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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

UPDATE UK FSB Seek 10Mbps Broadband for All by 2018 and 100Mb by 2030

14th July, 2014 (56 Comments)

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has today called on the Government of the United Kingdom to improve their current broadband coverage ambitions by raising the Universal Service Commitment (USC) from 2Mbps (Megabits per second) of Internet download speed to 10Mbps by 2018-2019, which would then rise again to 100Mbps+ by 2030.

Europe Offers Support to Local Community Broadband Projects

10th July, 2014 (0 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has today moved to complement their Digital Agenda project, which aims to make broadband speeds of 30Mbps+ available to all EU homes come 2020, by launching a new “Connected Communities” initiative that offers additional funding and support to local community broadband partnerships and operators.

UPDATE6 Government Recycles UK ISP Internet and Phone Snooping Law

10th July, 2014 (10 Comments)

The government will today announce emergency legislation that many fear could be an amended version of its controversial RIPA or Communications Data Bill (CDB) which, before it was shelved for a second time, aimed to extend the United Kingdom’s existing internet snooping powers by requiring ISPs to log a much bigger slice of everybody’s online activity; regardless of whether or not you’ve ever committed a crime.

Poor Broadband and IT Skills Fuel Criticism of UK Digital by Default Policy

8th July, 2014 (14 Comments)

The Government’s new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and so-called “digital by default” strategy, which among other things seeks to save money by making some services online-only, faced criticism in the House of Commons on Monday after MPs blasted it for being introduced before some rural farmers could even get access to a good broadband connection.

39 New Local Growth Deals to Improve Superfast Broadband in England

7th July, 2014 (2 Comments)

The Government has today announced an investment of £6bn to help fund the first wave of 39 new Growth Deals with businesses and local authorities across England, which among other things will also bring new money to build new homes and improve the coverage of superfast broadband services alongside the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.

RCBF Fails Target to Give 70000 Rural Premises Superfast Broadband

5th July, 2014 (25 Comments)

The government’s controversial £20 million Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF), which originally aimed to help remote rural areas in the last 5-10% of England gain access to superfast broadband, will fall well short of its original target to help up to 70,000 premises and is instead only set to pass between 20-25,000 premises.

Small Progress on Broadband Cover and 7 Digit Postcodes in Cumbria

4th July, 2014 (7 Comments)

The Cumbria County Council and BT have finally given a full 7-digit postcode level breakdown (albeit in verbal form) of their anticipated superfast broadband (FTTC/P) coverage in the region, although unfortunately the data is only for the Grasmere telephone exchange area.

UPDATE London’s Tech City Still Suffering a Lack of Superfast Broadband

4th July, 2014 (13 Comments)

The government’s plans for Shoreditch’s Tech City have been criticised by Labour MP Meg Hillier after it was claimed that around a third of local businesses, not to mention many homes, are still without access to high-speed broadband, while the £3,000 Connection Voucher (“Super-Connected Cities“) scheme that was setup to help has been branded as a “national embarrassment“.

UK Government Agrees – Too Much Internet Content Regulation is Bad

4th July, 2014 (1 Comment)

The Government has just given its official response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s inquiry into Online Safety, which in March 2014 warned that website blocking by UK ISPs was “highly unlikely to be a suitable approach” for tackling porn or violent material on the Internet (here). Broadly the government agrees, but you should still expect more filtering by ISPs in the future.

UPDATE UK Government Targets 100% Superfast Broadband Coverage

3rd July, 2014 (34 Comments)

The Government’s Communications Minister, Edward Vaizey (MP), has today told the House of Commons that the money they’ve already allocated should “give us the figure we need to get to 100%” (coverage of superfast broadband connectivity). We remain to be convinced.

Devon and Somerset UK Struggle to Match Broadband Funding

23rd June, 2014 (10 Comments)

The joint £94 million Connecting Devon and Somerset project in England, which is currently rolling out BT’s superfast broadband (25Mbps+) network to at least 90% of local premises by the end of 2016, is seeking a delay and reduction in the additional funding allocated by the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office.

BDUK to Review UK Council Compliance with Broadband Coverage Data

19th June, 2014 (2 Comments)

Too little, too late? The boss of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme, Christopher Townsend, has promised to review which local authorities have so far failed to publish detailed coverage maps and related data down to the 7-digit postcode level, which is often needed by smaller ISPs to help them secure state aid funding.

The Black Country Slowly Moving Forward with Fibre Broadband Rollout Plan

11th June, 2014 (2 Comments)

The Black Country (i.e. stems from a heritage of coal mining and heavy industrialisation), which represents Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton in England’s West Midlands, appears to finally be making progress with their Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) plan to make superfast broadband (25Mbps+) services available to 95% of local premises by 2017. But a supplier still hasn’t been chosen.

Wales UK Superfast Broadband Rollout Project Reaches 135K Premises

10th June, 2014 (2 Comments)

The Superfast Cymru scheme, which is supported by public funding and aims to make BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network (speeds of up to 80Mbps) available to 96% of Welsh premises by the end of spring 2016, has now helped a total of 134,707 premises (most are homes and 4% businesses) in Wales to access the new connectivity.

UK Gov Spent £185K to Recruit New Broadband CEO and Project Managers

1st June, 2014 (13 Comments)

The Government’s Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has revealed that a total of £184,591.50 was granted for a SofS approved recruitment campaign for new Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project managers and a CEO earlier this year, which is almost as much as the chosen CEO himself will be paid (£200k per annum).

UK Broadband Strong in Latest EU 2014 Digital Agenda Scoreboard

28th May, 2014 (5 Comments)

The European Commission has today published the 2014 EU Broadband Scorecard, which reveals the United Kingdom’s progress toward Europe’s overall Digital Agenda goal of ensuring that 100% of homes have access to superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps+ by 2020 (50% must also be taking 100Mbps+). The good news is we’re doing well but rural areas are still lagging.

Europe Softens State Aid Rules for Faster Broadband Deployments

27th May, 2014 (2 Comments)

As expected the European Commission (EC) has adopted a revised General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) for the use of state aid (tax payers money) with regards to rolling out faster Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband networks, which among other things means that broadband funding under €70m (£57m) doesn’t have to be notified or approved by the EC.