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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

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.

UK-Map-in-3D-for-telecoms-123RF-200676543

UK Gov Launch Address Checker for Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout UPDATE

13th March, 2026 (35 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has today launched a new address checker, which enables homes in England and Wales to see whether they’ll be able to benefit from the roll-out of gigabit-capable broadband networks under their publicly funded £5bn Project Gigabit programme. But at the time of writing it’s “currently unavailable due to a technical problem“.

FarrPoint Claims Universal UK Gigabit Broadband May Boost Economy by £8.6bn

11th March, 2026 (1 Comment)

Consultancy firm FarrPoint has today published new independent analysis, which claims that the United Kingdom’s economy could gain a boost of more than £8.6 billion if gigabit-capable broadband connectivity was universally available to every single home and business – helping to create or sustain more than 156,000 jobs and support over 13,000 businesses.

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

INCA – Alternative Full Fibre Broadband Networks Cover 19.7 Million UK Premises

11th March, 2026 (6 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) and Point Topic have today released their 2026 report into the impact of alternative “full fibre” (FTTP/B) broadband networks in the UK. The study reveals that their coverage grew by 20% in 2025 to top 19.7 million premises (up from 16.4m or 27% in 2024) and there are more than 3.5 million live connections (up by 32%).

3d rendering of optical fiber cable by 123rf

UK ISP Talk Straight to Deploy High Capacity Network for Bristol City Council

10th March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The specialist broadband provider for the UK education market, Talk Straight (aka – Schools Broadband), has today announced that they’ve been chosen to deliver “high‑capacity Internet circuits” to Bristol City Council (BCC) in England – part of a new contract valued at up to £2.9 million.

50 Publicly Funded 4G Mobile Mast Upgrades Now Live Across Wales

9th March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The UK Government has this morning revealed that a total of 50 publicly-funded rural 4G (mobile broadband) mast upgrades have now gone live across Wales as part of the industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) project (up from 30 in July 2025), which last year succeeded (here) in extending geographic 4G cover from at least one operator to 95% of the UK (aggregate).

Gov Respond to Lords Remote Working Report and its Call for UK Broadband Investment

5th March, 2026 (2 Comments)

The UK Government’s Department for Business & Trade (DBT) has responded to last year’s cross-party Home-based Working Committee report (here) into remote and hybrid working in the UK which, among other things, called for an increase to “long-term investment in digital infrastructure, particularly broadband” to help properly support such working.

satellite_broadband_LEO_MEO_constellation_uk_space by 123rf

Gov Commit £30m to Help Develop UK LEO Satellite Broadband and Related Tech

4th March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The government has today committed a further £30m of public investment from the UK Space Agency’s 4-year £160m Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme, which will be used to develop new satellite technologies and components to help supply “high-speed internet, communications and data services” around the world.

Channel Islands Regulators Push Forward Solution for JT Mobile Number Porting

3rd March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The regulators for the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey have reached an agreement that should resolve a tricky problem, which meant customers of JT’s mobile service couldn’t keep their existing mobile number when switching to virtual operator Coop Mobile (here). But JT has now agreed to support number ports by 17th March 2026, more than six weeks earlier than first planned.

Global Coalition on Telecoms and UK Set Out Security Standards for 6G Mobile

3rd March, 2026 (0 Comments)

The UK Government and the Global Coalition on Telecoms (GCOT), which also includes Australia, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Finland and the USA, have today published a joint statement that appears to set out their expectations for how the next generation of 6G mobile (mobile broadband) technology should adopt stricter standards to improve network security and resilience.

UK fibre optic gigabit broadband map CoPilot for MJ on 12092024

Milestone as Gigabit Broadband Coverage Reaches 90 Percent of UK UPDATE

27th February, 2026 (30 Comments)

The latest independent data has revealed that 90.04% of premises across the United Kingdom can now access a gigabit-capable broadband ISP connection (1000Mbps+) via fixed lines, which is up from 85% in October 2024 and 80% at the end of 2023. But the figure does drop a little to 82.71% when only looking at full fibre (FTTP) lines.

Openreach Takes on Project Gigabit Broadband Contract for Cheshire UK

27th February, 2026 (5 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has today confirmed that the previously stalled Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contract for Cheshire (Lot 17), which was originally held by Freedom Fibre until they “mutually agreed to terminate” it in March 2025 (here), has now been picked up by Openreach (BT). But it’s changed a bit in the process.

GoFibre Starts Project Gigabit Broadband Build for North East Scotland

26th February, 2026 (2 Comments)

Edinburgh-based UK network operator GoFibre, which is deploying a full fibre (FTTP) network across remote rural parts of Scotland and Northern England, has today announced that they’ve begun the build phase of their £105m (public subsidy) Project Gigabit contract to cover 63,000 hard-to-reach premises in North East Scotland (100k if you include their commercial build).

Fibre optic broadband cables connecting to a house by CoPilot AI for MJ - 210524

Ofcom Find 532,000 UK Consumers Taking Social Broadband and Mobile Tariffs

26th February, 2026 (13 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has today published their annual Pricing Trends Report for 2026, which among other things confirms that the take-up of cheaper social broadband ISP and mobile tariffs for those on state benefits has jumped to 532,000 customers in June 2025 (up from 506,000 last year). But that’s still just 8.6% of eligible households (e.g. those on Universal Credit) and awareness remains low.

Virgin Media O2 Business Completes Dark Fibre Network in Swansea Bay City Region

25th February, 2026 (2 Comments)

Broadband ISP Virgin Media O2 Business (VMO2) has completed the Dark Fibre Network East project as part of the Swansea Bay City Region project (Digital Infrastructure Programme), which is said to have delivered a secure fibre network linking 36 public-sector sites (e.g. council offices, NHS, doctors, schools etc.) through 46 connections in Llanelli, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

copper vs fibre optic openreach engineer

FTTH Council Europe Updates on Copper Switch Off Progress by Country

24th February, 2026 (1 Comment)

The FTTH Council Europe has this afternoon published their latest annual (2026) update on the progress being made across 27 EU member states (inc. the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland) in switching off older copper based broadband networks, which forms part of the wider move to adopt gigabit full-fibre (FTTP/H/B) infrastructure.