Author - Gulistan Ladha

10 Aug 2020

Almost 500,000 premises across the UK are now connected to gigabit-capable broadband

Government announced that almost half a million premises are now connected to a gigabit-capable network, which is part of the £1 billion government funding commitment until the end of 2021. A further £5 billion funding will help the hardest-to-reach areas. 45,000 vouchers, worth more than £90 million, were issued to help cover the costs of delivering gigabit speeds directly to people’s homes and businesses. Counting commercial investment, more than 7.5 million premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, compared to around 1.4 million premises in 2018. (more…)

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06 Aug 2020

Media Nations Report 2020

Ofcom published its third annual UK media nations report.

In April when the UK was in full lockdown, the average amount of time people spent watching audio-visual content increased to an estimated 6 hours 25 minutes per person per day, an hour and a half more than the average figure for 2019.

The Covid-19 crisis has reinforced the importance of public service broadcasters as trusted providers of news and information. Demand for news programming helped them to achieve their highest combined monthly viewing share in more than 6 years in March 2020, when they captured 59% of broadcast TV viewing. BBC services were the most-used source of news and information about Covid-19, with 82% of people saying they used them for this purpose in the first week of lockdown, well ahead of social media and other sources. The Prime Minister’s broadcasts to the nation, on announcing lockdown in March, easing lockdown in May and the Queen’s address in April were the top three most viewed. BBC dramas such as Normal People helped BBC iPlayer attract a record 570 million programme requests in May 2020 which was 72% higher than last year. (more…)

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05 Aug 2020

Government announces £1.3bn investment to deliver homes, infrastructure and jobs

The funding announced by MHCLG and BEIS will provide up to 45,000 homes, create up to 85,000 jobs and upgrade skills and infrastructure to help fuel a green economic recovery.

A new £2bn Green Homes Grant scheme will fund up to two-thirds of the cost of home improvements of over 600,000 homes. Over 300 successful “shovel-ready” projects in England will receive a share of the £900m Getting Building Fund to build homes and infrastructure. A further £360m investment will deliver 26,000 new homes on brownfield land and £8 million of funding will help speed up the delivery of the new homes on brownfield sites. Government is inviting bids from the Mayoral Combined Authorities for the remaining £40 million of the fund. (more…)

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04 Aug 2020

Open Communications – Enabling people to share data with innovative services

In Ofcom’s consultation the potential uses and benefits of Open Communications are explored and how it could best work for people and businesses. In particular, how to enable consumers and small businesses to share information about their services with third parties of their choice easily and securely. In 2019, the Government’s Smart Data Review proposed to introduce Open Communications through legislation, to stimulate innovation and promote the development of new services that improve outcomes. Responses to this consultation will help to inform Government thinking on the future development of Open Communications.

BSG held an online workshop in June with industry, Ofcom and Government to discuss initial thinking in this area. (more…)

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29 Jul 2020

Benefits of high speed internet: BDUK case study research

DCMS has published a BDUK paper on the benefits of gigabit-capable connectivity made possible through the DCMS Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme which ran from March 2018 to May 2020.

High level findings:

  • Gigabit voucher recipients are generally positive about their fibre connection.
  • Residents reported mixed experiences; for some the connection does not make a huge difference while for others it provides confidence in considering future plans. Residents in rural areas reported lower level use, for example daily communications, online finance and entertainment.
  • SMEs are using connections at low levels for general admin in care homes, online retail, event management and outdoor cinema events. SMEs reported higher level use and include industries such as gaming, TV and film, and digital content.

(more…)

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23 Jul 2020

Ofcom – Changes to WiFi, EECC update, Guidance for Vulnerable Customers and Call for Evidence on Emerging Technologies

Ofcom is making airwaves in the lower 6 GHz band available for WiFi services without the need for a licence, following a consultation earlier this year. The technical requirements for WiFi routers are also being amended to ease congestion and help meet the growing demand for wireless services now and in the future.

