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Articles for Category Tag - USO

Ofcom 2021 Study – Median UK Broadband ISP Speeds Hit 50Mbps

9th September, 2021 (11 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual study into UK fixed line home broadband ISP speeds, which reports that the average (median) download rate has risen from 50Mbps last year to just 50.4Mbps now (uploads are unchanged at 9.8Mbps). Meanwhile, the performance gap between urban and rural areas remains a problem.

Ofcom Summer 2021 Update – UK Gigabit Cover Hits 40 Percent

9th September, 2021 (6 Comments)

Ofcom’s latest Summer 2021 report into UK broadband and mobile coverage has revealed that “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage is now at 24% (up from 21% in Jan 2021) and 11.6 million homes (40%) are within reach of a gigabit-capable network (up from 37%). Meanwhile, 4G mobile coverage remains stable and there’s still no data on 5G.

BSG Study Examines Gigabit Broadband for Remote UK Rural Areas

16th August, 2021 (7 Comments)

The Broadband Stakeholder Group, which is a think-tank that advises the UK Government, has today published new research from Analysys Mason that examines some of the commercial and technical practicalities of providing faster broadband coverage to areas in the UK that are hardest to reach.

Survey Wrongly Claims 1.3 Million UK Homes Use Satellite Broadband

4th August, 2021 (35 Comments)

A somewhat questionable new survey from Uswitch, which is based on feedback from a nationally representative sample of 4,002 UK adults, has boldly claimed that 1.3 million UK households are already using a satellite broadband connection. But we can’t find anything to substantiate such a figure.

Gigabit shiny bubble sign with shadow on white background

Gov Publish Next Phase of UK Rural Gigabit Broadband Rollout Plan

2nd August, 2021 (32 Comments)

The UK Government will today publish the next phase (inc. Phase 1a, 1b and 2) of their £5bn Project Gigabit programme, which in this batch aims to spread 1Gbps capable broadband ISP networks to a further 1.85 million rural premises (2.2 million confirmed so far) across 26 counties in England. Gigabit vouchers have also been boosted.

British sterling one pound coin currency

Ofcom UK Fine BT 42,500 GBP for Inaccurate Broadband USO Data

30th July, 2021 (10 Comments)

Ofcom has today fined BT £42,500 after it ruled that the UK telecoms operator had broken their rules by providing “inaccurate information” in response to a statutory information request, which was seeking data about EE’s Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband (4G) service for their 2019 Connected Nations report.

Ofcom Tells BT to Improve 10Mbps UK Broadband USO Quotes

16th July, 2021 (32 Comments)

Ofcom’s investigation into BT’s compliance with their obligations under the new Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband has concluded that “some customers have been asked to pay materially higher amounts than they should have been.” As a result, they’ve asked the ISP to make a few improvements.

2021 H1 – UK Gigabit Broadband Coverage Reaches 42 Percent

7th July, 2021 (20 Comments)

The latest independent study of UK broadband coverage for H1 2021 has estimated that “full fibre” (FTTP) ISP networks have now increased their reach to 24.33% of premises (up from 19.2% in H2 2020), while 41.72% are within reach of “gigabit” speeds (up from 37.4%) and 66.9% can get 100Mbps+ (up from 64.3%).

BT Sign OneWeb Deal to Tackle UK Rural Broadband Slow Spots

27th June, 2021 (21 Comments)

UK ISP BT and satellite operator OneWeb, which is partly owned by the UK government, have reached an agreement that will see the two working together to bring ultrafast low-latency broadband speeds to some of the hardest to reach rural parts of the country, where even their £5bn Project Gigabit programme would struggle to go.

Ofcom Spring 2021 – Full Fibre Covers 21% of UK and Gigabit 37%

12th May, 2021 (9 Comments)

Ofcom’s latest Spring 2021 update for UK broadband and mobile networks has revealed that “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage has grown to 21% (up from 18% in Sep 2020) and 37% or 10.8 million homes are within reach of a gigabit-capable (1000Mbps) network (up from 27%). But sadly 4G coverage has not improved and there’s no mention of 5G.

BT Make Changes to Improve 10Mbps UK Broadband USO

6th May, 2021 (40 Comments)

UK ISP BT has issued their second biannual report into the progress they’ve made toward delivering the 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation for broadband, which reveals they’re building USO connections that cover nearly 5,000 homes and have introduced a new cost sharing system to help communities afford an upgrade.

Anger as New Gigabit Broadband Vouchers Exclude Some Villages UPDATE

26th March, 2021 (21 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 (93 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.

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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 (97 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.