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Articles for Category Tag - Northern Ireland

EE UK Set to Expand 4G Mobile Cover to 579 Rural Areas in 2021

24th February, 2021 (9 Comments)

Mobile operator EE (BT) has today announced that, as part of the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) industry project, they will expand their 4G (mobile broadband) network in 579 rural areas during 2021 in order to improve signal coverage (333 in England, 132 in Scotland, 76 in Wales, and 38 in Northern Ireland).

Farmers See Small Improvements in UK Mobile and Broadband

10th February, 2021 (9 Comments)

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has published the results from their annual (2020) survey of 430 members, which found that just 20% of farmers had access to fixed “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) speeds (up from 17% last year) and 11% have no indoor mobile signal at all (better than the 15% recorded last year).

O2 Study Predicts £187.7m 4G Boost for Rural UK Businesses

10th February, 2021 (9 Comments)

A new study commissioned by O2 UK has predicted that the first phase of the new £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project with Vodafone and Three UK, which will see all three mobile operators working to build and share 222 new 4G (mobile broadband) masts (here), could increase the turnover for rural businesses by £187.7m per annum.

DCMS Update on Plan for UK Rural Gigabit Broadband Vouchers

1st February, 2021 (4 Comments)

The UK Government (DCMS / BDUK) has confirmed a few more details about the future of their £200m Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme to broadband ISPs, which is due to end on the 31st March 2021 but is widely expected to be superseded by a new programme with a fresh pot of “over” £250m.

Openreach’s Letter to Northern Ireland Council Draws Criticism

1st February, 2021 (16 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has faced some criticism after it sent a letter to one or more of Northern Ireland’s (NI) local authorities, which appeared to suggest that the operator would have provided FTTP broadband to more premises than the winner of the £165m Project Stratum contract, had they won it instead.

O2, Three UK and Vodafone to Share 222 Rural 4G Mobile Masts

27th January, 2021 (32 Comments)

The £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) industry project made progress today after mobile operators O2, Three UK and Vodafone reached a related agreement to both build and share 222 new 4G mobile masts, which will be used to boost mobile voice and mobile broadband coverage in rural parts of the country.

Full Fibre Coverage Checker Live for N.Ireland’s Project Stratum

12th January, 2021 (0 Comments)

The Northern Ireland Executive (DfE) has today announced that a new address level postcode checker is now available, which enables people to check eligibility and availability for when the new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network will reach them under the £165m Project Stratum rollout.

2020 H2 – UK Cover of Gigabit Broadband Reaches 37.4 Percent

7th January, 2021 (29 Comments)

The latest independent study of UK broadband coverage for H2 2020 has estimated that “full fibre” (FTTP) ISP networks have now increased their reach to 19.2% of premises (up from 14.8% in H1), while 37.4% are within reach of “gigabit” speeds (up from 22.1%) and 64.3% can get 100Mbps+ (up from 61.7%).

Op-ed by Matt Warman MP – Next Steps for the UK Gigabit Broadband Programme

23rd December, 2020 (0 Comments)

The pandemic has led to the migration of vast swathes of our daily lives to the internet, accelerating a process which many forecasters predicted wasn’t coming for another few decades.

Draft Strategy for £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout Published UPDATE

22nd December, 2020 (24 Comments)

The Government has today published the draft procurement strategy for their new £5bn Gigabit Broadband Programme (F20), which is a consultation on their plan to ensure that gigabit-capable networks reach a “minimum” of 85% UK coverage by the end of 2025 (before getting “as close to 100% as possible” thereafter).

Connected Nations 2020 – UK Full Fibre Covers 5 Million Premises

17th December, 2020 (11 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual Connection Nations infrastructure report, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband ISP networks now cover 18% of UK premises (up from 10% last year) and 27% are within reach of a “gigabit” (1Gbps+) service (7.9 million). Meanwhile geographic 4G cover is given as a range from 79% to 85%.

Fibrus Downgrade FTTP Broadband Speeds After Capacity Woes

11th December, 2020 (11 Comments)

Belfast-based UK ISP Fibrus, which is deploying a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across Northern Ireland, have embarrassingly had to inform some of their customers in the South Down constituency that their speeds will need to be significantly downgraded due to a lack of network capacity.

Government Start £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Plan for 85%+ by 2025 UPDATE

25th November, 2020 (39 Comments)

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has today published his 2020 Spending Review and in so doing has kicked off the new £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Programme, which previously aimed to ensure that “every home” could access a 1Gbps capable connection by the end of 2025 but now expects a “minimum” of 85% coverage by that date.

76,000 Extra Premises in Northern Ireland to Get FTTP Broadband

18th November, 2020 (12 Comments)

Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy (DfE) has today confirmed what we first revealed in September (here), which is that alternative network ISP Fibrus have secure the £165m Project Stratum contract and will be extending “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) coverage to 76,000+ extra rural premises by March 2024.

BT Issues Report on Progress Against the UK Broadband USO

30th October, 2020 (27 Comments)

UK ISP BT has just issued their first biannual report on the progress they’ve made toward delivering the 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband, which highlights some of the known challenges. Overall they’ve so far handled 9,000 applications and 512 confirmed orders, resulting in a USO build for 4,000+ homes.

BT to Build UK’s First 5G Private Network in Belfast Harbour

27th October, 2020 (4 Comments)

BT has today announced that they will build and manage one of the UK’s “first” live 5G Private Network (5GPN) across Belfast Harbour in Northern Ireland, which will deliver a secure and ultrafast mobile broadband platform to reach the Port’s main operational areas.

Ofcom Opens Probe into BT Compliance with Broadband USO UPDATE

15th October, 2020 (20 Comments)

Ofcom has this morning opened an investigation to examine whether or not BT is complying with their obligations under the new UK Universal Service Obligation (USO), which requires them to help deliver at least a 10Mbps broadband download speed, upon request, to those in poorly served areas.