Companies news May 2016

BT developments: BT announced a £6 billion capital investment over the next three years in the first phase of a plan to extend both superfast broadband and 4G coverage to beyond 95% of the UK by 2020. The announcement accompanied its results for the fourth quarter and year to 31st March 2016. Ultrafast broadband will be deployed to a minimum of ten million homes and businesses in the same period, subject to regulatory support, with an ambition to reach twelve million. There will be an increased focus on fibre to the premises (FTTP) technology, with the aim being to reach two million premises, mainly in new housing developments, high streets and business parks. Earlier in the year Ofcom called for “a strategic shift to large scale fibre deployment” in the recommendations from its Strategic Review of Digital Communications; also see commentary from the Telegraph.

The Federation of Communication Services, whose members include Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone, sent an open letter to Ofcom CEO Sharon White setting out a ten point proposal for reforming Openreach to serve UK consumers and businesses better. The proposal includes establishing Openreach as a legally separate company with its own independent board and the establishment of an independent body to oversee transition and act as an adjudicator.

ISP Review reported on BT’s plans for further trials of G.fast technology, which will be rolled out to cover 25,000 premises in Cambridgeshire and Kent this summer (more background on G.fast here) and also on BT’s new fibre optic trials, one delivering 2 Tbit/s over a 727km live core network link between London and Dublin and the other delivering 5.6 Tbit/s via a single optical fibre. Cable reported that BT has installed fibre broadband cabinet in the basement of the Brewhouse Yard development in Clerkenwell. This approach could bring connectivity to a number of inner city not-spots, where crowded pavements, closing and digging up roads, connecting a power supply and getting access to private land can impede conventional superfast deployments.

CityFibre developments: the Telegraph and ISP Review reported that CityFibre is in discussion with BT to explore the use of BT ducts and poles in its fibre optic deployment in Southend on Sea announced in March of this year. ISP Review also reported that CityFibre has partnered with ISPs Northampton-based DBfB and Bradford-based Exa Networks to offer services in Milton Keynes and Northampton.

Virgin Media developments: the company reported its preliminary Q1 2016 results and also announced that it will provide ultrafast connectivity to nearly 1,500 businesses in Leeds city centre via a package specifically designed to support the connectivity needs of businesses based in multi-tenanted buildings. Virgin Media also announced 10 communities that will benefit from ultrafast broadband this year as part of its Supercharging Local Communities initiative.

Other companies news this month:

• The European Commission announced that it had blocked Hutchison's proposed acquisition of O2, on the grounds that “UK mobile customers would have had less choice and paid higher prices as a result of the takeover, and that the deal would have harmed innovation in the mobile sector.” More background here; see also this fact sheet and statement by Commissioner Vestager on the decision.
• euNetworks announced the expansion of its Media Connect solution (which packages connectivity and cloud access capabilities) into Manchester’s MediaCityUK, “delivering long haul DWDM network diversity between London and Manchester as well as direct connection to Europe from Manchester.”
• ISP Review reported on progress in Aylesbury Vale Broadband’s 300 Mbit/s capable fibre to the home (FTTH) broadband pilot in the village of Granborough. The project is supported by Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC).