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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

UK Culture Secretary to Lobby EU Over Delayed Broadband Funding Approval

8th November, 2012 (8 Comments)

The UK government’s Culture Secretary, Maria Miller MP, will today fly out to Brussels with the hope of persuading the European Commission (EC) to grant final approval for the release of state aid funding, which would allow local authorities to proceed with their national roll-out of superfast broadband services.

An Independent Scotland Could Result in Higher Broadband Prices

6th November, 2012 (9 Comments)

The debate over whether or not Scotland should become independent from the United Kingdom is generally marred by political division, which often overlooks some of the more technical and economic questions; such as what happens to the cost and speed of broadband in Scotland, England, N.Ireland and Wales if the former separates?

European ITRE Committee Wants 100Mbps Broadband for All by 2020

6th November, 2012 (20 Comments)

The European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) has supported calls for a “radical” boost to Europe’s Digital Agenda strategy, which could see “ultrafast” broadband ISP speeds of 100Mbps (Megabits per second) being made available to 100% of UK and EU households by 2020; with 50% able to get speeds of 1000Mbps (1Gbps).

Radio Spectrum Worth £52bn to the UK But Mobile Broadband to Get Cheaper

6th November, 2012 (0 Comments)

A new Government commissioned report from Analysys Mason has revealed that the total radio spectrum (e.g. wifi, digital tv, 3G etc.) market was worth £52 billion a year to the UK economy in 2011 (up 25% in real terms since 2006) and rising. But Mobile Broadband is going to get cheaper.

Tory MP Wants UK Social Housing Tenants to Have FREE Broadband

5th November, 2012 (26 Comments)

The Conservative MP for Rossendale and Darwen (South East Lancashire), Jake Berry, has called for all social housing tenants (e.g. people in poverty or those with low incomes) to be given either a low cost or even free broadband internet access service.

Rural and Countryside Groups Oppose Planning Changes to Boost Broadband

5th November, 2012 (2 Comments)

The English National Park Authorities Association (ENPAA), Open Spaces Society (OSS) and Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) have warned that the government’s plan to relax planning rules, which could boost the deployment of UK superfast broadband and 4G mobile services, risks damaging the countryside and other green spaces.

CLA to Finalise National Wayleave Deal for UK Rural Broadband Boost

2nd November, 2012 (2 Comments)

The Country Land and Business Association(CLA), a lobby group for land owners in England and Wales, has confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that it expects to finalise a national wayleave agreement for underground cables this month. The move could help to develop superfast broadband networks in rural areas.

ISP TalkTalk Wants Gov to Worry About Lack of Fibre Broadband Competition

31st October, 2012 (8 Comments)

The CEO of budget ISP TalkTalk, Dido Harding, has warned a Westminster panel session that the UK government should “start to worry” about the lack of competition in the new market for fibre optic based superfast broadband services; where a true alternative to BT and cheaper fibre-based local loop unbundling (LLU) remains absent.

Superfast Broadband and 4G Mobile Benefits to UK Economy Exaggerated

31st October, 2012 (4 Comments)

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has published a new Huawei sponsored study that says “a good dose of reality” is in order as it questions whether the new fixed line superfast broadband and 4G mobile solutions can really deliver the “sizeable boost to GDP growth” and job creation, which are so often touted by the UK government.

20 Tory MEPs Call on UK Culture Secretary to Get a Grip on Broadband

27th October, 2012 (4 Comments)

Some 20 Conservative members of the European Parliament (EP) have written a new letter to the UK government’s culture secretary, Maria Miller, that calls on her to “get a grip” on the much delayed broadband roll-out and conduct an “urgent review” to boost its speed, funding, scale and scope.

Official Government Response Shuns Lords UK Superfast Broadband Inquiry

24th October, 2012 (6 Comments)

The UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has released its official response to July’s controversial Lords Inquiry into the UK government’s superfast broadband strategy, which called for a more competitive national fibre optic network to be built. But anybody expecting to see big changes will be disappointed.

BT Has No General Plan to Disguise UK Superfast Broadband Street Cabinets

23rd October, 2012 (67 Comments)

BTOpenreach, which manages access to BT’s national UK telecoms network, has confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that it has no general plans to disguise street cabinets. The confirmation follows an earlier suggestion by the government’s culture spokesman, Viscount Younger, that “plans [were] afoot to camouflage” the big green FTTC boxes.

Legal Challenge to UK City Broadband Funding Could Bring Improvements

23rd October, 2012 (0 Comments)

The UK country manager for Brocade, a global network solutions provider, has suggested that BT and Virgin Media’s legal challenge against the use of public money (State Aid) to improve broadband services in the city of Birmingham might actually “improve the scheme’s chances of success“.

BT and Virgin Media UK in Legal Challenge to Birmingham Broadband Funding

22nd October, 2012 (6 Comments)

National UK telecoms operators BT and Virgin Media have “disappointed” Birmingham City Council (BCC) after they launched a shock legal challenge against the city’s £10m publicly funded (State Aid) plan to expand the reach of “ultrafast” (100Mbps+) broadband ISP and public wifi services by 2015.

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.