The latest Broadband Performance Indicator report published by Government shows that superfast broadband has now been made accessible to nearly 4 million premises in the UK (900,000 more premises since June 2015) thanks to projects funded by the Broadband Delivery UK Programme (BDUK). (more…)
The Digital Economy Bill was announced in the Queens Speech today, intended to “make the UK a world leader in digital provision – a place where technology ceaselessly transforms the economy, society and government???. For the telecoms sector it aims to make it easier to deploy communications infrastructure whilst empowering consumers.
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…)
The Advertising Standards Agency announced today that they will be introducing new rules on how broadband providers can advertise. (more…)
Ofcom last week published their annual report into adult use, attitudes and understanding of TV, radio, mobile, games, and the internet, with a particular focus on those groups that tend not to participate digitally. The report is based around research conducted in autumn 2015, and any key changes compared to Ofcom’s statistics from 2014.
In what Openreach describes as “one of the fastest deployments of fibre broadband in the world???, it announced yesterday that its fibre network has passed the 25 million premises milestone, helping to take the UK’s superfast broadband (24Mbit/s) coverage past 90% of premises.
Ofcom has this week published their Annual Plan for 2016/2017, outlining their planned initiatives to deliver the best outcomes for consumers in the context of changes in the market and ongoing reviews of regulatory frameworks both at UK and EU levels. (more…)
Ofcom today published their draft statement on the Business Connectivity Market Review (BCMR). Whilst Ofcom need to consult the European Commission before making their final conclusions it is unlikely that this will cause a significant delay, with the final statement expected next month.
Ofcom today published their initial conclusions from the Digital Communications Review that they kicked off last year. Whilst these are officially their interim findings, the direction of travel is relatively clear; over the next 10 years, the UK will move towards an increasingly all-fibre future, with widespread availability of competing fibre networks driving the take-up of ultrafast services underpinned by a USO. Against the background of convergence, Ofcom will do more to make it easier to compare quality of service across fixed, mobile and bundled offers. Openreach understandably lies at the heart of much of this and whilst BT will be sure to feel additional pain, Ofcom are not proposing full structural separation, yet.
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.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a US-based not-for-profit organisation, have published a report claiming that T-Mobile are breaking US net neutrality rules through its Binge-On zero-rating streaming service.
Ofcom this week released a report on Traffic Management Detection Methods and Tools undertaken for it by Predictable Network Solutions. This technical study is a timely addition to the debate around the Open Internet and the role of traffic management.
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.
As announced in Sharon White’s first speech as Ofcom CEO, the Regulator launched yesterday a new consultation on proposals to facilitate mobile switching services. On the basis of evidence gathered in summer 2014, Ofcom identified issues with the current switching processes, and found that these could be confusing and appear to be made difficult for consumers. By improving the switching process and dealing with consumers’ perception that “switching is hard???, Ofcom hopes these changes will lead to more effective competition between providers.
Ofcom today published its discussion document on the challenges facing the UK’s telecommunications sector over the next decade, marking the completion of the first phase of the Digital Communications Review that it kicked off in March. The key aim of the review is to ensure that the UK’s citizens and businesses are well served by high-quality, widely available telecoms services.
