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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

UK Gov Sees Value of Stake in OneWeb Satellite Broadband Firm Halved

27th December, 2023 (13 Comments)

The tumbling share price of European satellite operator Eutelsat has effectively more than halved the value of the UK Government’s associated stake in OneWeb (currently worth c.£200m). The operator is now facing more pressure to secure a key EU satellite broadband contract, which won’t be easy due to.. politics.

Softer UK Broadband and Mobile Price Hikes Expected in 2024

26th December, 2023 (11 Comments)

Surging inflation has meant that the past couple of years have been, to put it mildly, an uncomfortable experience for many broadband ISP and mobile users. In 2022 most consumers saw their prices rise by around 9% (here) and in 2023 that hit over 14% (here), but the predicted hikes for 2024 won’t be as bad.

GoFibre Finish Phase 1 of Project Gigabit Broadband Build in Rural Northumberland

21st December, 2023 (0 Comments)

Rural broadband ISP GoFibre (BorderLink) has announced that they’ve completed their first phase of build under the £7.3m state-aid supported Project Gigabit broadband rollout contract for North Northumberland (England), which has seen their network cover more than 1,100 hard-to-reach homes in three areas.

Wessex Internet Engineers in front of Tractor with Fibre Drum Dec 2023 PR

Wessex Internet Start Project Gigabit Broadband Build in New Forest

19th December, 2023 (0 Comments)

Rural broadband ISP Wessex Internet has today announced that they’ve entered the roll-out phase of their £14m state aid supported Project Gigabit broadband contract for the New Forest area (Lot 27.01) of Hampshire (England), which will see them extend a full fibre (FTTP) network to “around” 10,500 hard-to-reach premises.

Channel Islands 2023 Map - Guernsey and Jersey

Regulator’s Decision Means Cheaper Guernsey Broadband Prices

18th December, 2023 (4 Comments)

The Guernsey Competition & Regulatory Authority (GCRA) has posted its “final decision” on wholesale broadband charges for the English Channel Island of Guernsey, which has called for prices to be slashed by a significantly greater amount than the 11% reduction first proposed in May 2023.

Major UK Home Phone Providers Commit to Protect Vulnerable Users

18th December, 2023 (26 Comments)

The UK government has this morning announced the signing of a new charter with major broadband ISPs and landline phone providers, including Sky Broadband, BT, Virgin Media (O2) and TalkTalk, which sets out “new measures” to protect vulnerable customers when upgrading phone lines to a new digital (IP / VoIP based) network.

concept of wireless radio Internet. 5G mobile technologies.

Two Thirds of Councils Still Use Services Reliant on 2G and 3G Mobile

16th December, 2023 (19 Comments)

The Local Government Association, which represents councils across England and Wales, has warned that while the majority of councils are aware of the looming mobile network closures, almost two-thirds of them are still using devices and systems reliant on 2G and 3G connectivity to at least a small extent.

Winter 2023 BDUK Update on UK Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout

15th December, 2023 (3 Comments)

The Building Digital UK agency has released their Winter 2023 (Dec) progress update on the £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme, which is so far running live contracts and procurements worth over £2bn in state aid to help extend coverage to an extra 1.1 million hard to reach premises.

network cables and fiber optic closeup with keyboard background

Connect Fibre Win Derbyshire UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout Contract

15th December, 2023 (1 Comment)

The UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme has today announced that they’ve awarded the regional £33m (state aid) rollout contract for Derbyshire (LOT 3) in England to ISP Connect Fibre, which will aim to extend their full fibre network to an additional 17,000+ premises in hard to reach rural areas.

BDUK Publish Evaluations of UK Gigabit Broadband Programmes

14th December, 2023 (1 Comment)

The Government’s executive Building Digital UK agency has today published a series of reports that evaluate different parts of their gigabit and full fibre broadband upgrade programmes, albeit broadly all focused on dark fibre style deployments to connect public sector sites (e.g. schools, council offices, hospitals etc.).

UK Gov Confirm Scotland to Get £450m for Gigabit Broadband Upgrade

14th December, 2023 (5 Comments)

The UK Government has finally revealed that Scotland’s share of the £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme will be an “estimated” £450m, although market engagement work is ongoing (i.e. getting feedback from suppliers) and has yet to reach the procurement stage – this was originally supposed to happen in the autumn.

MPs Debate 2025 Switch-off Dangers of Analogue UK Phone Services

14th December, 2023 (71 Comments)

A meeting in the House of Commons was held yesterday that saw MPs from different parties debate the forthcoming withdrawal of BT and Openreach’s old copper-based analogue line networks (PSTN phones and WLR) by Dec 2025, which touched on a variety of issues from battery backup to problems with the reliability of digital replacements.

price-rise-uk-broadband-and-mobile-households

ASA Enforce New Mid-Contract Price Hike Rules for UK Broadband ISPs

14th December, 2023 (8 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will tomorrow officially begin to enforce new guidance for how UK broadband ISPs and mobile network operators should communicate mid-contract prices hikes to consumers, which could make such policies clearer and more transparent. But it arrives as Ofcom move (here) to ban the practice.

finger touching fiber optic on technology background

Hampshire UK’s Rural Superfast Broadband Project Concludes

13th December, 2023 (0 Comments)

The Hampshire County Council (HCC) in England has concluded its state aid supported Superfast Broadband Programme (SFBB) and published a new report that summarises its “achievements and lessons learnt“. Overall, the project helped to extend superfast (30Mbps+) speeds from 80% in 2012 to 97.8% today, exceeding its 95% target.

Fibrus-Engineers-Talking-at-Side-of-Road

Fibrus Pulls Out of North East Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout UPDATE

12th December, 2023 (22 Comments)

Infracapital-backed UK broadband ISP Fibrus, which is building a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across Northern Ireland and North England, has confirmed to ISPreview that they’ve had to pull out of the state aid supported Project Gigabit contract for the North East of England. But existing builds will continue.

British sterling one pound coin currency by 123rf

Ofcom Find 380,000 UK Homes on Cheaper Social Broadband Tariffs

12th December, 2023 (1 Comment)

Ofcom has today published their latest biannual UK consumer affordability report, which reveals that the take-up of cheaper social broadband ISP and mobile tariffs for those on state benefits has increased to 380,000 households (up from 220,000 six months ago). But that still represents just 8.3% of households on Universal Credit (4.6 million).

Ofcom UK BAN Some Mid-Contract Broadband and Mobile Price Hikes UPDATE6

12th December, 2023 (45 Comments)

The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has today published the outcome of their review into whether mid-contract price hikes that are linked to inflation give mobile and broadband ISP customers enough certainty and clarity about what they can expect to pay. Suffice to say, they’re effectively banning the practice.