Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Northern Ireland (285 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Northern Ireland

Project Gigabit Updates on Start of First Live UK Procurements

9th February, 2022 (17 Comments)

The UK Government’s Building Digital UK team has published an update on the start of their first procurements under the £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout, which is now inviting bids for contracts worth up to £292m to upgrade rural premises across Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, Dorset and Teesdale.

Old footbridge and traditional Cotswold cottages, Bibury, England, UK.

Gov Ponders Approach to Gigabit Broadband in Remote UK Areas

8th February, 2022 (12 Comments)

The UK Government has just published a response to its consultation on the question of how significantly faster broadband ISP networks can be extended to reach the final 0.3% of the country (i.e. under 100,000 premises), which are too expensive for their new £5bn Project Gigabit programme to reach in its current form.

Government Appears Unlikely to Extend Relief from UK Fibre Tax

5th February, 2022 (18 Comments)

Since April 2017 the UK Government has allowed broadband networks to claim 100% business rates relief on new fibre infrastructure, but this “Fibre Tax” holiday is about to expire and there’s been no indication of an extension. Some operators fear this will add “significant cost and uncertainty to the investment case for full fibre.”

Openreach Publish Next 113 UK FTTP Broadband Rollout Areas UPDATE2

25th January, 2022 (72 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has this morning published the first update of 2022 to the £15bn rollout plan for their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network, which adds 113 new locations (towns and villages) to their coverage plan. The operator aims to reach 25 million premises (80% of the UK) by December 2026.

Project Stratum’s N.Ireland FTTP Rollout Adds Another 8500 Premises UPDATE

17th January, 2022 (9 Comments)

The £165m state aid supported Project Stratum scheme in Northern Ireland, which is working with UK ISP Fibrus to spread a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network into rural areas, has just re-announced a network expansion that will add another 8,500 premises to the coverage and a big rollout delay.

Project-Gigabit-UK-Gov-Investment-Scheme-2025

BDUK Start National Rolling Open Market Review for Project Gigabit

6th January, 2022 (25 Comments)

The UK Government’s Building Digital UK team has today “soft launched” a new “Rolling National Open Market Review” (RN-OMR) process for their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband scheme, which aims to do a better job of identifying areas that will benefit from a commercial rollout so that they can more effectively target public money towards those who will miss out.

2021 H2 Sees UK Coverage of Gigabit Broadband Hit 65.3 Percent

4th January, 2022 (10 Comments)

The latest independent biannual summary of UK broadband coverage for H2 2021 has estimated that “full fibre” (FTTP) ISP networks have now increased their reach to 30.23% of premises (up from 24.33% in H1 2021), while 65.27% are within reach of “gigabit” speeds (up from 41.72%) and 67.63% can get 100Mbps+ (up from 66.9%).

fttp openreach fibre first rural broadband

Openreach Sees 100,000 Customers on FTTP in Northern Ireland

20th December, 2021 (5 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today announced that they’ve connected 100,000 customers, via various different partner ISPs, to their new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in Northern Ireland. All of this will complement the £130m (capex) currently being invested between 2021 and 2022 to expand their coverage across NI.

uk map broadband mobile isp computer network

Connected Nations 2021 – UK Gigabit Broadband Cover Hits 47%

16th December, 2021 (15 Comments)

Ofcom has released their Connection Nations 2021 UK digital infrastructure report, which reveals that the coverage of “gigabit-capable” (1Gbps+) broadband ISP networks has jumped from 27% last year to 47% now (13.7 million households). Plus, around half of UK properties are in areas where 5G mobile is available outside.

EE to Upgrade 2,000 UK Rural Areas to Extend 4G Cover by 2024

15th December, 2021 (11 Comments)

Mobile operator EE (BT) has this morning announced plans to upgrade over 2,000 network sites by June 2024 to help extend 4G coverage (voice and mobile broadband) into rural parts of the UK and to significantly reduce partial not-spots, which forms part of their commitment under the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project.

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.