Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Northern Ireland (394 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Northern Ireland

Audit Office Casts Doubt Over Value of N.Ireland Broadband Contract UPDATE

14th December, 2021 (8 Comments)

The Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) has today raised concerns over the number of properties that will be covered by the £165m state aid supported Project Stratum rollout in Northern Ireland, which highlights that some premises may have been “commercially viable” for FTTP broadband delivery without subsidy.

CityFibre Start Legal Fight Over Ofcom Approval of Openreach FTTP Price Cut UPDATE2

8th December, 2021 (22 Comments)

CityFibre has this week carried out their earlier threats by launching an appeal via the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) to challenge Ofcom’s recent approval of Openreach’s “Equinox” offer (here), which introduced a “major” price cut (details) to the incumbents Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband products for UK ISPs.

Project Stratum FTTP Rollout in N.Ireland Hits 15,000 Premises

29th November, 2021 (0 Comments)

The £165m state aid supported Project Stratum rollout in Northern Ireland, which is working with UK ISP Fibrus to spread a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to a further 76,233 premises in disadvantaged rural areas by March 2024 (84,500 if you include the expansion), has just completed 15,000 premises.

Rivals Prep Legal Challenge Over Ofcom Approval of Openreach FTTP Price Cut

21st November, 2021 (31 Comments)

Several alternative UK network (AltNets) builders, including Gigaclear and CityFibre, among others, are reportedly set to launch a legal challenge against Ofcom’s recent approval of Openreach’s “Equinox” offer (here), which introduces a “major” price cut (details) to the incumbents Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband products.

A Question of Eligibility as N.Ireland’s Fibre Rollout Skips Homes

18th November, 2021 (6 Comments)

The £165m state aid supported Project Stratum deployment in Northern Ireland, which is helping to spread a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to a further 76,000 premises in rural areas (84,500 if you include the expansion), has come under fire for how it appears to skip some nearby homes.

Openreach Officially Name the Next 170 UK FTTP Rollout Areas

17th November, 2021 (92 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today officially added another 170 new towns and villages (covering 1.5 million premises) to the UK rollout plan of their 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network, which are all the same as those we published last month (here). The news comes as they reach 6 million premises passed.

Ofcom and BT Adopt Changes to Help 10Mbps Broadband USO

11th November, 2021 (33 Comments)

Ofcom has today finalised the changes that were first confirmed in July to improve how BT handles delivery of the UK’s Universal Service Obligation (USO), which aims to bring faster broadband ISP speeds to those who can’t yet receive a 10Mbps+ capable download speed and aren’t planned to do so in the near future.

BDUK Publish New Evaluation of UK Superfast Broadband Project

29th October, 2021 (5 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK team has today posted a new evaluation of the previous Superfast Broadband Programme (SFBB), which helped to boost the coverage of “superfast” (24-30Mbps+) ISP networks from c.76% (commercial) to around 97% of premises (i.e. an additional 5.5 million premises) across three phases.

170 New UK Locations Added to Openreach’s FTTP Rollout Plan

26th October, 2021 (68 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has just published a new update to the UK rollout plan for their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network, which appears to add around 170 new locations (towns and villages) as part of their £15bn project to cover 25 million premises by December 2026.

Ordnance Survey Picked to Build National Underground Asset Register

18th October, 2021 (4 Comments)

In an unsurprising move, Ordnance Survey (OS) has confirmed that they’re working with Atkins to build the UK Government’s new National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), which is a digital map of underground pipes (water etc.) and cables (broadband, power etc.) that could help reduce accidental damage.

Public Funding Links 1,084 UK Schools to Full Fibre Broadband

14th October, 2021 (7 Comments)

The UK Government has today revealed that 1,084 schools in rural areas have now been connected to a gigabit-capable “full fibre” network as a result of the investment they started in 2019, which is continuing under their new £5bn Project Gigabit scheme. A further 884 schools are planned to be connected by March 2022.

Pound sterling broadband voucher by 123rf (100296328)

BDUK Accepting Councils to Gigabit Voucher Top-Up Scheme Again

8th October, 2021 (2 Comments)

After a delay that was caused by a data backlog regarding previous voucher schemes, the Government’s (DCMS) Building Digital UK team have confirmed that they are now actively onboarding local councils that are interested in setting up a top-up boost for their £210m rural gigabit broadband voucher scheme.

Rivals Sigh as Ofcom Clear Openreach FTTP Broadband Price Cut UPDATE3

30th September, 2021 (50 Comments)

Ofcom looks set to stoke anger among alternative UK network (AltNets) builders after the regulator today flatly rejected their concerns over Openreach’s “Equinox” offer, which will introduce a “major” price cut (details) to the incumbents wholesale Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband products for ISPs.

Openreach Trial Air Wand to Boost UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

19th September, 2021 (3 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that they, alongside partner Circet and others, have begun trials of a new ‘Air Wand‘ (aka – Air Sabre or Air Lance) machine, which uses compressed air or high pressure water to break the ground and could speed up the rollout of their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network.

Ofcom Summer 2021 Update – UK Gigabit Cover Hits 40 Percent

9th September, 2021 (6 Comments)

Ofcom’s latest Summer 2021 report into UK broadband and mobile coverage has revealed that “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage is now at 24% (up from 21% in Jan 2021) and 11.6 million homes (40%) are within reach of a gigabit-capable network (up from 37%). Meanwhile, 4G mobile coverage remains stable and there’s still no data on 5G.

telegraph pole fttp openreach engineers rural

Openreach Adds 17 Rural Locations to N.Ireland FTTP Rollout

8th September, 2021 (4 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today named a further 17 new “rural” towns and villages across Northern Ireland that, over the next 18 months, will benefit from a local investment of £130m (up from the prior commitment of £100m) to help expand the reach of their 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network.

12 Months Free Phone and Broadband for N.Ireland Businesses

3rd September, 2021 (0 Comments)

Biz ISP Barclay Communications, which serves Northern Ireland, has launched a new £250,000 grant scheme – ‘Barclay Backing Business Grant’ – to support local firms that have suffered a downturn in business as a result of the pandemic. Under this, successful applications will receive “free telecoms solutions for 12 months.”