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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

EU Sets Out New Proposals to Cut the Cost of Deploying Fibre Broadband

26th March, 2013 (9 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has today proposed a new Draft Regulation that could cut the cost of broadband related civil engineering tasks (e.g. digging up roads to lay new fibre optic cable) by 30% and thus save telecoms operators between £34 – £51 billion (€40 to €60 billion).

Sparse News for Broadband in the UK Governments Budget 2013

20th March, 2013 (0 Comments)

The Chancellor of the UK government, George Osborne, today set out his annual Budget 2013 report but unfortunately anybody expecting to hear about new funding or pledges for broadband and related projects will be left to feel very disappointed. But there were still a few small bits and pieces of information.

Virgin Media Tells UK Government to Put City Broadband Cash Toward Skills

19th March, 2013 (3 Comments)

The CEO of cable operator Virgin Media, Neil Berkett, has written an open letter to the Chancellor of the UK government, George Osborne. The letter calls on Osborne to ensure that a minimum of 50% of the £150m destined for improving broadband connectivity in cities is instead used to boost business training and digital capability.

ITU Secretary General Wants World to Get 20Mbps Broadband by 2020

18th March, 2013 (0 Comments)

The Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, Dr Hamadoun Touré, has told the 7th Meeting of the Broadband Commission in Mexico City that he’d like to “dream big” and set a new goal to ensure that everybody in the world can access broadband internet speeds of 20Mbps for $20 a month (£13.25) by 2020.

UPD2 Fujitsu Withdraw from all Remaining Broadband Delivery UK Procurements

15th March, 2013 (32 Comments)

Japanese technology firm Fujitsu UK has, according to the FT, now completely withdrawn from the government’s £530m national broadband scheme (Broadband Delivery UK) and thus left BT as the only remaining bidder in the process. So much for the “competitive tender“.

London UK Councils Fear Pedestrian Harm from Broadband Infrastructure Bill

14th March, 2013 (16 Comments)

London’s 33 local authorities have today warned that the UK government’s new Growth and Infrastructure Bill, which is designed boost the roll-out of faster broadband ISP services by cutting red tape in the planning system, could pass additional costs onto city boroughs and “endanger road users” by obstructing pedestrian walkways and reducing sightlines.

South Yorkshire UK Digital Region Broadband Network at Risk of Closure

13th March, 2013 (14 Comments)

A new report from Doncaster Council’s finance wing has warned that the debt-ridden Digital Region (DRL) network, which has made superfast broadband available to 80% of premises in South Yorkshire (England, UK), will need another £15m in public funding to stay afloat or it could be “closed down“.

UK Government Softens Broadband Infrastructure Bill to Protect Parks

13th March, 2013 (0 Comments)

The government will amend its controversial Growth and Infrastructure Bill, which is designed to help “fast-track” the roll-out of superfast broadband services around the United Kingdom by cutting red tape in the planning system, in order to protect national parks and other “areas of outstanding natural beauty“.

EU Telecoms Regulators Support Plan to Boost Broadband Investment

12th March, 2013 (2 Comments)

The Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC), which represents Europe’s national telecoms regulators (e.g. Ofcom in the UK), has given its preliminary support to new EU rules that are intended to boost investment and competition in the roll-out of superfast broadband ISP services.

UK Internet Users Criticise Governments Poor Broadband Progress

11th March, 2013 (0 Comments)

The results from 782 respondents to our latest monthly reader survey have revealed that over two thirds (70.8%) think the UK government is making “poor” progress towards its goal of improving the country’s national broadband infrastructure by 2015 (just 7.5% felt progress was “good“).

Ofcom Scorecard Reveals UK vs EU Broadband Rollout Progress

5th March, 2013 (4 Comments)

The communications regulator, Ofcom, has today published its first European Broadband Scorecard that shows how the United Kingdom compares with the EU in terms of the progress towards its ambition that the UK should have “the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015“. Apparently we do.. ok.

New INCA Framework to Help Small UK ISPs Benefit from Broadband Funds

25th February, 2013 (16 Comments)

The Independent Networks Cooperative Association, which supports the development of Next Generation Access networks around the United Kingdom, has revealed a new Framework that could help smaller ISPs (altnets) to challenge BT and benefit from state aid for deploying superfast broadband services into rural areas.

UK Government Study Examines the Impact of its Broadband Investment

20th February, 2013 (8 Comments)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published the results of a new study that claims to provide a “comprehensive assessment” of the social, economic and environmental impacts of its investment to help improve broadband ISP networks around the United Kingdom.

EU Release Updated Broadband Access Coverage Report to July 2012

18th February, 2013 (0 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has today published new data on the number of broadband lines and ISP speed in Member States, including the UK, gathered to July 2012. Overall 95.7% of EU homes are already passed by at least one fixed broadband ISP but 9.1 million homes still do not have coverage (over 90% of which are in rural areas).

Isle of Wight Cable Operator Slams Councils Biased BT Broadband Plan

13th February, 2013 (2 Comments)

The Isle of Wight’s (England, UK) only provider of commercial and residential cable based TV, phone and broadband products, WightFibre (formerly WightCable), has accused the councils delayed roll-out plan for superfast broadband ISP services of being “biased in favour of BT” and of having shunned alternatives.

ISPreview Talks to Westminster City Council about its FREE O2 WiFi Service

11th February, 2013 (0 Comments)

Last year O2 UK signed a new deal to provide visitors and residents of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea (i.e. Central London) with access to one of the largest free wireless internet (wifi) access zones in Europe. Today ISPreview.co.uk interviews both O2 and Westminster City Council (WCC) about what this means and how it’s been funded.

UPDATE3 Funding for EU Digital Agenda Broadband Projects Gets Wiped Out

9th February, 2013 (9 Comments)

Last night’s decision to cut the European Union’s seven-year 2014 to 2020 budget by 3% to around £768bn has taken a significant casualty. The European Commission’s (EC) plan to boost funding for future superfast broadband projects through its €9.2bn (£7.78bn) Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) has effectively been wiped out.