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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

BT Confirm Delay to Subsea Fibre Optic Cable Repair Ship for Orkney

31st March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms giant, BT, has confirmed that a subsea cable repair ship, which is needed to resolve the recent break between Evie on the Orkney Mainland and nearby Westray, has been delayed due to bad weather and will not now arrive to carry out the work until next week. But local 4G mobile connectivity has been improved.

Openreach, Fibrus, Wifinity and Airband to Secure Wales Broadband Contracts UPDATE

30th March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has appointed several network operators, including Openreach (BT), Fibrus, Wifinity and Airband, to deliver their £70m (public subsidy) Extending High Speed Broadband (EHSB) project – extending “high speed broadband” across a total of around 29,000 premises in poorly served areas of Wales (i.e. places that can’t yet access 30Mbps+ speeds).

Welsh Gov Appoint FarrPoint to Survey Superfast Broadband Coverage

27th March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) have this week appointed FarrPoint to undertake an Open Market Review (OMR) to provide an “updated view of superfast broadband connectivity” across Wales at the premises level. The move is intended to help inform their £70m (public subsidy) Extending High Speed Broadband (EHSB) project.

Gov Set New Fixed Telecoms Charter for UK Analogue Phone and Exchange Closures

24th March, 2026 (7 Comments)

The UK Government appears to have published a revised Fixed Telecoms Modernisation Charter (FTMC), which sets out the steps that fixed line broadband and phone providers must take to ensure that customers “remain safe” during the current switch-off of analogue phone (PSTN) services and future closure of thousands of Openreach’s legacy exchanges.

Government Reveal Progress of UK Digital Inclusion Action Plan After 1 Year

24th March, 2026 (1 Comment)

The UK Government has published its first annual progress report on their new Digital Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP), which was launched in Feb 2025 alongside support from various broadband and mobile providers. The plan contained a series of “urgent actions” that it hoped would “begin fixing digital exclusion“ and the new report appears to be broadly positive.

BT Switch 3 Million UK Homes to Digital Voice Ahead of Legacy Phone Switch Off

20th March, 2026 (49 Comments)

Broadband and phone provider BT (EE) has today revealed that the majority of its landline phone using customers, over 3 million UK households, have now successfully switched to its IP-based Digital Voice service. But there’s still more to go ahead of the analogue phone switch-off in January 2027. Some 80% of BT’s business voice customers have also switched.

Subsea Cable Break Knocks Out Broadband and Mobile for Part of Orkney UPDATE

20th March, 2026 (20 Comments)

A BT subsea fibre optic cable that runs between Evie on the Orkney Mainland and nearby Westray, which forms part of an archipelago off the northeastern coast of Scotland, has suffered a “major” break that’s disrupting both broadband and some mobile (Vodafone / Three UK and O2) connectivity for over 500 customers in the North Isles (inc. Eday, Stronsay and Sanday).

Project Gigabit BDUK Funded Digital UK Broadband Map

March 2026 Contract Progress for UK Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout

19th March, 2026 (2 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has today released their March 2026 update on the delivery progress of contracts that have been awarded under their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme. The update reveals that some 227,310 contracted premises (up from 215,380 in Feb 2026) have so far been covered out of a planned total of 1,020,160.

UK Government Seeks to do More with OneWeb’s Broadband Satellites

18th March, 2026 (2 Comments)

The Government’s Minister for Digital Government and Data, Ian Murray MP, has indicated that they’re looking closely at how their stake in OneWeb’s (Eutelsat) constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) could be used to ensure domestic communications resilience in remote areas; as opposed to becoming too reliant on Elon Musk’s Starlink.

NOMADLINK Trailer Concept Image PR 180326

NOMADLINK Launches to Offer Instant Gigabit Connectivity in Remote UK Areas

18th March, 2026 (0 Comments)

Several UK-based and European technology companies, including Excelerate Technology, Eutelsat (OneWeb) and Livewire Digital, have today launched a new solution called NOMADLINK, which is a trailer pulled unit that can be used to deliver emergency broadband and voice connectivity to major incidents, large public events, and rural or isolated communities across the UK.

Mobile-masts-in-a-city-by-CoPilot-for-MJ-on-190624

New Report Claims Small Changes Can Deliver Big 5G Mobile Boost for England

18th March, 2026 (2 Comments)

A new report from The YIMBY Initiative (TYI), which describes itself as a cross-party UK research led think-tank, has today argued that “small changes” to existing legislation and frameworks could reform the planning system just enough to help boost the deployment and coverage of 5G based mobile broadband networks.

Connected UK broadband house 123rf ID 169941702

Ofcom Set Out 2026 Market Review Changes to Boost UK Gigabit Broadband UPDATE3

17th March, 2026 (15 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has today published the outcome of their major Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR), which largely tweaks their existing approach to market regulation in order to help promote competition and investment in gigabit broadband (1000Mbps+) and business connectivity. But not everybody is going to be happy.

London Big Ben and Eye Over Thames by MJackson -IMG20250111113358

London Mayor Publishes Framework to Tackle Gigabit Broadband Notspots

16th March, 2026 (5 Comments)

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and London Councils have today published a new London Infrastructure Framework (LIF), which seeks to establish a shared long-term vision for London’s critical economic infrastructure priorities through to 2050. This includes, among other things, tackling the 390,000 premises across the city that are still “unserved” by gigabit broadband.

Sure Warn Guernsey Customers MUST Switch from Copper to Fibre Broadband

16th March, 2026 (4 Comments)

Broadband, phone and mobile operator Sure, which in October 2025 rebranded to ‘Sure by Beyon’ to align with the global reach of the Beyon Group, has warned customers on the English Channel Island of Guernsey that the “time is now to switch to fibre” as it won’t be long before the legacy copper line telecoms network is completely switched off.

Red Road Closed road sign in a UK city street. 123rf

Openreach Apologises After Emergency Work Causes Pentre Traffic Chaos

16th March, 2026 (4 Comments)

National UK broadband operator Openreach (BT) has apologised after reports (Facebook) indicated that their unexpected decision to close Ystrad Road and Llewellyn Street on 11th March 2026, which occurred in the rural Welsh village of Pentre and impacted a major local route, caused “Traffic Chaos“. But there was a good reason for it.

Community Fibre Joins UK Gov Charter to Stop Unexpected Bill Increases

15th March, 2026 (2 Comments)

UK ISP CommunityFibre, which has invested c.£1bn to build a 5Gbps speed full fibre (FTTP) broadband network across 1.342 million homes (inc. 185k businesses within 200 metres of their network) – mostly in London, has just become the latest internet provider to sign-up to the Government’s new Telecoms Consumer Charter (TCC).

Second Publicly Funded UK 4G Mobile Mast for Total Not Spots Goes Live on Islay

13th March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced that the industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) project has put its second Total Not Spot (TNS) site live, which has helped to expand 4G (mobile broadband) coverage on the remote Island of Islay (Scotland) – reaching Machir Bay, Saligo Bay, Loch Gorm, and Cultoon Stone Circle, as well as along the western coast.