UK broadband update September 2016

The Local Government Association (LGA) called for broadband speed information to be made available at individual premise rather than postcode level, in order to provide side by side comparisons of estimates of broadband speeds that providers could supply (also see this LGA briefing). This follows on from the LGA’s previous criticism of broadband advertising as misleading. Premise level broadband speed information is an aspect of the Digital Economy Bill (more background here) currently being debated in Parliament; also see coverage from the Telegraph.

The Scottish Government announced that the procurement for delivering 100% superfast (above 30Mbit/s) broadband access for Scotland will start within the next 12 months with the publication of a Prior Information Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). This will build on the investment in superfast broadband to date through the two Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programmes being run by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Scottish Government. It is estimated that there may be around 200-000 — 300,000 premises that are not reached by these two previous programmes.

ISP Review published findings from  a new survey revealing that UK broadband users want faster upload speeds: 37.7% of respondents claimed they need an upload speed of 20Mbit/s or more. Awareness of upload speeds has also grown: 93.7% of respondents knew what their current upload speed was, up from 42% in 2014 (which was also when 58.5% of respondents did not view upload speed as an important part of how they used the Internet).

The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) published a statement that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s claim that UK had “the slowest and most expensive broadband in the OECD” was incorrect: “The OECD data clearly demonstrates that UK broadband penetration rates, prices and speeds rank highly among developed countries and the statistics have not yet recognised the significant investments from ISPA members, who use a range of technologies to deliver superfast connectivity."

The Independent Networks Cooperative Association (INCA) published a new report setting out a target that 80% of UK premises should have a fibre to the premise (FTTP) connection by 2026. The report, Building Gigabit Britain, highlights the increasingly important role of alternative network providers (altnets) in delivering FTTP services: altnets are forecast to pass 4.9m premises, or 18% of the UK population, with FTTP by 2020, estimated at 1.5m more premises than BT and Virgin’s networks combined.

TalkTalk reported findings from a new survey in which half of respondents regarded upgrading Britain’s national broadband network as the Government’s highest infrastructure priority, ahead of a new runway for an airport in the South East of England, HS2 or Hinkley PointC. The announcement was in support of the “Fix Britain’s Internet” campaign.