Broadband speeds

Connectivity and Levelling Up

THE GOVERNMENT’S anticipated White Paper on reducing regional economic inequalities in the UK has arrived with a reassuring 320-page thud. “Levelling up” – as both the programme and half the government department charged with delivering it have since been named – is now officially the central objective and the moral mission of this administration.

An important commitment demands a detailed plan of action, and the White Paper sets out twelve missions be achieved by 2030, including:

  • A globally competitive city, rising employment and productivity in every region;
  • A UK Shared Prosperity Fund in place of EU Structural Funding, with spending decisions devolved;
  • R&D investment outside the Greater South East to by 40% higher;
  • Public transport in every region to be significantly closer to the standards of London;
  • Higher standards of literacy and numeracy for primary school leavers;
  • More high-quality skills training for every region;
  • Existing gaps in life expectancy between regions to have been closed;
  • Increased pride and satisfaction in people’s local areas;
  • More home owners, fewer substandard rental properties;
  • Homicide, serious crime and neighbourhood crime to be down everywhere;
  • London-style Mayors for every region that wants one.

In among these pledges, the government is also committing that “By 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population”.

Project Gigabit, the DCMS programmes designed to deliver faster fixed connectivity, is well underway, but the White Paper finally sets the target for fixed connectivity, equating it to availability in 85% of premises by 2025 and “as close as possible to 100%” by 2030. With commercial provision expected to account for 80% coverage, the government’s commitment could easily be dismissed as timid. But this would be to misunderstand the huge challenges of connecting those parts of the country where commercial investment is unlikely to flow and where existing copper lines and infrastructure are not a part of the solution.

On 4G, the government will press ahead with its target of achieving 95% coverage by 2025 through the Shared Rural Network Programme. On 5G, the commitment is less clear, with a pledge only that “a majority” of the population will have a 5G signal by 2027.

But it is perhaps what the White Paper does not say about the potential for greater regional economic equality through improved connectivity that is most interesting. The White Paper notes that better connectivity helps the development of high-value sectoral clusters. It also declares that “high quality digital infrastructure can deepen local labour markets through remote working, making it more attractive for both workers and companies to locate regionally”.  But this is one of just three mentions of remote working in the entire White Paper – and the other two are in reference to the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns.

The future of work is, perhaps understandably, a topic that the authors of the White Paper had no intentions of trying to solve. It is also true that, with pandemic restrictions falling away and more people return to daily commuting and office working, the current situation is perhaps too fluid for a document that is concerned with setting clear measures of success for the next eight years. More ominously, advocates of the pre-pandemic status quo have a great deal invested in a UK where most people travel to work that takes place in its own dedicated physical space and where city centres are geared towards servicing this daily influx. With some national newspapers mounting what appears like a campaign to reverse the move toward remote working (a trend which long predates anti-COVID restrictions) it is perhaps understandable why the government chose to give such little emphasis to what may become a key driver of a more regionally economically equal Britain. The growth of remote working could do more – and do more quickly – to reverse the dominance of London and the South East than any amount of improvements in town centres, education standards and bus routes. Yet it is something we may not hear the government talking about at all.

The GigaTAG publishes its final report

The Gigabit Take-up Advisory Group (GigaTAG) was set up in August 2020, led by Which? to look into how to stimulate demand among consumers and businesses for gigabit-capable broadband. The final report has been published. BSG was part of the advisory group as the voice of the industry. To coincide with the launch of the report, Which? CBI, FSB, Ofcom and BSG hosted a panel discussion to explore the recommendations set out in the report and how these can be taken forward. (more…)

UK Home Broadband Performance

Ofcom has published its interactive UK Home Broadband Performance research which looks into the actual broadband speeds achieved by a sample of households across the UK during November 2020. The research is published as an interactive guide and includes data on download and upload speeds, performance by connection type and comparisons between urban and rural broadband speeds. (more…)

Government launches ‘Project Gigabit’ 

The government has announced ‘Project Gigabit’, its mission to deliver gigabit-capable broadband across the UK. The project will be a series of phases, with the first phase providing one million hard-to-reach buildings with gigabit coverage and new funding for gigabit vouchers. An extra £210 million worth of vouchers will be released to help those with slow speeds, and another £110 million will connect up to 7,000 rural GP surgeries, libraries and schools. Up to 510,000 homes and businesses in Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Tees Valley will be the first to benefit as part of the project, with contracts for these first areas going to tender in the spring. (more…)

Central Scotland to benefit from UK government’s gigabit programme

The government has announced that £4.5 million of the UK government’s nationwide gigabit programme will be spent on more than 5,300 homes and businesses in Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Stirlingshire, Greater Glasgow and Lothian. The premises were due to benefit from superfast broadband through the Scottish Government’s Reach 100 (R100) programme. However, on the basis that the UK Gigabit Programme would have to revisit the premises at some point in the future to convert them to FTTP, it made more sense to go directly to gigabit capability thereby reducing costs. (more…)

BDUK Superfast Programme evaluation

The DCMS commissioned Ipsos Mori to carry out a State Aid evaluation of the UK National Broadband Scheme which was established in 2010 to help extend high-speed broadband connectivity to areas, including those that were not expected to benefit from commercial rollouts. The scheme has reached over 96% of premises in the UK today and provided £2.7bn worth of economic benefits.   (more…)

Ofcom Connected Nations and infrastructure reports 2020

This year’s Connection Nations Report states that despite the high demand throughout the pandemic leading to significant changes to the use of their services, the fixed and mobile networks have coped well. A shift to more people being at home drove increased demand on daytime home broadband traffic, and mobile networks saw record numbers of calls made during the first UK-wide lockdown. Both broadband and mobile services have remained resilient as networks put in place measures to manage the extra demand.

