free (no password required) open public WiFi networks cannot be held liable for copyright infringements committed on their networks.

Ofcom Warns of 20 Percent Price Hike from Three UK and O2 Merger

15th March, 2016 (12 Comments)

The regulator has published an “econometric analysis” of the effect of disruptive firms (e.g. Three UK) on mobile pricing, which among other things suggests that the proposed £10.25bn merger between Three UK and O2 could result in consumer prices going up by between 17.2% and 20.5% on average.

ABTA Warns Brexit Could Hike EU Mobile Roaming Prices for UK Users

15th March, 2016 (2 Comments)

The cost of making calls, sending text messages and going online via your Smartphone’s Mobile Broadband (3G, 4G) connection when in Europe could rise if the United Kingdom votes to leave the EU later this year, claims a new report from Deloitte and ABTA – The Travel Association.

UK Declines in European Ranking of Mobile and Broadband Connectivity

26th February, 2016 (6 Comments)

The European Commission has published their 2016 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which sees the United Kingdom’s country ranking for mobile and fixed line broadband connectivity fall from 4th to 6th place; mostly because other countries are improving at a faster pace.

UK vs Europe – Brief Comparison of National Broadband Plans

18th February, 2016 (4 Comments)

The on-going FTTH Conference 2016 event in Luxembourg has just released an interesting visualisation, which reveals that the United Kingdom is one of the few European states without a firm target for delivering 100% superfast broadband (30Mbps+) coverage by 2020.

Shropshire and Herefordshire Moot Own Business Broadband Vouchers

15th February, 2016 (4 Comments)

The Herefordshire and Shropshire councils appear to have been so impressed by the Government’s recently ended Connection Voucher scheme (here), which gifted grants of up to £3,000 to help smaller UK businesses get a superfast broadband (30Mbps+) service installed, that they’re mooting a local replacement.

Government and BT Deal to Put Superfast Broadband into UK New Builds

5th February, 2016 (20 Comments)

The Government has today unveiled a new agreement with BT (Openreach) and the Home Builders Federation (HBF) that aims to deliver “fibre based” (FTTC/P/H) superfast or ultrafast broadband connectivity into new build properties across the United Kingdom, either for free or co-funded.

UPD Three UK Pledges to Retain Low Prices if O2 Merger Gets Approval

4th February, 2016 (5 Comments)

The parent of mobile operator Three UK (CK Hutchison Holdings) has moved to counter Ofcom’s concerns about their proposed £10.25bn merger deal with O2 (Telefonica) by making “three clear and simple promises“, which include plans for a £5bn network investment and a pledge not to raise prices for 5 years.

Europe Confirms Move to Harmonise 700MHz for Mobile Broadband

2nd February, 2016 (1 Comment)

The European Commission has today moved to follow by Ofcom’s example and ensure that more radio spectrum will be made available for Mobile Broadband (3G, 4G and possibly 5G) services in the 700MHz band (694-790MHz) by 30th June 2020 “at the latest” (in all EU countries).

UPD Last Ditch Warning – Ofcom Tell EU to Reject O2 and Three UK Merger

1st February, 2016 (20 Comments)

The CEO of UK telecoms regulator Ofcom, Sharon White, has made one last ditch attempt to block the merger of mobile operators O2 and Three UK by calling on the European Commission’s competition regulator, which has the final say, not to ignore the serious competition concerns.

UPDATE UK Gov Consults on New Broadband Supplier Procurement Process

26th January, 2016 (0 Comments)

The Government has launched a consultation to help it decide upon a new procurement approach for future state aid supported broadband deployment projects under the national Broadband Delivery UK programme, which is unable to sign new contracts until an agreement can be reached.