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Articles for Category Tag - Europe

EU Publish Details of State Aid Decision for UK Superfast Broadband Projects

9th January, 2013 (6 Comments)

The European Commission (EC), which officially cleared the release of state aid funding for UK superfast broadband deployment projects last November (original news), has now released the final documentation that describes the reasoning for their decision in more detail.

EU Adopts New State Aid Guidelines to Boost Ultrafast Broadband Rollouts

19th December, 2012 (11 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has today adopted revised guidelines on the use of public funding to help deploy “super-fast” broadband (30Mbps+) ISP services to everybody in the EU by 2020. The updated “rules” support a technologically neutral approach and include a greater focus on funding for “ultra-fast” (100Mbps+) services in urban areas.

EU Broadband Coverage Reaches 72% of Households vs 80% in the UK

19th December, 2012 (1 Comment)

The European Union (EU27) has released its latest annual ‘Internet use in households and by individuals in 2012‘ report, which found that 76% of EU households now have internet access (up from 66% in 2009) and 72% of EU homes connect via broadband (up from just 57% in 2009).

Europe Blasts UK Government for False Broadband Funding Delay Jibes

28th November, 2012 (6 Comments)

Europe’s competition commissioner, Joaquín Almunia, has publicly criticised the UK government’s Culture Secretary, Maria Miller MP, after she blamed the European Commission for holding up the release of State Aid funding and thus delaying the country’s national roll-out of superfast broadband (25Mbps+) services.

Europe Releases Study of Retail Broadband Internet Access Costs in 2012

23rd November, 2012 (2 Comments)

The EU has released data on retail prices for fixed broadband ISP services, which reveals a pattern of price reduction over the last three years for bundled offers. It also finds that price competition is mainly taking place in the market for download speeds of above 4Mbps (Megabits per second).

Study Claims EU Needs 92 Years to Switch from Copper to Fibre Broadband

23rd November, 2012 (13 Comments)

The latest research from consultancy firm Ventura Team and finance group Portland Advisors has estimated that at the current “snail’s pace” it could take Europe 92 years and £211bn to completely switch from existing copper-based telephone and broadband ISP infrastructure to a fully fibre optic (FTTH) service.

Europe Clears UK State Aid Funding for Superfast Broadband Deployment

21st November, 2012 (10 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has officially granted final approval for the release of state aid funding through the UK government, which allows local authorities to proceed with their national deployment of superfast broadband services (25Mbps+) to reach 90% of people by around spring 2015. But what are the minor changes?

UK and EU Pricing for Superfast Broadband Cable Duct and Pole Access

15th November, 2012 (9 Comments)

A new report, which assess the potential impact of new EU regulatory proposals to cut the cost of broadband infrastructure development across Europe, has delivered a useful insight into the costs of giving ISPs access to install their own fibre optic lines via BT’s existing cable ducts and telegraph poles.

EU Cash Brings Fibre Optic Broadband to Rural Dalmore Village in Scotland

14th November, 2012 (0 Comments)

The £1m European Rural Broadband Challenge Fund (RBCF) and Outer Hebrides LEADER programme have successfully helped to fund and develop a new fibre optic network, which has been used to bring superfast broadband to five of the six houses in the tiny Highlands and Islands village of Dalmore (Scotland).

Point Topic Release Map of Superfast Broadband Coverage in UK and Europe

12th November, 2012 (0 Comments)

Analyst firm Point Topic has released its report into the coverage of superfast broadband (Next Generation Access) services in the EU, which is intended to assess how close Europe is to achieving its Digital Agenda goals. Apparently the EU as a whole is just “half-way towards the goal” of 30Mbps+ for all by 2020.

UK Culture Secretary to Lobby EU Over Delayed Broadband Funding Approval

8th November, 2012 (8 Comments)

The UK government’s Culture Secretary, Maria Miller MP, will today fly out to Brussels with the hope of persuading the European Commission (EC) to grant final approval for the release of state aid funding, which would allow local authorities to proceed with their national roll-out of superfast broadband services.

EU ISP Association Slams CleanIT Project for Naive Internet Censorship Plan

27th October, 2012 (0 Comments)

The European Internet Services Providers Association (EuroISPA) has criticized the CleanIT project, which is funded by the European Commission (EC) and claims that it wants to fight online terrorism through voluntary self-regulation measures, for effectively forcing ISPs into censoring internet content and threatening unworkable rules.

Legal Challenge to UK City Broadband Funding Could Bring Improvements

23rd October, 2012 (0 Comments)

The UK country manager for Brocade, a global network solutions provider, has suggested that BT and Virgin Media’s legal challenge against the use of public money (State Aid) to improve broadband services in the city of Birmingham might actually “improve the scheme’s chances of success“.

BT and Virgin Media UK in Legal Challenge to Birmingham Broadband Funding

22nd October, 2012 (6 Comments)

National UK telecoms operators BT and Virgin Media have “disappointed” Birmingham City Council (BCC) after they launched a shock legal challenge against the city’s £10m publicly funded (State Aid) plan to expand the reach of “ultrafast” (100Mbps+) broadband ISP and public wifi services by 2015.

UK and European Leaders Support GBP7.5bn Superfast Broadband Boost

20th October, 2012 (6 Comments)

The European Council, which is represented by the leaders of each member state (e.g. UK Prime Minister, David Cameron), yesterday set aside its doubts and gave explicit support to the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and its proposed investment of €9.2bn (almost £7.5bn) into the delivery of faster broadband services.

FTTH Ultrafast Fibre Optic Broadband Connections Pass 175000 UK Homes

16th October, 2012 (45 Comments)

The FTTH Council Europe has released its latest global ranking of ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) based fibre optic broadband ISP internet connections. Sadly the UK still doesn’t have enough true fibre connections to show in the main list but related services have now passed 175,000 homes.

Kroes Calls on National Governments to Help EU Get Usain Bolt Internet

16th October, 2012 (5 Comments)

The Vice President for Europe’s Digital Agenda project, Neelie Kroes, has called upon member states to have “the courage to invest” in ultrafast broadband services that will deliver “Usain Bolt Internet” speeds to everybody in the region by 2020. Otherwise we risk being “tied down by slow connections“, warned Kroes.