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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

Europe Clarifies State Aid Rules for Infrastructure and Other Markets

19th May, 2016 (0 Comments)

The European Commission has today published guidance on when public spending falls within, and outside, the scope of EU State Aid control. The new guidance doesn’t specifically change the way in which we already understand state aid to be applied to broadband infrastructure, but some may find its clarification(s) useful.

Government Push Superfast Broadband to 3.84 Million Extra UK Premises

19th May, 2016 (27 Comments)

The Government’s £1.7bn Broadband Delivery UK project, which aims to expand fixed “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) cover to 95% of the United Kingdom by 2017/18 (possibly rising to 97% by 2019), has issued its latest progress update to confirm that 3.84 million extra premises have now benefited.

Queen’s Speech 2016 – Broadband USO and Internet Spying on the Agenda

18th May, 2016 (3 Comments)

The annual State Opening of Parliament, in which the Queen is forced to wear unreasonably heavy head gear while robotically listing Government policy for the next 12 months, confirms that a 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband is on the way and we can all expect to be spied upon.

Don’t Blame Europe for Poor Broadband in UK Urban Areas

18th May, 2016 (9 Comments)

Is it Europe’s fault that some urban areas in the United Kingdom still have to suffer poor broadband? At least one newspaper appears to think so and is blaming the issue entirely on restrictive EU state aid rules, albeit while completely ignoring the natural responsibility of private sector operators.

Gov Moot Tricky Land Access Changes to Boost Mobile and Broadband

17th May, 2016 (5 Comments)

The Government has today published its proposals for a revised Electronic Communications Code (ECC), which could attract anger from private land owners by making it easier and cheaper for fixed line broadband and mobile providers to access and build new infrastructure on their property.

Church of England to Help Spread Wireless Broadband into Rural Areas

16th May, 2016 (6 Comments)

Reports suggest that the Church of England (CoE) has offered to help boost rural broadband connectivity by opening up access to 10,000 of their churches so that alternative wireless network providers can install their kit on top.

BT Rivals Sky, TalkTalk and Voda Push 10 Point Plan for a Better Openreach

16th May, 2016 (18 Comments)

A new “all-industry coalition“, which represents alternative network providers and major UK players like Sky Broadband, TalkTalk and Vodafone, has today put pressure on Ofcom to deliver on its Strategic Review by publishing a plan that sets out how they think the regulator should deliver a better and more independent Openreach.

UK Government Consults on Business Access to Superfast Broadband

13th May, 2016 (10 Comments)

As first promised in February 2016, the Government’s culture (DCMS) and business (BIS) departments have today jointly opened a new consultation, which seeks to understand “what barriers businesses are facing in accessing superfast broadband.”

Video Streaming Providers to Escape EU Ban on Internet Geo Blocking

13th May, 2016 (3 Comments)

Rights holders will be pleased to learn that a leaked draft of the European Commission’s new Digital Single Market policy, which is expected to be published before the end of May 2016, looks set to exempt video streaming providers (e.g. Netflix) from the plan to ban geo-blocking of online content.

BBC Review Confirms Phasing Out of Funding to Improve UK Broadband

12th May, 2016 (5 Comments)

As expected the Government’s new proposal for the BBC’s next Charter confirms that it “will phase out the protections for broadband ([worth] £150 million a year)” because these public policy interventions “will no longer be required.” But a bit of extra funding will be available until 2020/21.

Virgin Media Owner Hints at Interest in Gobbling Mobile Operator O2 UK

11th May, 2016 (2 Comments)

The CEO of Liberty Global, which owns cable operator Virgin Media in the United Kingdom, has joined French telecoms firm Illiad SA (here) by indicating that they too would have an interest in O2 (Telefonica UK) if the operator suddenly came up for sale again.

NFU Says Just 4 Percent of UK Farmers Can Get Superfast Broadband

10th May, 2016 (29 Comments)

A new report from the National Farmers Union, which states that Farming underwrites the food and drink industry and is worth £103m to the UK economy each year, has joined the chorus of groups criticising the Government over fears that rural areas will not benefit from “superfast broadband“.

Local Government Association Start Campaign to Boost Broadband Speeds

10th May, 2016 (0 Comments)

The Local Government Association, which describes itself as the national voice of councils across the United Kingdom, has launched the “Up to Speed” campaign that aims to ensure “everyone in rural areas gets access to superfast broadband” and that nobody is stuck in a “digital twilight zone”

10Mbps USO Confusion as Hopes Fade of Universal Superfast Broadband

9th May, 2016 (29 Comments)

Last week a media storm was caused after one newspaper dredged up an extract from the Government’s on-going consultation on the proposed 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) and used it to infer that the final 5% of the UK (most rural areas) would be left behind, but the reality is more complex.

UPDATE2 New Homes Development in Bonnyrigg Stuck with Slow Broadband

9th May, 2016 (11 Comments)

A group of residents on the new Hopefield development in Bonnyrigg (Scotland), which is managed by Taylor Wimpey, have setup a campaign to get their local Openreach (BT) Street Cabinet upgraded to FTTC (“fibre broadband”) after becoming frustrated by the areas super slow Internet.

Aberdeen Preps Fibre Upgrades and Free City Centre WiFi by End of 2016

4th May, 2016 (10 Comments)

Earlier this year the city of Aberdeen in Scotland signed a major £250m City Deal with the Government (here) and we’re now starting to get the first details on what this could mean for digital connectivity, with free city centre wifi and fibre optic upgrades being high on the agenda.

Advert Watchdog Forces ISPs to Include Line Rental into Broadband Price

4th May, 2016 (9 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority has today confirmed that fixed line broadband providers in the United Kingdom will, with effect from 31st October 2016, be required to offer clearer advertising of their service prices by including the cost of line rental into their total monthly fee.