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23 May 2016

BSG supports Connected Britain, London 15 -16 June 2016

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.

Connected Britain 2016 logo

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.

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13 May 2016

Rail passengers are willing to pay a higher fare to access the internet during their commute

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…)

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07 Apr 2016

Designing the Broadband Universal Service Obligation – Ofcom consultation opens

Following the recent (and ongoing) Government consultation on the approach to take to introduce a Broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO), Ofcom is now consulting on its design and implementation. Ofcom was commissioned by Government to produce an evidence-based report by the end of this year which will address thorny issues from the scope of the USO to its funding mechanism.

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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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16 Mar 2016

European Commission’s telecoms framework review – public consultations’ initial results

In the last quarter of 2015, the European Commission kick-started its review of the regulatory framework for telecoms and also consulted on the EU speed and quality targets beyond 2020. The ambitious consultations covered a wide range of EU policies, Directives and Regulations crucial to the development of the Digital Single Market. Earlier this month, the Commission published a summary of the responses ahead of the proposals due later this year.

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05 Feb 2016

The final 5% challenge – Small providers of alternative technologies can deliver cost-effective superfast broadband

The Government published this week their findings on the feasibility and deployment of 7 test pilots schemes set up to explore alternative technologies and business cases to deploy superfast broadband (24Mib/s) to the hardest-to-reach areas. The report found that non-fibre based suppliers can deliver good quality superfast connections, hybrid solutions are viable technically and commercially and that smaller internet service providers can compete successfully with the larger providers such as BT Openreach to win public procurement contracts.

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17 Nov 2015

Publication of review of the UK’s Open Internet Codes

Today, the BSG published an independent review into the UK’s industry led approach to the Open Internet. The report, produced by consultancy WIK, found that the UK Open Internet and Traffic Management Codes of Practice have been effective when measured against the principles of an Open Internet. WIK also found that the Codes could continue to add value “over and above the requirements laid out in the Regulation???.

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11 Nov 2015

NextGen2015 – Awards and Speech from Richard Hooper

NExtGen 2015 awards

The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) were very pleased to support NextGen2015 latest annual event Costs Down, Value Up: Reviewing Connectivity Infrastructure Investment in the UK that took place last week.

Our Chairman, Richard Hooper, joined an extensive list of speakers including Anna Krzyżanowska – Head of the Broadband Unit at DG CONNECT, Edgar Aker – President FTTH Council Europe, Barney Lane -Director of Regulatory Affairs – Colt Technology Services and Mike Locke – Managing Director Satellite Internet. Richard’s speech, Is the UK on track to meet its digital needs, is replicated in full below.

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23 Oct 2015

First London connectivity rating scheme launched this week

In partnership with the Mayor of London, WiredScore launched yesterday the Connectivity Rating Scheme, designed to award commercial office buildings with a certification matching their connectivity capabilities. 4 awards can be attributed to the building, from meeting minimum standards (Certified), to meeting the needs of most commercial tenants (Silver), providing diverse internet connectivity (Gold) and providing best-class connectivity (Platinum).

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29 Sep 2015

Getting to the Internet of Everyone – still a work in progress

Every year the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, a body set up by the ITU and UNESCO in 2010, sets out its annual report on the state of the global broadband industry. The headline from this year’s was that outside of some pockets such as mobile broadband, overall growth in internet take-up and usage is slowing; a concern when by the end of this year just 43.4% of the global population will be online.

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