Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: USO (197 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - USO

Interview – Openreach on UK FTTP Rollout, Competition and Future Plans

21st December, 2019 (48 Comments)

Yesterday Openreach (BT) announced the milestone of having covered 2 million UK premises with Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband technology (here). As part of that we’ve conducted an exclusive interview with the operator’s MD for Fibre and Network Delivery, Kevin Murphy, to talk about their future fibre plans.

Connected Nations 2019 – 3 Million UK Premises Can Get Full Fibre

20th December, 2019 (10 Comments)

Ofcom has today published their Connection Nations 2019 UK digital infrastructure report, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband ISP networks now cover 10% of premises (up from 6% last year) and “ultrafast” (300Mbps+) lines reach 53% (up from 49%). Sadly geographic 4G cover from all operators is unchanged at 66%.

Highlands to Switch-off ConCom Wireless Broadband Network

18th December, 2019 (0 Comments)

The Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has announced that the publicly funded Connected Communities (ConCom) wireless network, which since 2005 has been bringing slow broadband speeds of up to 4Mbps to the remote rural Outer Hebrides of Scotland, is set to close in March 2020.

£165m N.Ireland Broadband Project to Target 97000 Premises

16th December, 2019 (4 Comments)

The Department for the Economy has issued a small update on their long-in-gestation £165m Project Stratum scheme, which after two consultations has finally confirmed that some 97,000 premises are eligible to be upgraded with a “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) network under their future roll-out programme.

Owner of Multi-Million Pound UK Flat Sues Over Poor Broadband

9th December, 2019 (30 Comments)

The owner of a £2.95m 30th floor apartment in The Heron (Barbican, London), 70 year old travel boss Stephen Shalson, is suing the building’s owners – Heron Residences LLP – for £97,300 after he moved in to find that the property didn’t have good broadband, which forced him to get online via external locations instead (cafes etc.).

Study Claims 236 UK Constituencies Have Poor Broadband and Mobile

7th December, 2019 (23 Comments)

A new study from consumer magazine Which? has claimed that people living in 36% of UK constituency areas (236 of the 650 total) do not have access to “decent 4G [mobile] or broadband” services. The study was based on old data from Ofcom and found that areas in rural Scotland and Wales bore the brunt of the problem.

Top 10 UK Fastest and Slowest Streets for Broadband Speed 2019

4th December, 2019 (8 Comments)

A new report has used data from 122,845 consumer speedtests to identify both the top 10 fastest and slowest UK streets for broadband download speed, which claims that Kingsclere in Huntington (York) was the “slowest” on 0.22Mbps and Darwin St in Livingston (West Lothian) was the “fastest” at 182.52Mbps. Beware caveats.

Mobile Operators Win Key UK Appeal Case Over Building Access

27th November, 2019 (0 Comments)

The Court of Appeal has upheld a key judgement in favour of Cornerstone (umbrella company for O2 and Vodafone’s network sharing), which means that 4G / 5G mobile and broadband operators can force access to land in order to conduct a survey. The case was a key test of the revised Electronic Communications Code (ECC).

Ofcom Consult on Funding for the 10Mbps UK Broadband USO

5th November, 2019 (10 Comments)

Ofcom has today opened a new consultation on the funding (compensation) arrangements for BT and KCOM’s forthcoming Universal Service Obligation (USO), which is due to begin on the 20th March 2020 and aims to ensure that everybody can request a minimum broadband speed of “at least” 10Mbps (1Mbps upload).

The Rural UK Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme is No More

31st October, 2019 (1 Comment)

The UK Government’s Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme, which offered grants worth up to £350 to rural homes and businesses that were unable to get at least a 2Mbps download speed (i.e. helping to get a faster ISP connection installed), will unsurprisingly NOT be extended for another year beyond 2019.

Hints of a Bidder Shortlist for £165m N.Ireland Broadband Project

30th October, 2019 (11 Comments)

BT (Openreach), ISP Fibrus and private investment firm Granahan McCourt Capital (GMC) have all reportedly been linked with bids for Northern Ireland’s £165m Project Stratum, which aims to ensure that most of the 98,000 premises still awaiting access to “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) can get it.

Small UK Businesses Demand Action to Improve Broadband

16th October, 2019 (7 Comments)

A new report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has demanded action from the UK Government after they surveyed 1,136 small businesses. The results found that 30% of such firms still receive ISP download speeds of less than 10Mbps (rising to 39% in rural areas) and nearly half struggle with “unreliable mobile signals.“

Cross-Party MPs Criticise Weak UK Rural Broadband and Mobile

18th September, 2019 (11 Comments)

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) will today publish the outcome of their inquiry into the rural challenges of gaining access to superfast broadband, 4G mobile networks and accessing digital-only services across the United Kingdom, which identifies a number of problems with the Government’s strategy.

Ofcom – 10Mb Broadband USO Gap Shrinks to 578000 UK Premises

17th September, 2019 (20 Comments)

Ofcom has published a Summer 2019 update to their Connected Nations report, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) UK broadband coverage has risen to 8% (up from 7% four months ago) and the number of premises unable to get 10Mbps+ has declined from 619,000 to 578,000. Geographic 4G mobile cover remains at 66%.

Calls for Action to Tackle “Chronic” Rural Broadband and Mobile Problems

16th August, 2019 (27 Comments)

A new report from lesser known UK think tank Parliament Street has warned how a historic “lack of investment” and “chronic connectivity” problems mean that too many rural areas are still being “challenged” by issues such as “slow broadband, less bandwidth, and problematic mobile and TV reception,” among other things.

Pembrokeshire Unveils Plan to Improve Full Fibre Broadband Coverage

5th August, 2019 (2 Comments)

The Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro) council in South West Wales has revealed the outline of a new plan that aims to help spread the availability of ultrafast “full fibre” broadband connectivity across rural parts of the county, which among other things includes a £2m investment to boost existing voucher schemes and a LFFN bid.

Northern Ireland’s £165m Broadband Plan to Help 98000 Premises

25th July, 2019 (11 Comments)

The Department for the Economy (DfE) in Northern Ireland has finally begun the procurement phase for Project Stratum, which reflects its plan to invest £165 million in order to ensure that most of the 98,000 premises still awaiting access to “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) ISP networks can get it.