Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: USO (196 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - USO

Anger as New Gigabit Broadband Vouchers Exclude Some Villages UPDATE

26th March, 2021 (20 Comments)

The Government’s new £210m UK Gigabit Voucher scheme, which is due to launch on 8th April 2021 and will help to spread 1Gbps capable broadband into some of the most remote rural areas, is facing somewhat of a backlash from communities that may find some or all of their homes being excluded under the new eligibility criteria.

Poor Broadband Means UK Gov Stuck with BBC TV Licence Fee

25th March, 2021 (91 Comments)

The Government’s recently proposed idea of replacing the BBC TV Licence fee with a Netflix-style subscription model after 2027 (here), assuming universal coverage of “fast” (or gigabit) broadband is achieved, has been rubbished by a new report from the cross-part DCMS Select Committee.

Gov Starts GBP5bn UK Gigabit Broadband and Voucher Schemes UPDATE

19th March, 2021 (53 Comments)

The UK Government has today revealed new details of how their £5bn gigabit broadband roll-out scheme will work and rebranded it as “Project Gigabit“. As part of that they’ve also confirmed £210m for an extension of their rural Gigabit Voucher scheme and £110m to connect up to 7,000 rural GP surgeries, libraries and schools.

Ofcom Unveils 2021 Changes to Boost UK Full Fibre Broadband UPDATE

18th March, 2021 (55 Comments)

Ofcom has today published the outcome of their Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review 2021-26 (FTMR), which sets out how various changes (Dark Fibre Access, copper retirement, regulation that varies by geographic area etc.) will be used to boost UK investment in “full fibre” broadband and high capacity Ethernet services.

Gov May Scrap BBC TV Licence Once Fast UK Broadband is Universal

2nd March, 2021 (92 Comments)

The UK Government’s Minister of State for Media and Data (DCMS), John Whittingdale MP, has indicated that the BBC’s TV licence fee could be scrapped once everybody in the country finally has access to faster broadband connectivity. The idea may be considered for when the corporation’s royal charter expires in 2027.

OneWeb UK Confirms BT Talks – Possible Rural Broadband Fix

2nd February, 2021 (21 Comments)

Satellite broadband operator OneWeb, which is partly owned by the UK government and aims to build a mega constellation of “high-speed” broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), has confirmed that they’re in early-stage talks with BT about the use of their network to help connect remote rural areas.

Rural Full Fibre Broadband Pilots Start Rollout in Pembrokeshire UPDATE

22nd January, 2021 (3 Comments)

The Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) in Wales has today announced that the first of many gigabit-capable broadband cabinets have just been install in several rural communities, which stem from four new pilot schemes with Broadway Partners (UK ISP Broadway Broadband).

2020 H2 – UK Cover of Gigabit Broadband Reaches 37.4 Percent

7th January, 2021 (29 Comments)

The latest independent study of UK broadband coverage for H2 2020 has estimated that “full fibre” (FTTP) ISP networks have now increased their reach to 19.2% of premises (up from 14.8% in H1), while 37.4% are within reach of “gigabit” speeds (up from 22.1%) and 64.3% can get 100Mbps+ (up from 61.7%).

Connected Nations 2020 – UK Full Fibre Covers 5 Million Premises

17th December, 2020 (11 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual Connection Nations infrastructure report, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband ISP networks now cover 18% of UK premises (up from 10% last year) and 27% are within reach of a “gigabit” (1Gbps+) service (7.9 million). Meanwhile geographic 4G cover is given as a range from 79% to 85%.

Top 10 UK Fastest and Slowest Streets for Broadband Speed 2020

3rd December, 2020 (5 Comments)

A new report has used data from 398,973 consumer speedtests to identify the top 10 fastest and slowest UK streets for broadband ISP download speed, which finds that Queens Road in Weybridge (Surrey) was the “slowest” on 0.12Mbps and Dale Lane in Appleton (Cheshire) is the fastest at 639.67Mbps. But there are caveats.

BT Issues Report on Progress Against the UK Broadband USO

30th October, 2020 (27 Comments)

UK ISP BT has just issued their first biannual report on the progress they’ve made toward delivering the 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband, which highlights some of the known challenges. Overall they’ve so far handled 9,000 applications and 512 confirmed orders, resulting in a USO build for 4,000+ homes.

One UK Village’s Roller-Coaster Ride of USO Broadband Costs

18th October, 2020 (21 Comments)

The long running saga of trying to get a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband service installed across the village of Pandy in Wales is one step closer to a solution. But its plight also helps to highlight how difficult it’s been for some areas to harness the new 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO).

Ofcom Opens Probe into BT Compliance with Broadband USO UPDATE

15th October, 2020 (20 Comments)

Ofcom has this morning opened an investigation to examine whether or not BT is complying with their obligations under the new UK Universal Service Obligation (USO), which requires them to help deliver at least a 10Mbps broadband download speed, upon request, to those in poorly served areas.

Broadband Woes Interrupt Meeting of the Welsh Parliament

15th October, 2020 (14 Comments)

The curse of flaky internet connectivity has struck again. A Plenary meeting of the Welsh Parliament had to be suspended for several minutes on Tuesday afternoon after a live video link to the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt MS, froze as she was responding to a question.

Government Pledge to Help Tackle Huge Broadband USO Costs UPDATE

9th October, 2020 (45 Comments)

The UK Government’s Digital Minister, Matt Warman, has called on Ofcom and BT to find a “resolution” to the situation with the new Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband, which results in some homes being quoted tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds to get a 10Mbps+ capable ISP connection.

Ofcom – Full Fibre Broadband Grows to Cover 14% of the UK

10th September, 2020 (13 Comments)

Ofcom has today released their Summer 2020 update for UK broadband and mobile networks, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage has grown to 14% or 4.2 million premises (up from 12% in Jan 2020) and 2% (590,000 premises) are still unable to get speeds of 10Mbps+. Geographic 4G coverage is now 67% (unchanged).

The High Cost of Broadband for USO Excluded UK Communities

30th August, 2020 (58 Comments)

The elephant in the room of the UK Government’s broadband centric Universal Service Obligation (USO) has always been the fact that it isn’t truly “universal” and tens of thousands of premises have fallen outside of its scope. In other words, getting a minimum speed of 10Mbps can become very expensive for some.