A further consultation on revised proposals to implement the new EECC has been launched, ahead of the final decisions due to be published in the autumn. These are (i) changes to the scope of the rules on annual best tariff information and (ii) revised definitions for ‘microenterprise’, ‘small enterprise’ customers and not-for-profit organisations. Deadline is 11 September. (more…)

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22 Jul 2020

European Electronic Communications Code

Government has set out how it will bring the EECC into UK law. The code largely consists of changes to the existing legal framework but government will also bring in some new pro-investment measures from the code that are in the UK’s national interest and support its plans for nationwide gigabit broadband. Other measures give people and businesses greater consumer protection and Ofcom will be granted a series of new powers.  (more…)

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22 Jul 2020

Mobile planning reforms and changes to Permitted Development Rights

In August last year DCMS and MHCLG launched a consultation proposing reforms to permitted development rights to support the deployment of 5G and extend mobile coverage. BSG responded in favour of the proposals.

Government has determined that there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the proposed reforms would have a positive impact on the government’s ambitions for the deployment of 5G and extending mobile coverage.  (more…)

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21 Jul 2020

DCMS Select Committee report ‘Misinformation in the COVID-19 Infodemic’

The Online Harms White Paper published in April 2019 proposed a duty of care on tech companies and an independent Online Harms Regulator. The DCMS Select Committee opened an inquiry in March this year calling for evidence to help understand the causes and impact of COVID-19 and how it can be tackled.

On 16 July, the Committee published a report ‘Misinformation in the COVID-19 Infodemic’ which sets out some recommendations.  On 5G specifically, the report mentions written evidence from BT stated that between 23 March and 23 April there were 30 separate attempts of sabotage on the UK’s digital infrastructure and around 80 attacks across sites operated by all four mobile networks, with 19 occurring near critical infrastructure such as fire, police and ambulance stations. EE personnel and subcontractors faced 70 separate incidents, including threats to kill and vehicles driven directly at staff.  (more…)

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08 Jul 2020

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…)

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01 Jul 2020

Online harms and digital platforms

The three regulators CMA, ICO and Ofcom have announced the formation of a non-statutory body, Digital Regulation Cooperation to ensure online services work well for consumers and businesses. The forum brings together collective knowledge and will help to coordinate action and support the development of informed and responsive regulation. Through the forum the organisations aim to achieve coherent, informed and responsive regulation of the UK digital economy.  (more…)

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25 Jun 2020

Ofcom publications

Consultation: Copper retirement – process for determining when copper regulation can be removed (supplementary consultation to the WFTMR)

The consultation proposes to delay decisions about Openreach’s copper retirement process until after Ofcom has determined the outcome of the WFTMR. Justification is that Openreach’s fibre roll-out is still in its early stages and Ofcom would prefer to wait for more details on the Salisbury and Mildenhall trials.  The consultation period ends on 3 September and the outcome of the WFTMR is due to be published in Q4 2020/21.  (more…)

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12 Jun 2020

Review of the Access to Infrastructure Regulations – Call for Evidence

Government has launched a call for evidence as part of a review of the Access to Infrastructure (ATI) Regulations 2016, which enables sharing of information about access to physical infrastructure across the utility, transport and communications sectors. It also includes the right to access that infrastructure on fair and reasonable commercial terms and conditions.  (more…)

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02 Jun 2020

Ofcom publishes digital exclusion analysis

As part of a weekly survey commissioned by Ofcom over the next three months, analysis of the proportion of UK adults digitally excluded, including those who do not use the internet or have access to the internet at home or have access to any connected devices, has been published. It looks at the likelihood of digital exclusion by a number of different characteristics including: age, living alone, having a condition that limits or impairs their use of communications services, being financially vulnerable. (more…)

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27 May 2020

UK is world leader in online safety innovation

In the Online Harms White Paper government set out a programme of action. As part of this DCMS has published a study ‘Safer technology, safer users: The UK as a world leader in Safety Tech’ which provides an overview of the UK’s Safety Technology sector. It highlights some of the UK’s most innovative businesses focused on tackling online harms through a range of technical solutions.

The report sets out government’s proposed measures to boost the Safety Tech sector in the UK, as well as measures to help users manage their own safety online and the wide range of Safety Tech products and services that already help make online platforms safer.

The full report can be found here.

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