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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

EE to Connect 34,000 Mobile and IoT Devices in New UK DEFRA Deal

1st May, 2025 (0 Comments)

Telecoms giant BT has today signed a new “multi-million-pound” deal with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which will see EE provide 34,000 mobile connections to support workers and real-time reporting on issues from flooding to farming disease outbreaks across England, Scotland and Wales.

TfW Fibre Seek Code Powers to Support Railway Based Fibre Rollout in Wales

1st May, 2025 (0 Comments)

In a not unexpected development, network operator TfW Ffeibr (TFW Fibre), which is an arm’s-length initiative setup by Transport for Wales (TfW) – itself owned by the Welsh Government (WG), has applied for Code Powers from Ofcom in order to boost their plans for a full fibre broadband network that runs alongside local railways.

Openreach Win £157m Project Gigabit Broadband Build Contract for Scotland

1st May, 2025 (1 Comment)

The UK Government today confirmed that Openreach (BT) have been formally awarded the £157 million state aid supported Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contract for Scotland (Call off 6). The deal will see the operator extending their full fibre (FTTP) network to cover an additional 65,000 of the hardest to reach rural premises.

Streetwave See Mobile Broadband Coverage Improve Across Mid Wales

30th April, 2025 (0 Comments)

Network analyst firm Streetwave, which is using bin lorries to help map the coverage and performance of 4G and 5G mobile (broadband) networks across 113 UK councils, has revealed how much the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project has helped to improve mobile coverage across mid-Wales over the past 9 months – O2 saw the strongest improvement.

April 2025 Progress Update on BT’s 10Mbps UK Broadband USO

29th April, 2025 (3 Comments)

UK ISP BT has published their first biannual progress update for 2025 on their delivery of Ofcom’s somewhat maligned 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband. The provider has so far helped to build a USO connection to over 8,411 premises (up from 8,248 in Oct 2024), with 349 further builds in-progress (up from 215).

BT Moira Stuart Digital Voice Switchover campaign

Moira Stuart Helps BT Kick Off UK Digital Voice Switchover for Vulnerable Users

28th April, 2025 (45 Comments)

Broadband and phone provider BT (EE) has today launched a new campaign with Moira Stuart, a well-known British TV presenter and broadcaster, to help raise awareness around the switch to digital landlines and the forthcoming deadline of 31st January 2027 for vulnerable users.

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First Homes Live on CityFibre’s Project Gigabit Broadband Network in Hampshire UPDATE

28th April, 2025 (9 Comments)

Network operator CityFibre has today announced that the first customers have gone live on their new 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network in Hampshire (England), which is being built as part of their £104m state aid supported Project Gigabit contract (Lot 27) – this aims to reach more than 75,000 extra premises across hard-to-reach rural areas.

Progress on GBP70m Extending High Speed Broadband in Wales Project

28th April, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has moved into the final market engagement phase of their proposed £70m (state aid) “Extending High Speed Broadband Reach in Wales” (EHSBRW) project, which aims to help upgrade broadband for some or all of the remaining 84,000 premises (i.e. those that can’t yet get “superfast” speeds of 30Mbps+).

UK Government Confirms Europe-first Ban on SIM Farms

24th April, 2025 (18 Comments)

The UK government has today confirmed its intent to ban SIM Farms (both possession and supply) some 6 months after the new Crime and Policing Bill (CPB) receives Royal Assent. The move is designed to better protect the public from fraudsters and scammers who also use the devices for criminal purposes (e.g. sending scam/spam messages and calls to mobile users).

Bright uk optical fibre broadband cables on flat surface - 123rf

Royal Borough of Kingston in London to Get New 10km Full Fibre Network

24th April, 2025 (2 Comments)

Digital infrastructure firm Boldyn Networks, which is perhaps best known for helping to build a number of open access UK mobile and fibre networks, has been picked by Kingston Council (Kingston upon Thames) in London to build a new 10km long fibre (broadband, Ethernet etc.) network in the royal borough. Virgin Media’s business division will also be involved.

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NFU Warn Farms Being Excluded from UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout by Cost

22nd April, 2025 (9 Comments)

The National Farmers Union, which represents over 44,000 Farmers and Growers in England and Wales, has warned that a good proportion of farms in rural parts of the country are still being excluded from the ongoing deployment of gigabit-capable broadband ISP technology – often even when the network covers the local road.

Fibrus Founder Criticises Openreach “Pole Tax” on UK Fibre Broadband Builds

17th April, 2025 (27 Comments)

The co-Founder & Chair of UK broadband ISP Fibrus, Conal Henry, has criticised network operator Openreach (BT Group) for the “pole tax” they claim is being levelled against them, which is said to be “twice the cost of paying our own staff, just to rent some poles and holes built by the British taxpayer“.

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INCA – Alternative Full Fibre Networks Reach 16.4 Million UK Premises

15th April, 2025 (4 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) and Point Topic have published their 2025 report into the impact of alternative gigabit speed “full fibre” (FTTP/B) broadband networks on the UK. The study reveals that their coverage grew by 27% in 2024 to top 16.4 million premises (down from 57% in 2023 [12.9m]) and could grow to 18.6m in 2025.

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Freedom Fibre Pick Xantaro to Boost Shropshire UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout

15th April, 2025 (1 Comment)

Network operator Freedom Fibre has today announced that they’ve chosen network solutions provider Xantaro and their related “Cabinet-as-a-Service” street cabinet solution to help “accelerate” their ongoing roll-out of a full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network in Shropshire (England). This is being conducted alongside fixed and IP services from Nokia.

FarrPoint Orkney 4G Mobile Coverage by EE

FarrPoint Study 4G Mobile Network Performance on Orkney in Scotland

9th April, 2025 (1 Comment)

Consultancy firm FarrPoint has today published the results of a new study, which saw them working with the Orkney Islands Council to investigate 4G mobile coverage and network performance (mobile broadband) across Orkney. Vodafone and O2 were found to have the best coverage in the main areas surveyed, while Three UK and EE have the “worse coverage overall“.

Pound sterling broadband voucher by 123rf (100296328)

BDUK Close Gigabit Broadband Vouchers to Devon and Somerset UK

8th April, 2025 (1 Comment)

As expected, following our earlier report (here), the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has today confirmed that their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) has now closed for new voucher projects in Devon and Somerset (England).

2025 Openreach skills training course for engineers

Openreach Start Free 5 Day UK Street Works Training Courses

7th April, 2025 (4 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has opened a free five-day skills course in roadworks, signing, lighting, and guarding to Jobseekers in Bolton (more areas to follow). The course has been launched in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and is linked to the company’s commitment under their Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contracts.