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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

Growth Plan Hints at Planning Changes to Boost Gigabit Broadband

23rd September, 2022 (13 Comments)

The UK Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has today published a new Growth Plan 2022, which proposes to “liberate the private sector” by encouraging investment (i.e. removing barriers to the flow of private capital) and boosting infrastructure by “liberalising the planning system and streamlining consultation and approval requirements“.

Gov Finalise Rules Mandating Gigabit Broadband for New Build Homes

23rd September, 2022 (8 Comments)

The UK Government has issued their response to last year’s technical consultation on changes to the existing ‘Building Regulations 2010‘, which sets out their final position on the legal framework for making it mandatory for property developers to ensure that new build homes are constructed with support for faster broadband.

Q2 2022 Openreach Progress Update on FTTP Rollout in Wales

23rd September, 2022 (9 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has shared a Q2 2022 progress update on their £52.5 million Phase 2 Superfast Cymru contract with Openreach (BT), which reveals that a total of 32,949 extra premises (up from 29,959 in Q1) have now gained access to a 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network.

BT Faces Major 4 Day UK Strike and 999 Call Handlers Join Them UPDATE

22nd September, 2022 (44 Comments)

The Communications Workers Union has just upped the ante in its pay dispute with broadband and telecoms giant BT (including Openreach) by announcing a third round of national strikes, which have been staggered to hit the operator over four days. But worryingly, the next strike will include hundreds of 999 emergency call handlers.

Government Hints at Climbdown Over UK Online Safety Bill

21st September, 2022 (26 Comments)

The UK Government’s new Culture Secretary, Michelle Donelan, has signalled that the mess of complex and confusing legislation that is the Online Safety Bill (OSB), which seeks to tackle “harmful” internet content (i.e. via website blocks by broadband ISPs, fines and other sanctions), is likely to be softened before it returns to parliament.

ISP TalkTalk Calls on UK Gov to Help Boost Full Fibre Take-up UPDATE

20th September, 2022 (35 Comments)

Low-cost broadband ISP TalkTalk has called on the government to be more proactive in encouraging the take-up of new full fibre and other gigabit speed capable networks. One of their proposals calls for a national information and awareness campaign to help highlight the benefits of such connections.

Residents of Tower Hamlets Homes Offered 1 Yr Free Broadband UPDATE

14th September, 2022 (4 Comments)

Property management firm Tower Hamlets Homes (THH), which looks after social housing across the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, has launched a new scheme that will offer a “limited number of free internet connections” for 12 months to residents (this will include free a router and installation).

Pound sterling broadband voucher by 123rf (100296328)

Funding Runs Dry for Hampshire’s Gigabit Broadband Top-Up Scheme

13th September, 2022 (1 Comment)

The Hampshire County Council in England has notified suppliers that their Top-Up funding for the UK Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) has run out. The vouchers help hard-to-reach rural homes and businesses get a gigabit-capable internet connection installed.

Adverts Watchdog Tackles UK Mid-Contract Telecoms Price Hikes

8th September, 2022 (8 Comments)

The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP and BCAP) – sister body to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) – has launched a consultation on new guidance that would require information about mid-contract prices hikes to be more prominently stated in ads by broadband ISPs and mobile operators to “avoid misleading consumers“.

DCF Report Warns Investment Gap May Limit UK 5G Rollout

7th September, 2022 (1 Comment)

A new report from the Digital Connectivity Forum (DCF), an industry think-tank, has warned that the UK’s rollout of faster 5G based mobile broadband networks may struggle to achieve some of its much-hyped goals by 2030 because of an investment gap of around £3 billion to £5 billion.

West Berkshire Makes it Harder to Rollout 5G Mobile Networks

7th September, 2022 (16 Comments)

The UK Government’s recent changes to Permitted Development (PD) rights for mobile infrastructure (here), which aimed to help extend 5G and 4G (mobile broadband) coverage in rural areas of England (e.g. allowing taller masts of up to 30 metres), appear to have been rejected in West Berkshire where the council has added new obstacles.

Prime-Minister-Liz-Truss-UK-Government-2022

Prime Minister Liz Truss Commits to “Faster” UK Broadband Build

7th September, 2022 (23 Comments)

The new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, yesterday entered 10 Downing Street – after replacing Boris Johnson in the post – by acknowledging that “we need to build roads, homes and broadband faster” than they have been doing so far. But it remains to be seen whether that statement is more than just a sound bite.

Cheshire UK Boosts Value of Gigabit Broadband Rollout Vouchers

5th September, 2022 (1 Comment)

The Cheshire East Council has announced that the wider Connecting Cheshire Partnership have committed £2.9m to boost the value of the UK Government’s local Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which offers vouchers to help rural homes and businesses install gigabit-capable internet connections.

UK Mobile Operators Gift Free Calls to Pakistan After Floods

3rd September, 2022 (2 Comments)

Mobile operators and some broadband ISPs including Vodafone, BT, EE, Plusnet, iD Mobile, O2 and Virgin Media have in the last week responded, separately, to the massive floods in Pakistan by giving their UK customers free calls to the country and roaming.

Broadway Partners Give Small Update on Pembrokeshire FTTP Build

1st September, 2022 (2 Comments)

Broadway Partners (ISP Broadway Broadband) has today issued a small update on the progress of their part publicly funded effort to deploy a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover several rural communities in Pembrokeshire (Wales), which states that they’ve just “connected” 88 premises in Ambleston.

Virgin Media O2 Calls on UK Gov to Cut VAT on Broadband Social Tariffs

31st August, 2022 (32 Comments)

The CEO of ISP and mobile giant Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2), Lutz Schüler, has today joined growing calls for the UK government to provide more direct support during the cost-of-living crisis by cutting the rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) on cheaper social tariffs for home broadband and mobile services from 20% to 5%.

Openreach Finish Superfast North Yorkshire UK Broadband Contract

31st August, 2022 (8 Comments)

The state-aid backed Superfast North Yorkshire (SFNY) project has announced that Openreach (BT) have officially completed their fibre-based (FTTC and FTTP) deployment contract under the scheme, which has so far enabled more than 190,000 extra premises to access faster broadband speeds since 2021 (take-up is at 80%).