• Broadband speeds

Broadband speeds

05 May 2016

BT to Invest Billions More into Fibre, 4G and Customer Service

BT’s has today announced that its Openreach and EE businesses will spend around six billion pounds between them over the next three years, in the first phase of a plan to extend superfast broadband and 4G coverage beyond 95% of the UK by 2020.

The announcement focuses on services, coverage and capacity with the latter receiving the most press coverage. As well as confirming their ambition of supplying 12 million premises with ultrafast broadband, BT announced that at least two million of those to be connected with Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology. (more…)

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30 Mar 2016

Pushing for Universal Broadband Coverage: What do we mean and how do we get there?

On Monday 14 March, the Broadband Stakeholder Group hosted an event to discuss the Government’s intention to make sure that “every home and business can have access to fast broadband by the end of this Parliament???. The event explored how any target for universal coverage should be framed, the actions needed to meet that target and what lessons can be learned from other countries.

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24 Feb 2016

Businesses connectivity needs to be reviewed by Government

Earlier this month, a survey by the Manufacturer’s Association (EEF) found that internet connectivity was increasingly central to manufacturer’s operations and that Britain’s success in leading the fourth industrial revolution relied on improvements to affordability and internet infrastructure. In a keynote speech at the EEF annual conference today, Business Secretary Sajid Javid announced the review of business broadband “to reduce the barriers to affordable, high-quality fibre-broadband???.

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01 Feb 2016

Increasing transparency of businesses broadband speeds – Ofcom’s new voluntary Code of Practice for ISPs

Under a new voluntary Ofcom Code, Internet Service Providers commit to give businesses “clearer, more accurate and transparent information on broadband speeds before they sign up to a contract???. If the promised upload and download speeds fall below the guaranteed levels, businesses will be able to leave their contract with no penalties.

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10 Nov 2015

Universal coverage and a USO

Getting as many people online and enjoying the benefits of that the internet can bring is an incredibly complex task involving digital skills, attitude and awareness among others. But in many ways the first step is ensuring that the underlying connectivity is available to them. In this light the Government’s desire to “make sure that every home and business can have access to fast broadband by the end of this Parliament??? is to be welcomed.

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22 Sep 2015

Analysys Mason Report: UK staying ahead of the curve for the next 5 years

Analysys Mason today published a report comparing the UK’s fixed telecoms market to the five major European countries and several other leading digital countries. It found that the UK is currently ahead of its European competitors on measures such as average speed*, superfast broadband coverage and take-up and will soon be outperforming countries such as Japan and the USA.

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02 Sep 2015

BSG Publishes New Model on Small Businesses’ Connectivity Requirements

BSG calls for continued focus on reducing costs to allow superfast connectivity to be made available to all business premises as quickly as possible

 

2nd September 2015. The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), the Government’s leading advisory group on broadband, today published a report on the current and future connectivity requirements of small businesses. The research found that whilst median downstream demand for small business premises will rise from 5Mbit/s in 2015 to 8.1Mbit/s in 2025 demand for the 95th percentile will rise from 12.9 Mbit/s to 41.1 Mbit/s.

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06 Aug 2015

Ofcom Communications Report: Selfies, devices and 4G

Ofcom today published their annual Communications Market Report which as usual is packed full of figures and data on the state of play in television, radio, telecoms, internet content and postal sectors. Most of the headline have focused on the number of selfies we are taking and the realisation that smartphones are now the most popular device for getting online.

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15 Jul 2015

The UK – a global broadband leader according to the Net Vitality Index

The UK is one of the five Global Broadband Internet Ecosystem Leaders, according to the Net Vitality Index. The report was produced by the Media Institute, a US not-for-profit research organisation focused on communications policy. It is based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the global broadband internet system and identifies the US, South Korea, Japan, and the UK as the top-tier global broadband leaders.

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26 Jun 2015

Ofcom’s action plan for broadband services for SMEs

Ofcom yesterday launched an action plan for improving the broadband services that are available to the UK’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Whilst they found that the vast majority of SMEs are satisfied with the communications and are well catered for, they did discover a significant minority who had less favourable experiences. Ofcom highlighted four issues that they feel need more attention; the availability of superfast broadband, a concentrated retail market structure, concerns around quality of service, and SMEs struggling to navigate the market.

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11 Jun 2015

Ofcom’s new CEO committed to put “consumers and citizens at the heart??? of the regulator’s work

Sharon White delivered today her first major speech as Ofcom’s Chief Executive at a Which? Conference. She stressed that Ofcom will continue to carry out its role as a light touch regulator, encouraging competition and investment, but with an increased consumer focus. As part of her speech, Sharon White highlighted some elements of Ofcom’s work programme, including the improvement of the process for consumers to switch broadband and landline providers, the upcoming Digital Communications Review, and confirming the government’s commitment to deliver the Universal Service Obligation of 5Mbit/s.

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05 Feb 2015

BSG Comment: Broadband and ‘universal’ access.

Recent weeks have seen a lot of debate in Whitehall and Westminster around what should be the minimum download/upload speeds that premises and households can access. This raises a number of important questions as to what exactly we mean when we say that broadband is ‘essential’, ‘the fourth utility’ or even ‘a fundamental right’.

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