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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

Government Security Review Clears Vodafone and Three UK Merger

10th May, 2024 (29 Comments)

The Government has concluded its national security probe of the proposed mobile mega-merger between Vodafone and Three UK (CK Hutchison) – conducted under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 – and decided to approve the deal, albeit with some relatively minor caveats.

Red Road Closed road sign in a UK city street. 123rf

Report Examines Why Openreach’s UK Full Fibre Take-up Beats AltNets

8th May, 2024 (38 Comments)

A new report from strategic consultancy firm Eight Advisory has examined the question of why the average consumer take-up across alternative full fibre (FTTP) broadband networks (Altnet) is currently still at 16%, while Openreach stands at c.34%, despite the collective footprint of the new challengers now equalling that of the incumbent.

Freedom Fibre Helps Pickup Litter in North Shropshire

7th May, 2024 (0 Comments)

Network operator Freedom Fibre, which has so far built a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 300,000 UK premises (27th Mar 2024) – mostly in the North West of England, has distributed litter picking kits across North Shropshire to both help keep the region tidy and support their social commitment under last year’s Project Gigabit contract.

UK ISP Sky Broadband Offer Free Upgrades for Unsecure Routers UPDATE

3rd May, 2024 (37 Comments)

Internet provider Sky Broadband has responded to this week’s introduction of the government’s new network security laws (here), by emailing customers with older routers to warn them that their kit “no longer receives service and security updates.” The good news is that those who receive these letters might be in line for a free upgrade.

April 2024 BT Progress Update on the 10Mbps UK Broadband USO

2nd May, 2024 (11 Comments)

UK ISP BT has today published the latest biannual progress update on their delivery of Ofcom’s flaky 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband. The internet provider has so far helped to build a USO connection to over 7,954 premises (up from 7,681 in Oct 2023), with 265 further builds in-progress (up from 185).

Picture of a cat trying to hack into the internet - Copilot Image for MJ on 280424

Gov Enforce New UK Internet Security and Broadband Boosting Law

29th April, 2024 (21 Comments)

The UK Government has this morning announced that new laws, which are designed to help protect consumers from cyber criminals, such as by requiring that network devices, like broadband ISP routers, receive greater protection (e.g. regular security updates and stronger default passwords), have finally come into force.

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Cornerstone’s Six Point Plan to Improve UK Mobile Infrastructure UPDATE

24th April, 2024 (11 Comments)

Mobile infrastructure services provider Cornerstone (CTIL), which handles the UK network sharing agreement between O2 (VMO2) and Vodafone (Vantage Towers), has outlined a new plan to Government MP Sir John Whittingdale that it hopes will help digital infrastructure deployments – particularly for 4G and 5G (mobile broadband).

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Alternative Full Fibre Networks Grow to Cover 12.9 Million UK Premises

23rd April, 2024 (15 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) and Point Topic have released their 2024 report into the impact of alternative “full fibre” (FTTP/B) gigabit broadband networks (AltNets), which reveals that their UK coverage grew by 57% in 2023 to top 12.9 million premises (up from 49% and 8.22m in 2022) and could reach 16.7m in 2024.

Government Reject Calls by UK Mobile Operators for 4G SRN Delay

23rd April, 2024 (5 Comments)

The CEO of the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency, Dean Creamer, has told MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that officials have rejected a request from several mobile operators to delay completion of the 4G roll-out for Partial Not-Spot (PNS) areas under the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project by 18-months.

Scottish Government Complete £28.75m 4G Mobile Infill Programme

22nd April, 2024 (0 Comments)

The Scottish Government’s (SG) £28.75m 4G Infill Programme (S4GI), which has spent the past few years improving rural mobile voice and data (broadband) coverage by building new masts in rural parts of Scotland, has officially updated to announce that “mast build and 4G activation within the programme has been completed.“

Scotland’s State Aid Broadband Projects Benefit 1 Million Premises

20th April, 2024 (9 Comments)

The Scottish Government (SG) has announced that both of its past and present broadband roll-out programmes, accounting for a total public investment of £1bn, have now helped more than 1 million extra premises (homes and businesses) in poorly served areas to gain access to a faster broadband ISP network.

Vodafone Expands 4G Mobile to 200 UK Rural Locations via SRN

19th April, 2024 (1 Comment)

Mobile operator Vodafone has issued a brief update on their progress under the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, which reveals that it has now deployed 4G (mobile broadband) network services to a total of 200 rural sites in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (up from 57 a year ago).

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Project Stratum’s N.Ireland Full Fibre Build on Target for 81,000 Premises

19th April, 2024 (0 Comments)

Infracapital-backed UK ISP Fibrus this week revealed that the £197m Project Stratum scheme in Northern Ireland, which is working spread a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network into rural areas, is currently “on target” to cover 81,000 premises by June 2025, “on time and within budget.”

B4SH Engineer and Jeremy Hunt MP Inspect FTTP Cabinet

UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt Visits Broadband for Surrey Hills Project

16th April, 2024 (15 Comments)

The UK Government’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and local MP, Jeremy Hunt, has visited and praised the Broadband for Surrey Hills (B4SH) project for having worked with volunteers to help bring full fibre (FTTP) gigabit broadband to nearly 1,000 premises in a remote rural area of Surrey (England).

Mobile Operators Recommend Changes to Boost UK 5G Deployments

11th April, 2024 (10 Comments)

Trade body Mobile UK, which represents network operators Three UK, EE (BT), O2 (Virgin Media) and Vodafone, has today published a new report that warns “widespread adoption of 5G [is] at risk of being missed” unless the government makes changes to help deliver 5G (mobile broadband) upgrades.

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April 2024 UK Gov Update on Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout

10th April, 2024 (20 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK agency has released their April 2024 (spring) progress update on the £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme, which is so far running 37 live contracts and procurements worth £1.9bn in state aid (£1.38bn for 31 signed contracts) to help extend coverage up to an extra 1 million hard to reach premises.

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Quickline Win £44m South Yorkshire Gigabit Broadband Rollout Contract

10th April, 2024 (3 Comments)

The UK government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme has today awarded the £44m (state aid) regional contract for South Yorkshire (Lot 20) in England to ISP Quickline, which will aim to extend their 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) network to as many as 32,100 additional premises in hard to reach rural areas.