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Articles for Category Tag - Europe

EU Caution Ofcom Over Regulation of BT’s FTTC “Fibre Broadband” Prices

20th February, 2015 (28 Comments)

The national UK telecoms regulator’s plan to control the margin between BT’s wholesale and retail superfast “fibre broadband” (FTTC) prices has suffered a setback, albeit a non-binding one, after the European Commission (EC) warned that the “proposed approach lacks the necessary flexibility” and could result in higher retail prices for consumers.

UK Lords Report Demands Universal Internet Access as a Utility Service

17th February, 2015 (7 Comments)

The House of Lords, specifically their Digital Skills Committee, has today published a new report and warned that the United Kingdom is at a “tipping point” because it hasn’t fully addressed the “significant digital skills shortage“. One of the proposed remedies for this is to define the Internet as a utility service, “available for all to access and use“.

Broadband to Benefit as EU Approve GBP3bn UK Rural Development Boost

13th February, 2015 (27 Comments)

The European Commission has approved a further 18 Rural Development Programmes (worth around £10.6bn between now and 2020), which among other things will be used to improve the competitiveness of the EU’s farming sector and upgrade broadband connectivity for rural areas. Some £2,568m of the total (3.56%) will be allocated by the EU to projects in England.

UK Hopes for Relaxed EU State Aid Rules to Help Upgrade City Broadband

11th February, 2015 (0 Comments)

The Government’s Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey MP, has hinted of his tentative expectation that the European Commission might soon relax their rules governing the use of state aid in cities. Such a move would make it easier to upgrade urban broadband Internet infrastructure and there are signs that the EC might indeed be planning just such a U-turn.

Ofcom Publishes Final UK vs EU Broadband Scorecard Results for 2014

5th February, 2015 (11 Comments)

The national telecoms regulator has today published the final version of their latest European Broadband Scorecard, which is designed to show how the United Kingdom compares with Europe’s other countries in terms of our progress towards the Government’s ambition that we should have the “fastest broadband of any major European country by 2015“.

Cornwall UK to Approve 99 Percent Superfast Broadband Coverage Goal

7th January, 2015 (7 Comments)

The Cornwall County Council (CCC) in south west England looks set to approve a new Superfast Extension Programme (SEP) next week, which will aim to expand the coverage of “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) connectivity from the currently level of around 95% and make “superfast” (30Mbps+) services available to 99% by March 2019.

Home Builders Worried by High-Speed Ready Broadband Requirement

23rd December, 2014 (17 Comments)

A senior member of the Home Builders Federation (HBF), whose members in England and Wales deliver around 80% of the new homes built each year, has warned that a new requirement for all new buildings to be “high-speed broadband ready” from 2017 onwards could “seriously damage” future construction.

UPDATE Berkshire Bodges Phase 2 BDUK Superfast Broadband Tender

19th December, 2014 (4 Comments)

In a curious development the West Berkshire Council in England has withdrawn a major tender that was issued to help find a supplier for Phase 2 of their Superfast Berkshire project, which is currently working with BT to roll-out a “high-speed fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network to “around” 91% of local premises by the end of September 2015.

Digital Agenda Publishes 2014 Study on Broadband Coverage in Europe

16th December, 2014 (4 Comments)

The European Commission has published its annual report into the coverage of superfast broadband (Next Generation Access) services around the EU, which again shows that the United Kingdom is making good progress on 30Mbps+ capable Next Gen (NGA) service delivery but still lags miles behind most other EU28 countries in terms of pure fibre optic connectivity (FTTH/P/B).

Ofcom Scorecard Highlights UK Strengths vs EU Broadband Rollout Progress

11th December, 2014 (0 Comments)

The national telecoms regulator has today published their latest EU Broadband Scorecard and 2014 International Communications Market Report (ICMR), which among other things shows how the United Kingdom compares with Europe’s other countries in terms of our progress towards the Government’s ambition that we should have the “fastest broadband of any major European country by 2015“.

EU Unveils GBP250bn Investment Plan for Infrastructure and Broadband

26th November, 2014 (3 Comments)

The European Commission has today announced a new £250 billion (€315bn) plan to improve its infrastructure, which is designed to make the continent more attractive for investment, remove regulatory bottlenecks and “get Europe growing again” by funding improvements in broadband networks, transport, education, research and innovation.

EU Leans Towards Stricter Broadband ISP Contracts and Closed Networks

17th November, 2014 (5 Comments)

The European Commission’s (EC) new Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger, has hinted that he might be about to adopt a distinctly less pro-consumer position on home broadband services and open access network flexibility than the person that he is effectively replacing, Neelie Kroes.

EU Court Rejects Vtesse Networks Appeal vs State Aid for BT’s Broadband

11th November, 2014 (2 Comments)

Fibre optic developer Vtesse Networks, which was only last month gobbled up by Interoute Communications, has lost its appeal at the General Court of the European Union, which challenged the decision to award state aid to BT for its deployment of superfast broadband (FTTC/P) services in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (England).

UK SMEs Beat EU Rivals by Extracting More Value from Fast Broadband

20th October, 2014 (6 Comments)

The latest research from Point Topic and Adroit Economics has suggested that SME businesses could benefit to the tune of 40bn Euros (£32bn+ Gross Value Added) by 2020 thanks to the roll-out of “superfast broadband” services, with firms in the United Kingdom predicted to be one of the top three performers with GVA of 6bn+ Euros (£4.75bn+). But before too long businesses may be asking for 250Mbps+.

European Commission Warns Big Telecoms Operators – “Adapt or Die”

2nd October, 2014 (8 Comments)

The outgoing Vice-President of the European Commission’s (EC) Digital Agenda project, Neelie Kroes, had stern words for members of the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO) yesterday when she warned against protectionist positions and stated that “sometimes I think the telecoms sector is its own worst enemy“.

UPDATE EU Rules Could Allow Ofcom to Remove BT’s Broadband Price Caps

17th September, 2014 (1 Comment)

Ofcom’s carefully crafted control of the United Kingdom’s market for broadband and phone services might face a challenge next month. A leaked proposal suggests that the EU’s new rules, which are designed to foster a Single Telecoms Market, could seek to remove some of the charge controls on BT’s services.

UPDATE2 BT Expand Superfast Broadband Rollout in Cornwall UK

29th August, 2014 (26 Comments)

The £132m Superfast Cornwall project has announced that another 10 “hard-to-reach” rural communities will be able to receive access to BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network by early 2015, which will be an addition to the existing target of making the service available to 95% of Cornwall (England) and the Isles of Scilly by the end of 2014.