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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

Ofcom UK Bids Farewall to Long Time CEO Ed Richards

2nd October, 2014 (10 Comments)

In a somewhat expected move the Chief Executive of national UK telecoms and media regulator Ofcom, Ed Richards, has announced that he is to stand down from his post at the end of December 2014. At present nobody has been lined up to replace him.

European Commission Warns Big Telecoms Operators – “Adapt or Die”

2nd October, 2014 (8 Comments)

The outgoing Vice-President of the European Commission’s (EC) Digital Agenda project, Neelie Kroes, had stern words for members of the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO) yesterday when she warned against protectionist positions and stated that “sometimes I think the telecoms sector is its own worst enemy“.

BESA Reports Poor Broadband and WiFi Provision Hurting UK Schools

30th September, 2014 (9 Comments)

The British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) has told the Government to do more to improve Internet connectivity in Schools across the United Kingdom, after their annual survey of ICT capabilities found that poor WiFi provision was a “major problem” in 65% of primary and 54% of secondary schools. Meanwhile 42% of primary and 31% of secondary schools also considered themselves to be “under-resourced” in broadband provision.

Culture Secretary Says UK Needs Broadband as Good as South Korea

29th September, 2014 (38 Comments)

The Government’s Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Sajid Javid, has today told the annual Conservative Party Conference that having better broadband Internet connectivity than the largest EU states is “never enough” and he wants the United Kingdom to “compete with the likes of Japan and South Korea“, where ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH/P) networks are common.

UPDATE Labour Party Activists Seek 1Gbps Nationwide Broadband by 2020

23rd September, 2014 (24 Comments)

Impossible promise or inevitable reality. The British Labour party has effectively kicked off their 2015 General Election campaign today by seeming to support new proposals from the Labour Digital group, which demands a “national focus on connectivity” that will deliver 1000Mbps (1Gbps) broadband to all homes and offices, with 10Gps connections for business hubs like Tech City.

Progress Update – the UN’s Global Universal Broadband Goals for 2015

22nd September, 2014 (0 Comments)

Back in 2010 the United Nations (UN) set four key global digital development targets for Internet access and broadband connectivity, but how much progress has been made? Today the UN’s Broadband Commission has published their latest annual report, which reveals that a lot of progress has been made but some targets will slip the net.

More Broadband Connection Voucher Tweaks to Boost Business Uptake

22nd September, 2014 (1 Comment)

As expected the Government has today moved to boost the low uptake of their Connection Vouchers scheme, which offers grants worth between £200 and £3,000 to help small and medium sized businesses install a superfast broadband (30Mbps+) service in any of 22 cities across the United Kingdom, by making further changes.

UK Government Ready 3rd Round of Rural Superfast Broadband Funding

22nd September, 2014 (4 Comments)

Credible sources have informed ISPreview.co.uk that the coalition Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme will later this autumn announce a 3rd phase of public funding to help bring high-speed Internet access to the final 5-8% of the United Kingdom’s population.

BT Signs GBP22.4m Superfast Broadband Rollout for South Yorkshire

19th September, 2014 (2 Comments)

As expected BT has now officially signed a new Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) contract that will aim to roll-out FTTC/P based “fibre broadband” services to 98% of South Yorkshire (i.e. Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield) by the end of 2017.

UPDATE EU Rules Could Allow Ofcom to Remove BT’s Broadband Price Caps

17th September, 2014 (1 Comment)

Ofcom’s carefully crafted control of the United Kingdom’s market for broadband and phone services might face a challenge next month. A leaked proposal suggests that the EU’s new rules, which are designed to foster a Single Telecoms Market, could seek to remove some of the charge controls on BT’s services.

London Mayor Pushes ISPs to Ensure 99% Superfast Broadband Cover

16th September, 2014 (11 Comments)

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson (Conservative), will today meet some of the United Kingdom’s largest ISPs and mobile operators (including Virgin Media, BT and O2 UK) at a ‘Connectivity Summit’ where it’s hoped that a strategy can be devised to help improve the city’s superfast broadband connectivity.

The Black Country Finally Agree GBP7.5m Superfast Broadband Rollout

16th September, 2014 (7 Comments)

The Black Country (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton) in England’s West Midlands has, after sitting out the first round of funding from the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme, finally agreed a £7.5m project to make superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services available to 95% of local premises by 2017.

BT and Big UK Telco’s Warn of Increased Costs for an Independent Scotland

15th September, 2014 (20 Comments)

The heated debate over Scottish independence, which is due to be decided in a referendum this week (Thursday 18th Sept), took another twist over the weekend as national telecoms and broadband operators including BT, TalkTalk, O2 (Telefonica UK), Vodafone, EE and Three UK united in a rare show of unity to highlight some of their considerations.

Bristol UK Expands Availability of Broadband Vouchers Outside City

9th September, 2014 (0 Comments)

In an interesting move the Bristol City Council (South West England) has decided to try and drum up more interest in the local Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme by extending its availability to businesses outside of the city’s administrative boundary. More UK cities may soon follow suit.

UK Mobile Operators Say NO to National Network Roaming

8th September, 2014 (4 Comments)

As expected the Government appears to have failed in its first tentative bid to boost mobile voice and Mobile Broadband coverage around the United Kingdom by attempting to encourage greater sharing of masts (network infrastructure) in the hope of fostering a national roaming policy.

Interview – BDUK CEO Talks FTTP, Council Broadband Maps and BT Competition

8th September, 2014 (15 Comments)

A lot has been said about the ups and downs of the Government’s national Broadband Delivery UK scheme, not least with regards to the lack of detailed coverage maps, BT’s dominance of the contract(s) and how the final gap of 5% will be closed. ISPreview.co.uk has today roped in the CEO of BDUK, Christopher Townsend, to answer some of the most common queries.

Rural Shops Alliance in Urban Broadband Funding Moan to UK Government

26th August, 2014 (12 Comments)

The Rural Shops Alliance (RSA), a trade association that claims to represent over 8,000 rural retailers across the United Kingdom, has described the Government’s city-focused Connection Voucher scheme as “bizarre” for “subsidising businesses which already have the potential to access superfast broadband“.