DCMS Secretary of State Matt Hancock this morning announced that superfast broadband had been made available to 95% of the UK, in line with Government’ target to deliver speeds of at least 24Mbps by the end of 2017. (more…)
The 2017 Ofcom Connected Nations Report, published December 15th, once again sets out the year’s main developments for both fixed and mobile networks’ performance as well as coverage.
Ofcom headlines the fact that 1.1 m UK homes and business (4% of properties) cannot get decent broadband – defined as having a download speed of 10Mbps. To address this, the government today announced that it will be mandating a regulatory Universal Service Obligation to make high speed broadband a legal right by 2020. (more…)
The government today confirmed its approach towards delivering high speed broadband across the UK. A Universal Service Obligation will ensure that everyone in the UK will be able to access speeds of at least 10Mbps by 2020. (more…)
Satellite broadband hasn’t really taken off in the UK in the way that we might have expected it would 10-15 years ago. There are many reasons for this, both technical (latency issues affecting video calling and gaming applications and the potential for weather related outages) and economic (expensive terminal equipment and relatively high ongoing data costs).
I’ve written before about why the Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) failed to live up to its expectations. In summary, building infrastructure is hard in any case and it’s even harder when neither the problem you want to solve nor solution are agreed upon by the parties involved. Last week though the Government published the Mobile Infrastructure Project: Impact and Benefits Report so it’s only fair to pay attention to the benefits that it delivered too.
The Broadband Stakeholder Group is delighted to invite you to our free Annual Conference on Thursday 2 November 2017.
Kick-starting with a keynote speech from Minister for Digital Matt Hancock, the Conference will focus on the future of digital communications, both in terms of infrastructure deployment and take-up of services.
The Broadband Stakeholder Group is currently recruiting for a Policy Manager.
In November 2016, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the creation of a new Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund (DIIF) of £400 million, matched by private finance to invest in new full fibre networks over the next 4 years. After being announced again in the March 2017 Budget alongside other measures to boost investment in digital infrastructure, the Fund was formally launched yesterday.
The Government today launched its Digital Strategy that aims to create “a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone???. The overarching goals of making Britain the best place to start and grow a digital business, trial a new technology, or undertake advanced research are admirable and ones that the BSG supports.
The Government has briefed that it will be unveiling two new programmes in tomorrow’s Autumn Statement to make good on its view that the future is fibre (to the premise variety) and 5G. The BSG welcomes this focus on digital connectivity. All BSG members believe that good quality broadband underpins, drives and improves our society and economy.
The City of London Corporation published this week a standardised wayleave agreement which should accelerate negotiations between landlords and broadband providers when agreeing to install fixed line broadband connections. Waiting time for business tenants to access high-speed internet connections should be significantly shortened.
The Broadband Stakeholder Group are happy to be supporting Connected Britain 2016, a two-day conference taking place in London on the 15th and 16th of June.
The event will provide a platform for a wide range of stakeholders to discuss the challenges of connectivity and broadband access in the UK in the context of a new political landscape.
Key topics to be discussed include the legislative support for the roll-out of superfast broadband and mobile networks, the future of mobile coverage, preparing the UK for an ultrafast network, the deployment of 5G, and the social and economic benefits of greater connectivity.
Broadband Stakeholder Group CEO Matthew Evans will speak on the second day, exploring incentives and regulatory framework for the build out of 5G and ultrafast fibre networks.
There are a number of ways to get involved with the day and you can find the full list off speakers and agenda on the official event website here. You can find the event on social media using @ConnBritain and #connectedbritain on Twitter, and going to the Facebook page here.
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.
Government published yesterday a summary of the responses received on its recent consultation on a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO). After gathering views on the proposed roadmap to implementing a new broadband USO, Government commented on the various issues raised by respondents.
The Department for Transport (DfT) yesterday released a study exploring how rail users value and use mobile connectivity on trains. It also shows evidence that passengers are willing to pay up to 17% more on rail fares above existing ticket price for improved connectivity on mobile and internet network access.
This study follows the 2015 Government consultation on improving mobile communications for UK rail passengers, as well as the Coalition Government’s pledge to roll out free Wifi on trains across England and Wales from 2017. The report finds that some groups of passengers would be willing to accept the costs of improvements to connectivity on trains, saving costs for the government and industry. (more…)