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Ofcom’s proposed workplan 2021/22

Ofcom is consulting on its draft 2021/22 Plan of Work which sets out its proposed strategic priorities and includes the following:

  • Investment in strong, secure networks

Supporting ongoing investment in faster broadband and better-quality mobile networks and working with industry to ensure they are safe, secure and resilient.

  • Getting everyone connected

Working to ensure people and businesses can access key communications services – including in the hardest to reach locations. It includes monitoring the delivery of the universal broadband service and the Shared Rural Network.  (more…)

Ofcom Statement on Implementation of the European Electronic Communications Code

In its December 2019 consultation, Ofcom proposed a package of measures to implement new customer protections in the EECC. In a statement by the regulator published today, the following decisions have been made:

  • Selling locked handsets will be banned – from December 2021.
  • Customers needing accessible formats due to their disabilities can request communications to be sent in a format that meets their needs (e.g. braille). This includes communications about their service such as price changes or payment reminders – from December 2021.
  • Customers will be given important information in writing before they sign a contract, including a summary of key contract terms (broadband providers must inform customers of the minimum internet speeds they can expect) – from June 2022.
  • Customers can exit their contract if providers make changes they were not previously informed of, and are not to their benefit during the minimum term. This applies to other services or equipment if bought as part of a bundle – from June 2022.
  • Enabling broadband switching across physically separate fixed networks, and banning notice period charges beyond the date of the switch for fixed residential customers – from December 2022.

Within the statement, Ofcom is consulting on proposed changes to the General Conditions, the Metering and Billing Direction and the Numbering Plan until 30 November.

The full document is available here:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/proposals-to-implement-new-eecc

Ofcom report – Monitoring compliance with the EU Net Neutrality regulation

The EU Regulation on open internet access (the Open Internet Regulation) requires the safeguarding of equal and non-discriminatory treatment of traffic and related end-users’ right when providing internet access services. BEREC recently published guidelines on the implementation by national regulators of European net neutrality rules, which requires regulatory authorities such as Ofcom to apply the regulation in a consistent manor. Ofcom must also publish regular reports. The latest report covers the year ending April 2020.  (more…)

Home broadband performance report

The performance delivered by broadband providers is holding up well during the COVID-19 lockdown period and speeds have withstood the increase in demand from home working, online learning and streaming. While being impacted by reduced staffing levels, providers have prioritised keeping the nation connected. Fixed, broadband and mobile providers have put additional measures in place to help vulnerable customers and pledged additional support to NHS workers.

The latest report is based on performance in November 2019 but Ofcom has also included measurements taken in the first and last week of March 2020 to assess the impact of COVID-19.

Click here to view Ofcom’s full report

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Ofcom’s proposals for stimulating greater investment in fibre broadband

Ofcom has published its first combined five-year review of Wholesale Fixed Telecoms regulation which maps out how it will regulate Openreach between April 2021 and March 2026 for both the residential and businesses connectivity markets (previously the regulator separately assessed the Wholesale Local Access Market Review of residential, and the Business Connectivity Market Review).

Ofcom’s four-point plan aims to support competitive investment in fibre networks and competition in gigabit capable services, ensuring world class broadband services are available to as many people and businesses as possible. (more…)

Ofcom’s proposed work plan for 2020-2021

Ofcom has set out its proposed workplan for the next financial year. The consultation closes on 25th February 2020.

Strategic priorities:

  • Better broadband and mobile – support ongoing investment in faster broadband and better mobile coverage across the country.
  • Fairness for customers – ensure broadband, phone and TV customers, particularly vulnerable people, are treated fairly.
  • Support UK broadcasting – support the sector (including public service broadcasting) in delivering continued benefits to all UK audiences.
  • Online communications – in conjunction with Government, protect consumers from harmful content online and ensure communications services online work for consumers.
  • Enable strong, secure networks – build a centre of excellence for security and resilience, work with industry to protect networks against outages and cyber-attacks, lead on initiatives to close gaps in best practice.

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Ofcom: Connected Nations 2019 Report

Ofcom’s 2019 Connected Nations report, released today, sets out this year’s developments in broadband and mobile services, availability and coverage.

Leading the data is the nearly three million UK homes that can now access full-fibre broadband – 10% of all homes – and 1.5 million more than last year.

Overall superfast broadband coverage is now around 95%, which means that the vast majority of homes can access download speeds of at least 30 Mbit/s. Take-up of superfast packages has increased by 20% in twelve months, but Ofcom suggests millions more could get faster internet by upgrading. (more…)