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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

LibDems in New Push for Mandatory UK Social Broadband Tariffs

21st January, 2022 (40 Comments)

The MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Jamie Stone – with backing from 14 Liberal Democrat peers, is to meet with the UK Minister for Digital Infrastructure, Julia Lopez, in an attempt to force all broadband ISPs to offer mandatory “universal social tariffs” to help those who are struggling to pay their bills.

Nicola Sturgeon Gives Brief Update on R100 LOT1 Broadband Progress

21st January, 2022 (11 Comments)

The First Minister of the Scottish Government, Nicola Sturgeon, has issued a short update on the LOT 1 (North Scotland and Highlands) contract with BT (Openreach) under their £600m Reaching 100% (R100) project, which is extending “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) coverage across rural parts of Scotland (mostly via FTTP).

Gigabit shiny bubble sign with shadow on white background

Report Recommends Changes to Boost UK 5G and Gigabit Broadband

20th January, 2022 (8 Comments)

A new report produced by property consultants Cluttons and polling firm YouGov, which surveyed 103 UK MPs, 577 councillors, 101 IT decision markets and 1,996 citizens, has highlighted various problems that could obstruct the move to adopt 5G mobile and gigabit-capable (1Gbps+) broadband ISP connections.

British sterling one pound coin currency

Big UK Broadband ISPs Can Now Confirm Huge 2022 Price Hikes

19th January, 2022 (41 Comments)

The Office of National Statistics has today published the latest UK inflation figures, which sees the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit 5.4% and the Retail Price Index (RPI) reach 7.5%! Many of the country’s biggest broadband ISPs base their annual price rises off the figure published in January, thus we now know how huge the hit will be.

PAC Criticises UK Gov for Slow Rural Gigabit Broadband Progress UPDATE

19th January, 2022 (27 Comments)

The Public Accounts Committee has today issued a new report on the progress being made by the UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit rural broadband rollout programme, which questions whether it will meet its targets and criticises the project for “relying too heavily on commercial contractors for the progress that has been made.”

Phase 4 of the Superfast North Yorkshire Broadband Rollout Begins UPDATE

18th January, 2022 (4 Comments)

The first rural homes to benefit from faster broadband under Phase 4 of the Superfast North Yorkshire (SFNY) project, which reflects a partnership between NYnet, a North Yorkshire County Council-owned broadband company, and UK ISP Quickline Communications, have just gone live in the village of Picton.

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.

End of BBC TV Licence Fee Raises Prospect of Broadband Tax Again

17th January, 2022 (125 Comments)

Reports over the weekend appear to have all but confirmed that the UK Government will end the existing BBC TV licence fee from 2027 and replace it with a new funding model, which could include a Netflix style subscription model, government grants, more advertising or possibly a levy or tax on consumer broadband ISP bills etc.

Report Warns of Underinvestment in Rural Connectivity and Skills

12th January, 2022 (2 Comments)

The latest State of Rural Services report, which is being published today by Rural England CIC, has warned that many people in the country’s small towns and villages still face being “digitally excluded and locked out of key services” due to an “underinvestment in rural connectivity” (e.g. broadband and mobile infrastructure) and skills.

GBP450K Brings FTTP Broadband to Two Rural Powys Communities

10th January, 2022 (1 Comment)

Rural broadband builder Broadway Partners (aka – UK ISP Broadway Broadband) has secured another contract in Powys (Wales), worth £450,000, to extend their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to serve premises in the communities of Aberedw and Glascwm (this follows Dwyriw and Manafon).

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.

Vodafone UK and EE Delay Reintroduction of EU Roaming Charges

6th January, 2022 (31 Comments)

Mobile operators Vodafone and EE (BT) have moved to mildly delay the planned reintroduction of EU roaming charges, which will eventually see most customers being charged £2 per day to use their UK allowances (calls, texts and data / mobile broadband) across related countries. Previously, you could do this at no extra cost.

Former BT Chairman Jan du Plessis Knighted in 2022 New Year Honours

1st January, 2022 (20 Comments)

The UK Government has published the 2022 New Year Honours List, which sees the former Executive Chairman of BT Group, Jan du Plessis, scooping a knighthood for “services to Telecommunications and Business.” Sadly, there were no other honours for members of the wider broadband ISP and UK telecoms community.

GBP900k to Help Rural Homes in Powys Get Full Fibre Broadband UPDATE

30th December, 2021 (28 Comments)

The Welsh Government’s £10m Local Broadband Fund has allocated £900,000 from its budget to help build a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to serve 13 “hard to reach properties” in Powys as part of its Phase Two deployment, with incidental benefits provided to an additional 139 properties across the county.

Brace for HUGE UK Broadband and Mobile Price Hikes in 2022

28th December, 2021 (38 Comments)

The surge in UK inflation is threatening to result in one of the biggest annual price hikes in broadband ISP, phone, mobile and calling charges seen in years, which could hit customers of BT, EE, Plusnet, Vodafone, O2, TalkTalk, Shell Energy, KCOM and others with rises of around 9% come March-April 2022 (double the usual level).

Shropshire Council in GBP1m Boost to Gigabit Broadband Vouchers

23rd December, 2021 (12 Comments)

The Shropshire County Council (SCC) in England has this week allocated another £1 million (total so far of £2m) to help boost the value of the Government’s local rural gigabit broadband vouchers, which now offers grants worth up to £4,000 (homes) or £7,000 (small businesses) to cover the costs of installing such a network.

Telecoms Providers JT and Sure Broke Competition Rules on Guernsey

22nd December, 2021 (0 Comments)

The Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority (GCRA) has ruled that two of the English Channel island’s broadband, phone and mobile providers, JT and Sure, broke competition law by “attempting to illegally control” the provision of mobile networks in Guernsey, including the future introduction of 5G services.