Broadband News & Mobile Broadband News

Ofcom has published maps of UK mobile broadband coverage which shows numerous mobile broadband ‘Not-Spots’.

These are areas of the country that either have very poor, or no access to mobile broadband services.

The research looked into the coverage provided by all the UK’s 3G networks like 3 and Orange and found East Anglia, the South West of England and Scotland to have the worst mobile broadband coverage.

In order to improve coverage the Government is aiming to free up more of the 3G spectrum. This follows a pledge it made in the recent Digital Britain report.

Ofcom has said that they will help with this goal whilst also conducting further research into the quality of mobile broadband services.

In a statement Ofcom said, “ Mobile network coverage in the UK is generally good but some problems persist, particularly in rural areas. Ofcom is focusing on persistent so-called ‘Not-Spot’ areas and working where it can to facilitate better mobile coverage”.

It is no big surprise that more people are starting to access the internet from their mobile phone or laptop using dongles or data cards. As technology has improved, the need to go online whilst out and about has become increasingly important. However, as Ofcom publishes maps of UK mobile broadband coverage, it is easy to see that not everyone is getting a reliable service.

Readers can check mobile broadband coverage at the Ofcom website or on our mobile broadband comparison page where mobile broadband packages from 3, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone and O2 are also compared.

Ofcom boss Ed Richards has backed the introduction of a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband, stating that it may even help to improve broadband speeds too.

It was Lord Carter, the Communications Minister and creator of the Digital Britain Report, who suggested that the introduction of a broadband USO would significantly help to improve broadband coverage within the UK.

Currently there is a USO obliging BT to connect every household to a landline, so the plan would be to extend this to broadband services aswell ensuring a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps.

Mr Richards said, “I think a broadband USO will make a significant contribution to filling in those gaps of availability and speed for a good basic level of service and this is a priority.”

Mr Richards continued, “There is almost no overstating how important it is to make sure we have the right circumstances for the next generation of broadband.”

As a follow up to his comments, the Country Land and Business Association stated that they were “delighted” that “the true picture of digital exclusion” had been addressed.

It is the people who live in more rural areas of the UK who have the main connection issues with more than 1,000 homes still having no broadband access.

Whilst the USO will not provide faster speeds directly, it will certainly help to lay the groundwork. A new generation of broadband access does need to be introduced and a USO takes this one step forward – with support from experts in the field.

As Lord Carter pushes to get broadband access into every UK home by 2012, Ofcom boss Ed Richards has revealed new figures which show that many people don’t actually want broadband in their homes.

Over 40% of the 25 million households within the UK do not currently have broadband access. There are varying reasons for this and it seems that more than half of them (55%) actually choose not to have the service in their home. This group of people are known as the “self excluded” group.

30% cannot afford to have broadband access in their homes and are known to be “financially excluded” while 15% cannot afford the service and don’t particularly want it either – the “duel excluded” households.

In his Digital Britain report, Lord Carter not only wants every home in the UK to have broadband access by 2012, he also wants them to have a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps.

Currently around 15% of UK homes (1.5 million households) are unable to receive the 2Mbps broadband download speed target.

Overall these figures show that whilst every UK home may have access to broadband (either fixed or mobile) in the future, there are many households that simply do not want it.

Either way, a lot of work still needs to be done to improve the UK’s broadband infrastructure to meet the expectations laid down in Lord Carter’s Digital Britain Report.

After it gave BT the go ahead for its new super-fast fibre optic broadband network, Ofcom is now urging more providers to make an investment.

Ofcom is hoping to increase broadband speeds to an average of 40Mbps across the whole country over the next few years and wants further investment in broadband networks to make this happen.

When talking about the changes in the regulation policies regarding broadband networks, the chief executive of Ofcom, Ed Richards, said:

“It will deliver significant benefits to consumers and businesses with the prospect of new digital services delivered over the internet at high speed.”

One way in which Ofcom is making it easier for broadband providers to invest is by letting them set their own price for wholesale broadband.

Usually Ofcom would interfere and set policies on how much each provider should charge – an action that has prevented suppliers from gaining as much profit back from their investment as they’d like.

However, with Ofcom now wanting to encourage broadband network growth, the regulations have been changed to benefit more providers.

In supporting this, Mr Richards said:

“Our message today is clear. There are no regulatory barriers in the way of investment in super-fast broadband. We want to promote investment but will also ensure that there is fair and effective competition for the future.”

Ofcom also proposed to help support industry developments and to continually review the market. However, they have admitted that they do not know how successful private investment would be.

Overall it is hoped that the changes in the regulations will encourage further private investment in the advanced broadband networks that are required for high-speed internet access in every UK home.

BT has been given the go ahead for its new super-fast fibre optic broadband network.

The network will cover 10 million British homes and it is set to offer speeds up to 20 times faster than the current 2Mbps average, with up to 100Mbps possible.

The Observer reports:

“After intense negotiations over the past few weeks, Ofcom will propose a new set of rules on Tuesday that will include a change in the way that BT’s networks business Openreach operates so it can start delivering broadband speeds up to 20 times faster than the current average.”

The new fibre optic broadband network will be constructed by BT over the next three years at a cost of £1.5bn. It will be made available to BT’s rivals, with Ofcom’s new rules enabling BT to profit from this.

BT’s broadband rival, Virgin Media, are already offering 50Mbps broadband speeds to customers in parts of the UK. The company also plans to upgrade around 2.6 million customers from their current 2Mbps speeds to 10Mbps absolutely free.

It is certainly great news for consumers, with BT’s new fibre optic broadband network also sure to spark competition from LLU providers like the Carphone Warehouse owned TalkTalk.

Overall over the next few years the UK’s broadband industry is set to undergo a huge restructure in order to bring it up to the government’s targets.

As BT prepares its new super-fast network, many consumers are set to benefit from new super-fast broadband access and services.