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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

UK and European Leaders Support GBP7.5bn Superfast Broadband Boost

20th October, 2012 (6 Comments)

The European Council, which is represented by the leaders of each member state (e.g. UK Prime Minister, David Cameron), yesterday set aside its doubts and gave explicit support to the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and its proposed investment of €9.2bn (almost £7.5bn) into the delivery of faster broadband services.

UPDATE The Broadband Delivery UK Office is Home to 75 Full Time Staff

19th October, 2012 (3 Comments)

The government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office, which is responsible to distributing £680m to help 90% of people gain access to superfast broadband ISP connections by 2015, apparently has 75 full-time staff working to implement its remit. But are they all needed?

Broadband Rollout to be Boosted as New Infrastructure Bill Reaches Parliament

19th October, 2012 (1 Comment)

The Growth and Infrastructure Bill (GIB), which among other things contains plans to help “fast-track” the deployment of superfast broadband (25Mbps+) services around the United Kingdom by cutting red tape in the existing planning system, has now gone before parliament.

15,000 More Jobs in Scotland Thanks to Broadband Investment

11th October, 2012 (0 Comments)

The Scottish Government has predicted that its £200m+ investment strategy to bring “world-class digital access” to all of Scotland by 2020 will result in the creation of 15,000 new jobs across the economy. It will allegedly also help job seekers, older people and those with disabilities gain access to employment.

EU Requests Minor Changes for Broadband Delivery UK State Aid Clearance

8th October, 2012 (1 Comment)

The European Commission’s (EC) competition boss, Joaquín Almunia, has confirmed that the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office, which is responsible for managing the country’s national superfast broadband strategy, will shortly be given permission to distribute State Aid funding to related projects around the country.

UK Foreign Secretary Demands Open Internet But Promotes Censorship

5th October, 2012 (3 Comments)

The UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague (MP), yesterday told the Budapest Conference on Cyberspace that he wanted an “open” and “transparent” internet that respected “individual rights of privacy“. But back at home the government’s effort to increase its monitoring and censorship of the online world continues to expand.

Wales UK Given GBP20 Million Broadband Funding Boost

3rd October, 2012 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government has today announced a further £20m to help the existing investment of £425m deliver faster broadband ISP services, which will initially see 96% of homes and businesses in Wales being given access to download speeds of up to 80Mbps (FTTC) by the end of 2015.

TV Could Suffer as UK Mobile Operators Agree Early 4G Launch in H1 2013

3rd October, 2012 (2 Comments)

The country’s mobile phone operators have finally agreed to put aside their differences after Ofcom moved its timetable for the auction of superfast 4G (LTE) compatible mobile broadband spectrum (800MHz and 2.6GHz) forward by roughly 6 months, which weakened EE’s perceived early-launch advantage. But will Freeview TV services suffer?

UK Government Sacks Man Who Questioned BT Superfast Broadband Costs

2nd October, 2012 (38 Comments)

The government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has allegedly sacked the author of an internal discussion paper that questioned some of the costs of BT’s financial model for delivering superfast broadband (FTTC) services into the “final third” of mostly rural parts of the UK.

Cumbria UK to Spend GBP2.5m Promoting Superfast Broadband to Businesses

1st October, 2012 (2 Comments)

The Cumbria County Council, which last month awarded its £70m contract (external investment) for rolling out superfast broadband (25Mbps+) services to BT, will also spend £2.5m on a new “integrated business support programme” to promote related products to local businesses. But is it necessary?

BT and Virgin Media Cite Political and Legal Concerns of Internet Censorship

28th September, 2012 (5 Comments)

A successful Freedom of Information (FoI) request to the UK government’s Department for Education (DfE) has revealed that broadband ISPs BT and Virgin Media have raised a number of political, technical and legal concerns with proposals to toughen censorship of adult websites and related internet content via new Parental Controls.

Joint Parliamentary Committee Could “Kill” the UK ISP Internet Snooping Bill

27th September, 2012 (5 Comments)

The Joint Parliamentary Committee that is responsible for scrutinising the controversial Draft Communications Data Bill, which seeks to expand existing internet snooping laws by forcing ISPs into creating a bigger and more accessible log of your online activity, will according to one MP attempt to “kill the bill” because it “simply can’t work“.

Analyst Warns UK Cities Must Pick BT for Superfast Broadband or Risk Failure

25th September, 2012 (8 Comments)

The director of Informa Telecoms & Media’s global broadband and TV research, Rob Gallagher, has warned that any UK cities which win State Aid to boost their superfast broadband availability must pick “safe bet” BT to do the job or risk being left with no ISPs and “networks based on technologies that failed to keep pace with the wider market“.

Suffolk Council UK Awards GBP40m Superfast Broadband Contract to BT

24th September, 2012 (4 Comments)

The Suffolk County Council (SCC) has today confirmed that its £40 million contract to make superfast broadband (25Mbps+) services available to 85-90% of local homes and businesses by 2015 has unsurprisingly been awarded to BT. Just 2% of the “hardest to reach premises” will be left with sub-5Mbps speeds.

UK ISPs Criticise “Flawed” Broadband ISP Tax Idea to Save Newspapers

24th September, 2012 (5 Comments)

The UK Internet Services Providers Association (ISPA) has today warned against adopting the “flawed” and “disproportionate” demands of certain journalists for a £2-a-month levy on broadband ISP connections that could be used to help save struggling newspapers.

ITU Report Ranks UK 12th in the World for Fixed Line Broadband Penetration

24th September, 2012 (0 Comments)

The International Telecommunication Union‘s (ITU) Broadband Commission has released its first global report into the state of mobile and fixed line broadband ISP deployment worldwide, which includes a country-by-country breakdown that tracks progress towards achieving the UN’s four primary digital development targets.

ISPreview UK Study Finds Most People Require Broadband Speeds of 10Mbps+

24th September, 2012 (6 Comments)

The results from 1,613 respondents to ISPreview.co.uk’s latest monthly web-based reader poll has revealed that 81.5% claim to “require” a minimum real-world broadband download speed of equal to or greater than 10Mbps (Megabits per second) but only a third (34.4%) actually receive their currently required speed.