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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

UK Government’s Copyright Tsar Blames ISPs for Facilitating Sony Hack

4th December, 2014 (9 Comments)

The UK Prime Minister’s (David Cameron) sometimes controversial Intellectual Property Advisor, Mike Weatherley (Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade), has somewhat bizarrely blamed broadband ISPs for helping to “facilitate” major hacks like the recent once that took place against Sony.

Key Points from BT’s Oral Evidence to the UK Rural Broadband Inquiry

3rd December, 2014 (25 Comments)

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has just held an Oral Evidence session for their on-going inquiry into UK rural broadband coverage and digital-only services. First in the hot seat was the familiar face of Sean Williams, BT’s Group Director of Strategy, Policy & Portfolio, whom had a few interesting points to make on the matter.

Superfast Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme Extended to 2016

3rd December, 2014 (4 Comments)

The Government’s Connection Voucher scheme, which offers grants worth up to £3,000 in order to help small and medium sized businesses around any of 22 cities across the United Kingdom to gain access to a superfast broadband (30Mbps+) service, has been extended by a full year to March 2016. Additional funding and expanded coverage is also confirmed.

UK Government Quietly Removes the “Rural” from its Broadband Scheme

3rd December, 2014 (26 Comments)

A small but interesting change has recently happened to some of the Government’s official Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) documentation, which until recently was frequently and perhaps somewhat misleadingly still being described as the “Rural Broadband Programme“. The same piece of text has since been amended to read “Superfast Broadband Programme“, but we wouldn’t worry.

One to Watch LIVE – Oral Evidence for the UK Rural Broadband Inquiry

2nd December, 2014 (5 Comments)

The annual Autumn Statement isn’t the only thing on tomorrows Parliamentary agenda because following at 3pm will be a key Oral Evidence hearing for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the broadband coverage of rural areas across the United Kingdom, which is sure to be worth a watch given the guest list.

Government Reviews State Aid Approach for Broadband Delivery UK

1st December, 2014 (15 Comments)

The Government’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has appointed economic analysts Oxera to conduct an independent evaluation of how state aid (public funding) is being used in the national Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme, which currently aims to make fixed line superfast broadband (24Mbps+) speeds available to 95% of the population by 2017.

EU Unveils GBP250bn Investment Plan for Infrastructure and Broadband

26th November, 2014 (3 Comments)

The European Commission has today announced a new £250 billion (€315bn) plan to improve its infrastructure, which is designed to make the continent more attractive for investment, remove regulatory bottlenecks and “get Europe growing again” by funding improvements in broadband networks, transport, education, research and innovation.

UK Labour Report Calls for Universal Service Obligation on Internet Access

26th November, 2014 (6 Comments)

A Digital Government Review conducted for the British Labour party, which was commissioned by Chi Onwurah MP but claims to be independent, has called for a future Labour Government to consider implementing a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for Internet access (potentially applying to both fixed line and mobile operators).

CLA Back UK Government Plans to Force National Mobile Network Roaming

26th November, 2014 (2 Comments)

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has put their weight behind the Government’s proposal to tackle partial mobile not-spots across the United Kingdom by requiring major mobile network operators to adopt a controversial national roaming policy, which some fear could also stifle future investment.

UPD Commons Intelligence and Security Committee Blames ISPs for Murder

25th November, 2014 (14 Comments)

It’s probably fair to say that most politicians can be a bit naïve when it comes to matters that require an understanding of ISPs and Internet communications. Sadly this also appears to be true of today’s report from the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee that effectively accused ISPs of failing to help stop the murder Fusilier Lee Rigby by not handing over key communications data.

UPDATE4 First BDUK Fuelled BT “Fibre Broadband” Take-up Figures Emerge

25th November, 2014 (41 Comments)

Attempts to secure information about the take-up of BTOpenreach’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) services and related claw-back provisions under the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme are often futile (we’ve tried asking BT, BDUK and many councils without success), yet a recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request has managed to secure related information.. albeit only for Wales.

UPDATE3 Government Forces IP Address Matching Upon ISPs – But What is it?

24th November, 2014 (20 Comments)

The Government’s forthcoming Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill (CTSB) will this week introduce a number of new measures including a provision to help the security services identify suspects via a computer or mobile device’s individual Internet Protocol (IP) address. But what does this actually mean for broadband ISPs and their customers?

Welsh Businesses Offered GBP10K Ultrafast 100Mb Broadband Vouchers

21st November, 2014 (3 Comments)

The Welsh Government has announced the launch of a new Ultrafast Connectivity Voucher scheme that will provide assistance of up to £10,000 towards the capital costs of helping firms in Wales to install a broadband service offering speeds of more than 100Mbps (Megabits per second), albeit only applicable to businesses in Enterprise and Local Growth Zones.

BT FTTP Rollout in Dolphinholme Continues Following B4RN Spat

20th November, 2014 (75 Comments)

Residents of Dolphinholme village in Lancashire report that BT’s engineers have returned to resume their state aid fuelled deployment of 330Mbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband technology in the area, which is despite B4RN’s community funded 1000Mbps FTTP service being deployed to homes on one of the exact same streets.

UK Mobile Operators in Counter Proposal to Stop National 2G Roaming

20th November, 2014 (8 Comments)

The United Kingdom’s primary four Mobile Network Operators (MNO), including EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three UK, are preparing to make a counter proposal to the Government’s demand for a national roaming policy that would see investment boosted in order to build new masts and improve coverage.

Ofcom Appoint Temporary CEO as Hunt for Replacement Continues

19th November, 2014 (1 Comment)

The board of the United Kingdom’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has so far failed to find a replacement for their current CEO, Ed Richards, in time for his departure next month. So in the meantime they’ve appointed an acting Chief Executive, Steve Unger, to hold the position until the right candidate can be found.

EU Leans Towards Stricter Broadband ISP Contracts and Closed Networks

17th November, 2014 (5 Comments)

The European Commission’s (EC) new Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger, has hinted that he might be about to adopt a distinctly less pro-consumer position on home broadband services and open access network flexibility than the person that he is effectively replacing, Neelie Kroes.