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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

CBI Report Tells UK to Fix Rural and Urban Broadband Divide Before 2015

10th July, 2013 (1 Comment)

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which lobbies on behalf of some 240,000 businesses (around a third of the private sector workforce), has published a new Let’s Get Digital! report that calls on the government to stop “short-term thinking” and adopt a cross-party approach to solve the national roll-out of superfast broadband before 2015.

B4RN Target £1.375m to Extend 1Gbps Fibre Broadband in Lancashire UK

6th July, 2013 (70 Comments)

The non-profit B4RN (Broadband 4 Rural North) scheme, which is rolling out a “hyperfast” 1000Mbps capable community-built Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network in rural Lancashire (England, UK) and has now connected 170 premises, hopes to secure an extra £875k from the RCBF and a bank loan of £500k to boost its coverage.

UPDATE National Audit Office Scalds 2 Years Late Broadband Delivery UK Project

5th July, 2013 (9 Comments)

The National Audit Office (NAO), which is responsible for scrutinising the value for money of public spending in the United Kingdom, has described the government’s national £1.2bn superfast broadband roll-out scheme as “moving forward late“, lacking “strong competition to protect public value” and being underfunded.

NAO Praises Smooth Ofcom Auction of 4G Mobile Broadband Spectrum

4th July, 2013 (0 Comments)

The National Audit Office (NAO) has given its approval to Ofcom’s recent auction of 4G (LTE) based Mobile Broadband spectrum (800MHz and 2.6GHz), which some had criticised for only being able to raise £2.368bn (about £1bn less than the government had initially hoped for).

UK Office of Fair Trading Probes Supply of ICT Services to the Public Sector

4th July, 2013 (0 Comments)

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which is the United Kingdom’s consumer and competition authority, has started a new probe into the supply of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) goods and services to the public sector. The move is likely to include some aspects of the government’s national broadband scheme(s).

UPD2 Smaller UK ISPs Asked to Help Find the Final Rural Broadband Areas

4th July, 2013 (9 Comments)

The government’s culture secretary, Maria Miller, has written to a group of smaller UK ISPs (altnets) and called them to a 15th July 2013 summit with BT where she will attempt to find a solution to the “final 10%” problem (i.e. nobody is quite sure where it is).

UPDATE8 Gov Pledge 95% of UK to Get Fixed Superfast Broadband by 2017

27th June, 2013 (8 Comments)

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury for the United Kingdom, Danny Alexander, has today published full details of the country’s future infrastructure spending plans (‘Investing in Britain’s Future‘). Included in this is a £250 million commitment to ensure fixed line superfast broadband reaches 95% of the population by 2017 (99% by 2018 with wireless).

UK Government Detail Connection Vouchers to Fix Urban Broadband

26th June, 2013 (0 Comments)

The government has today launched a new consultation that reveals how its troubled £150 million “Super-Connected Cities” (Urban Broadband Fund) programme will go about improving business broadband connectivity in selected cities now that EU state aid concerns have forced them to scrap their infrastructure development. But some homes might still benefit.

The Government Could Spin Off its National Broadband Delivery UK Project

25th June, 2013 (0 Comments)

The secretary of state for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Maria Miller, has reportedly called for a radical overhaul over the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office to improve how it’s run and re-focus on tackling the final 10% of poorly served rural areas.

Legal Squabbles Over the UK 4G Auction Result in Tougher Ofcom Rules

19th June, 2013 (0 Comments)

The legal threats and challenges that preceded this year’s much delayed auction of new superfast 4G (LTE) based Mobile Broadband spectrum (800MHz and 2.6GHz) have resulted in the government’s Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) proposing new rules to prevent future hold-up’s.

UK Government Told to Spend £5.5bn from HS2 on Ultrafast Broadband

18th June, 2013 (50 Comments)

The New Economics Foundation, an independent think tank that aims to inspire “real economic well-being“, has advised the government to scrap its £33bn High Speed Two (HS2) railway link and instead invest £5.5 billion from the effort into rolling out “ultra fast to-the-door” broadband coverage across the United Kingdom.

Last 10% Uncertainty Still Hampering Investment in UK Rural Broadband

17th June, 2013 (7 Comments)

Broadband investment in the most rural and remote parts of the United Kingdom is still under threat due to a lack of clarity from local authorities concerning which areas constitute the last 10% of the country where BT and the government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme have yet to help.

MP Claims it’s Impossible for Many UK People to Download Internet Filters

13th June, 2013 (12 Comments)

The British Labour Party’s Shadow Culture Minister, Helen Goodman MP, yesterday used a debate in the House of Commons to call for all broadband ISPs to install internet censorship (filtering) systems by default because, she claimed, it was a “near-impossible task for many” people to download their own Parental Control solutions. Really?

New UK Bill Proposes Consumer Refunds for Faulty Internet Downloads

12th June, 2013 (7 Comments)

Anybody in the UK whom has ever purchased and downloaded a piece of digital software or content over their broadband ISP connection, and which later turned out to be faulty (e.g. didn’t work on your computer), could soon be entitled to a refund under the government’s draft Consumer Rights Bill.

EU Scoreboard Shows UK Superfast Broadband Penetration Improving

12th June, 2013 (5 Comments)

The European Commission has published its annual Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2013, which reports that 95.5% of EU homes are covered by broadband access (99.8% in the United Kingdom) and 53.8% can get a 30Mbps+ capable superfast broadband connection (70.3% in the UK). But “ultra-fast” connections (100Mbps+) still have a way to go.

UPDATE National Audit Office to Criticise the Broadband Delivery UK Scheme

11th June, 2013 (16 Comments)

The National Audit Office (NAO), which works on behalf of Parliament to scrutinise public spending, is expected to criticise the value for money aspects of the government’s £530m Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project when it publishes an allegedly scathing report into the scheme next month (July 2013).

Mixed Response to Consultation on UK Broadband Planning Changes

7th June, 2013 (4 Comments)

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has today published some very mixed responses to their recent consultation on proposals to change the siting requirements for broadband street cabinets and overhead lines, which is intended to facilitate the deployment of superfast broadband around the United Kingdom.