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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

Europe Switches Focus from Basic to Ultrafast Broadband Funding

2nd June, 2012 (48 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has launched a new consultation on EU state aid rules for the public funding of broadband networks, which appears to mark a shift in focus away from the “good progress” of connecting all citizens to basic broadband and more towards facilitating the roll-out of “ultra-fast” networks (100Mbps+) “under certain conditions“.

UK Consumer Panel Seeks Clear Targets to Tackle Broadband Digital Divide

31st May, 2012 (2 Comments)

The Communications Consumer Panel (CCP), an independent watchdog that claims to support consumer interests in the UK telecoms industry, has released a new report that calls for “clear targets” to help get more people online and for the government to “strike a better balance between funding for broadband infrastructure and supporting people online“.

European Commission Pledges to Stiffen ISP Net Neutrality Rules

30th May, 2012 (0 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has responded to BEREC’s final report into Net Neutrality (the principal of treating all internet traffic as equal), which criticised fixed line broadband ISPs and Mobile Broadband operators over a lack of transparency, by proposing to stiffen industry guidelines through “strong and targeted action” and deliver more “effective consumer choice“.

Wales UK to Spend GBP400 Million on Superfast Broadband Deployment

29th May, 2012 (4 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) recently published its final Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP), which revealed that the region intends to invest a total of up to £400 million into the roll-out of 30Mbps+ superfast broadband services to reach 100% of the country’s businesses by the middle of 2016 and homes by 2020.

Labour MP Claims UK Superfast Broadband Funds Only Help Rich Rural People

29th May, 2012 (3 Comments)

Only rich people live outside of towns and cities in the United Kingdom. At least that’s what the Labour MP for Hyndburn, Graham Jones, appears to think. Jones suggested that the government’s plan to make superfast broadband services available to 90% of the country by 2015 would only “mean faster internet shopping for millionaires; it will not generate business in rural communities.”

Scottish Government Slams Westminster over UK Small City Broadband Funds

28th May, 2012 (0 Comments)

The Scottish Government has today criticised the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which is managed by the increasingly embattled Culture Secretary (Jeremy Hunt MP), for excluding the smaller cities of Inverness, Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland from their £50m second wave of Urban Broadband Funding (UBF).

Welsh ISP Exwavia Criticises Patchy UK Lobbying Effort for Better Broadband

28th May, 2012 (0 Comments)

Welshpool-based ISP Exwavia (Wales) has today criticised the largely “un-co-ordinated” effort to lobby the UK government for better national broadband infrastructure and services, which has seen a slew of strong but ultimately “patchy” campaigns launch from various groups and ultimately fail to make much headway.

Frustration as 36 out of 47 UK Local Authorities Meet BDUK Broadband Deadline

24th May, 2012 (5 Comments)

The UK governments Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt MP, has signalled his frustration after having to reveal that 11 local authorities (county councils etc.) “aren’t working hard enough or fast enough” and failed to get their Local Broadband Plans (LBP) approved before the end of the April 2012 deadline last month.

UPD GO ON UK and TalkTalk Offer £49 PC and Broadband to Low Income People

23rd May, 2012 (5 Comments)

The Go ON UK (RaceOnline 2012) initiative, which is headed up by the country’s Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox, has joined forces with ISP TalkTalk and software giant Microsoft to offer a special refurbished computer (Windows 7 PC or Laptop) and broadband with phone bundle to low income adults and families from just £49.

UPD Virgin Media Slams UK Government for Gifting BT a Huge Public Subsidy

22nd May, 2012 (38 Comments)

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of cable and broadband giant Virgin Media, Andrew Barron, will today tell the House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry into the UK’s national superfast broadband strategy that BT are effectively being subsidised by government policy and thus “freezing out new entrants” from the market.

Small Rural UK Businesses Seek 98% Coverage of 20Mbps Broadband by 2015

22nd May, 2012 (0 Comments)

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has published a new report (“The Missing Links”) which claims that 60% of UK businesses in rural areas (countryside) suffer from slow broadband ISP speeds. As a result the group has called on the government to raise its superfast broadband coverage target from 90% to 98% of “rural communities and businesses” by 2015.

ECTA Tells EU to Protect Small Broadband ISPs from Dominant Telco Abuse

21st May, 2012 (9 Comments)

The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA), which represents alternative / smaller broadband ISPs, has demanded that the European Commission (EC) “take urgent action” to prevent dominant national telecoms operators (e.g. BT) from using “discriminatory conduct” against them and thus damaging their ability to compete in the new market for superfast broadband (FTTx etc.) services.

Survey Finds UK Internet Users Oppose Mandatory ISP Adult Site Blocks

21st May, 2012 (0 Comments)

The results from 728 respondents to our latest monthly survey has revealed that the majority (83.9%) are against proposals designed to force home broadband ISPs into imposing mandatory adult website blocks by default. The introduction of such a system, which could be applied to all internet accounts in the UK, was recommended by the recent Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection (Claire Perry MP).

UK Government Complicates Superfast Broadband Definition with 30Mbps Target

8th May, 2012 (11 Comments)

The UK governments Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office has quietly complicated its existing definition of “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) by bringing it more into line with Europe’s Digital Agenda target of 30Mbps by 2020 (minimum download speed / Megabits per second), but the subtle change could prove tricky to apply.

27 UK Cities Shortlisted for Tiny GBP50m Pot of Ultrafast Broadband Funds

4th May, 2012 (6 Comments)

The UK governments Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has today published a shortlist of 27 smaller cities that will be able to bid for a slice of £50 million in public funding, which was set aside in the recent 2012 Budget to help roll-out “ultrafast” fibre optic based 80-100Mbps+ (Megabits per second) broadband services.

INTUG Challenges EU Claim that the UK Has Full Coverage of Basic Broadband

4th May, 2012 (6 Comments)

The International Telecoms User Group (INTUG), an association of business users of telecommunications services, has heavily criticised the European Commission (EC) after a new report claimed that the UK had “already achieved full coverage for basic broadband services” in time for their 2013 target (EU Digital Agenda).

LSE Identifies GBP1.1bn Shortfall in UK Governments Broadband Funding

3rd May, 2012 (6 Comments)

A new study from the London School of Economics (LSE) has estimated that the UK governments plan to make superfast broadband (24Mbps+) ISP services available to 90% of “people in each local authority area” by 2015 is now at risk due to a significant shortfall of £1.1 billion.