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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

Inverness Promised Step Change in Broadband and Mobile Connectivity

22nd March, 2016 (0 Comments)

The UK and Scottish Governments have today joined with the Highland Council to sign a new £315m City Region Deal for Inverness and its surrounding areas, which among other things has promised to create the “best digitally connected rural region in Europe.”

UK Government Moots End to Separate Line Rental, But You Will Still Pay

22nd March, 2016 (20 Comments)

The Government’s Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey, risks shunning smaller ISPs by proposing a significant shift in the broadband and phone market, which on the upside could mean an end to separate line rental charges and clearer pricing. But you’ll still pay for the line.

EuropaSat CEO Warns UK Satellite Broadband Subsidy Too “Complicated”

21st March, 2016 (3 Comments)

The CEO of ISP EuropaSat, Andrew Walwyn, has warned that the Government’s rural broadband subsidy scheme for meeting the 2Mbps Universal Service Commitment (USC) is suffering from low uptake because its “very complicated” and the subsidy (up to around £350) is too small.

BT Reveal FTTC “Fibre Broadband” Cabinet Cost as BDUK Clarify Delays

18th March, 2016 (56 Comments)

The cross party Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into UK broadband infrastructure has revealed some useful new information on the “cost per [street cabinet]” of BT’s (Openreach) FTTC “fibre broadband” service and confirmation of which BDUK areas have fallen behind their coverage targets.

UK Budget 2016 – No Big New Bits for Boosting Broadband Connectivity

16th March, 2016 (2 Comments)

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has today set out the annual Budget 2016 report for the United Kingdom, which among other things announced the plan to publish a strategy for 5G mobile services in 2017 and the release of more radio spectrum below 10GHz (bands).. but not a lot else.

BT Take Flak for Missed Appointments, FTTP and UK Broadband Maps

16th March, 2016 (45 Comments)

The on-going cross party Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into UK digital infrastructure produced another interesting evidence session yesterday after BT and sibling Openreach were both grilled over the country’s broadband quality, 1,000 missed appointments per week and USO plans etc.

Salford UK Council Deploy FTTP Ultrafast Broadband to Housing Blocks

16th March, 2016 (0 Comments)

Thousands of residents in Salford (Greater Manchester, England) look set to benefit after fibre optic ISP Hyperoptic announced that the local council had become the first in the UK to roll-out their 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across its housing portfolio.

Ed Vaizey MP Praises “fantastic” B4RN 1Gbps Rural Broadband Network

15th March, 2016 (2 Comments)

The Government’s Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey, has turned a veiled criticism of Lancashire’s (England) Broadband Delivery UK programme (Superfast Lancashire) into some welcome praise for the alternative and community-built B4RN (Broadband 4 the Rural North) project.

ABTA Warns Brexit Could Hike EU Mobile Roaming Prices for UK Users

15th March, 2016 (2 Comments)

The cost of making calls, sending text messages and going online via your Smartphone’s Mobile Broadband (3G, 4G) connection when in Europe could rise if the United Kingdom votes to leave the EU later this year, claims a new report from Deloitte and ABTA – The Travel Association.

Opposition Grows as UK ISP Internet Spying Bill Hits Parliament

15th March, 2016 (0 Comments)

The Draft Investigatory Powers Bill, which among other things aims to force broadband ISPs into logging a much bigger slice of your online activity and to then share it with the security services, will today receive its second reading and the battle lines have already been firmly drawn.

UPDATE Government Claims 90 Percent UK Superfast Broadband Cover

10th March, 2016 (19 Comments)

Blink and you’ll miss it. Without any fanfare the Government’s Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey, appears to have officially confirmed that 90% of the United Kingdom can now access a “superfast broadband” service, thanks partly to Phase 1 of their Broadband Delivery UK programme with BT.

Ed Vaizey Slams BT Service Quality and Seeks End to Separate Line Rental

10th March, 2016 (16 Comments)

The UK Government’s Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey MP, has taken a break from praising the progress of BTOpenreach’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) roll-out in order to criticise them for their “absolutely woeful” customer service. At the same time he also called for ISPs to stop advertising line rental with a separate price and called for clearer broadband speeds.

Gloucestershire Council Suspend Broadband Funding for the Cotswolds

5th March, 2016 (4 Comments)

At least part of the on-going effort to roll-out superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services in the Cotswolds, which is a rural area that predominantly straddles both Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, has been halted after Gloucestershire Council suspended £500,000 of its joint funding.

Government and Corbyn Spar Over a “Gigabit Britain” Broadband Future

3rd March, 2016 (52 Comments)

The leader of the UK Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn MP, has claimed that broadband connectivity in the United Kingdom is being held back by “government foot-dragging and ideological dithering,” which he suggests can only be improved by pushing more public money towards fibre optic services.

Problems Remain – Government Publishes Revised ISP Internet Spying Bill

1st March, 2016 (9 Comments)

After receiving strong criticism from three major reports, the Government has today appeared to rush out a revised draft of their controversial Investigatory Powers Bill (IPB), which hopes to force broadband ISPs into logging and monitoring a much bigger slice of your online activity.

UK Government to Tackle Small Print and Tedious Contract Terms

1st March, 2016 (5 Comments)

One of the biggest consumer frustrations with signing up to any new broadband, phone or other service is the mass of small print and complicated contract terms that sit in the way, which most of us probably skip or at least skim through. But now the Government want to tackle this.

Ed Vaizey MP Admits UK Mobile Infrastructure Project Was a Flop

1st March, 2016 (10 Comments)

The Government’s Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey, has finally gone on record to confirm that their £150 million Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP), which was set-up to improve mobile phone network coverage in areas where there is currently none, has failed.