UK broadband update May 2016

This month saw the State Opening of Parliament for the 2016-17 session; the Queen’s speech sets out the government’s agenda for the coming session, outlining proposed policies and legislation. This included details of the Digital Economy Bill which aims to make the UK a world leader in digital provision. Key elements of the Bill include:

• The introduction of a new Broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) of at least 10Mbit/s initially (more background on recent USO developments here); it’s anticipated that there will be a reasonable cost threshold for the USO above which the very remotest properties may be expected to contribute to installation costs (this aspect has prompted considerable media coverage this month, particularly in the Telegraph as part of its Better Broadband campaign).
• A new Electronic Communications Code to cut the cost and simplify the building of mobile and superfast broadband infrastructure.
• New and simpler planning rules for building broadband infrastructure.
• New measures to empower consumers, in relation to aspects such as transparency, switching and compensation.

The Bill also includes new measures to protect intellectual property and promote the use of data by government to deliver better public services and to produce world-leading research and statistics.

Also this month the government:

• Set out its proposals for a new Electronic Communications Code as referenced in the Queen’s speech; reforms include changes to the rights communications providers have to access land, moving to a system similar to that used by providers of other utilities such as water and power. The changes are intended to encourage further investment and to make it easier and more cost effective for digital communications providers to deploy and maintain the UK’s digital infrastructure. The new regime will be implemented through primary legislation as soon as possible.
• Published a call for evidence for the review of business broadband it announced earlier this year. The review is investigating the broadband speeds businesses need both now and in the future, barriers to affordable, high speed broadband for businesses and the role of leased lines. Responses from both businesses and providers of communications services to businesses are invited by 3rd June 2016.
• Published its latest Broadband Performance Indicator, presenting data on the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) superfast broadband programme: 3,840,643 premises had a superfast broadband service made available by the end of March 2016 as a result of BDUK-supported projects (also see related data from ThinkBroadband). BDUK also announced briefing sessions in anticipation of a forthcoming state aid decision on BDUK’s National Broadband Scheme and the local authority procurements to extend superfast broadband coverage that will follow shortly after (more background on this here).

Other UK broadband news this month:

• The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed the strengthening of its approach to fixed broadband price claims in advertising to avoid customers being misled.  The new approach will come into force on 31st  October 2016 (more on this here and here).
• The Local Government Association called for flexibility in the government’s approach to delivering the broadband USO; its Up to Speed campaign flags concerns that the proposed 10Mbit/s minimum may soon become outdated and also highlights the importance of upload speeds and other broadband performance metrics beyond headline speeds.
• In a blog post the European Commission responded to claims in the Telegraph that EU state aid rules have hampered the roll-out of broadband in the UK, citing the rollout of high-speed broadband across Europe as one of the Commission’s priorities under its Digital Single Market strategy (also see commentary from ISP Review).