Review 2007: Telecoms and broadband

A look back at the stories making the headlines in telecommunications last year

Broadband is becoming a key economic driver

Broadband has become a vital driver of the UK economy and an enabler for a wide range of IT services. As telecoms firms move increasingly to IP networking, the world of communications and computers is finally converging.

We look back at the top stories in telecoms and broadband from 2007.

Click on the headlines to read the full story.

January

Growth of UK broadband connections slows

UK broadband connections are rose less quickly in 2006 than in 2005, according to research firm Point Topic.

Overall the connection level for the country's homes and businesses rose by 3.1 million to 13.1 million overall, 20 per cent lower than in 2005.

Telecom carriers at risk from the IP revolution

Over half of leading telecom carriers will not survive the IP revolution, according to analyst Gartner.

Mobile broadband, Internet Protocol (IP) technology and the aim to become full-service providers are driving telecom carriers to build non-core business units and over-investing in immature technologies.

February

Surrey County Council awards £18m telecoms contract

Surrey County Council has awarded an £18m contract to Cable & Wireless to supply managed telecoms services until 2013.

The agreement will commence in March 2008 and is an extension to an existing contract with the supplier signed in October 2001. It is the second time the contract has been extended.

The scope of the work includes managing the Surrey wide area network (Swan) and associated local area networks connecting over 24,000 people across 1,000 sites.

Twelve live in BT Wireless Cities programme

Telecoms giant BT has hit its target to provide wireless broadband access in 12 UK city centres.

Originally scheduled to go live March, five new Wireless City deployments went ahead this week in Sheffield, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Bristol, and Glasgow.

March

Broadband fling for Highlands
Scotland’s Highland Council has launched a £70m two-year investment programme to deliver broadband connections to its rural areas.

The Highlands and Islands Pathfinder project will provide broadband internet access to 850 public buildings including schools, local government and health services.

April

UK broadband needs help
The government must take action to ensure the UK's high-speed communications infrastructure meets future needs, says the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG).

Next-generation networks are critical to economic competitiveness but there is little prospect of the necessary upgrades being delivered by the current market structure, says the BSG annual report.

City of London turns on WiFi
Europe's most advanced outdoor WiFi network was switched on across the City of London on Monday.

More than 350,000 people who work in and visit the Square Mile area of the capital now have wireless broadband access.

May

Digital divide is narrowing in the UK

The geographic and age-related digital divide in the UK is disappearing, according to new figures from communications watchdog Ofcom.

The gap between the highest and lowest broadband-using countries has narrowed to just three percentage points from 12 points last year. Adoption of high-speed internet communications is highest in England at 45 per cent, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all at 42 per cent. Last year Wales and Northern Ireland trailed with 24 and 25 per cent respectively, to England’s 36 per cent, with 31 per cent takeup in Scotland.

June

Broadband uptake slows
UK broadband take-up has fallen below three million for the first time in three years, says research.

The number of new connections for the 12 months to March 2007 were only 2,995,000, the lowest since 2004, says telecoms consultancy Enders Analysis.

Royal Mail to deliver telecoms improvements

Royal Mail is planning to consolidate and transform its telecoms infrastructure to cut costs and improve flexibility.

The organisation has started a procurement process for the provision and management of its existing telecommunications services, and will examine how to transform its network, including the production and distribution of digital audio-visual content via media such as IPTV.

Royal Mail says the network services, including voice, data, fixed and mobile, must be able to meet its future requirements.

Global broadband lines reach 300 million
The total number of broadband lines around the world has reached 300 million, according to vendor Quantum Web.

The increase of 29.6 per cent from 231.5 million on 31 March 2006, is mainly due to high uptake in Asia-Pacific and Europe where there has been 30.5 per cent and 31.3 per cent growth respectively.

July

MPs raise concerns over Germany's broadband plans

MPs have expressed concerns over plans by the German government to restrict competition for high-bandwidth broadband.

According to the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, Germany plans to pass legislation that would allow its dominant telecoms supplier, Deutsche Telekom, a ‘regulatory holiday’ restricting local competition for broadband. Such a move would affect rivals such as BT seeking to win business in the country.

The AA drives ahead with voice and data convergence

The AA has upgraded its network and contact centre infrastructure to a converged voice and data system as part of a three-year network service deal.

Telecoms supplier Cable & Wireless has overseen the year-long replacement of legacy voice, data and contact centre networks with a single managed IP network platform.

August

Wireless market rules relaxed to promote growth
The European Commission is opening up the wireless technology market by discarding out-dated rules limiting the areas of available radio spectrum.

Next-generation wireless technologies such as BlackBerrys and smartphones work best over low frequencies that, until now, were reserved for GSM mobile phones. According to a statement last week, the Commission will allow new services to co-exist alongside GSM.

UK broadband failing to deliver speed

Broadband companies are not providing the connection speeds promised by their advertising.

A two-week investigation by consumer group Which? tested 300 connections promoted as offering speeds of up to 8 megabits per second (Mbit/s). The average connection rate was recorded as 2.7 Mbit/s, the slowest connection was 0.09 Mbit/s.

More than half of UK homes have broadband

More than half of UK households have broadband and effective competition is driving up speeds, according to telecoms watchdog Ofcom.

The average broadband speed at the end of last year was more than twice as fast as a year earlier. And by June 2007, the national average had risen again - up to 4.6 Mbit/s from 1.6 Mbit/s at the end of 2006, says the telecoms market report published by the regulator today.

Brussels wants Europe-wide mobile services

The European Commission is simplifying the regulation of next-generation mobile services to encourage the development of a Europe-wide market.

Brussels is proposing that rules governing satellite services such as mobile television be standardised, creating a single market for operators.

September

Irresistible charm of the media bundle

The UK communications market was worth in excess of £50bn in 2006 and more than half of households now have a high-speed internet connection, according to the latest official figures.

But as communications converge and the traditional distinctions between telecoms and media become blurred, business models in the sector are being forced to change.

Ofcom calls for debate on next-generation broadband

Communications regulator Ofcom has launched a consultation on the future of the UK’s broadband networks.

The watchdog wants to prepare for the growing demand for higher-speed services such as video streaming that will potentially stretch the current telecoms infrastructure to its limits.

UK needs broadband offensive
The government is calling a meeting of broadband industry stakeholders to ensure the UK keeps up with global competitors.

Next-generation internet access with speeds of up to 100Mbit/s is in creasingly available in other countries but only limited pilots are under way here.
Falling behind will damage UK business, competitiveness minister Stephen Timms told Computing.

Ofcom consulting on mobile spectrum

Communications regulator Ofcom is launching a consultation to consider opening up mobile phone network regulation to promote innovative services and increased competition.

Allowing wider access to the radio spectrum bands used by mobile phone operators could improve network coverage and allow broadband internet access on mobiles.

October

How will the UK match the world’s broadband elite?

The communications regulator Ofcom launched its consultation on the future of the UK’s next-generation broadband infrastructure last week.

Super-high-speed connections of up to 100Mbit/s are being rolled out in countries around the world. But the UK is lagging well behind the frontrunners.

EU digital divide is widening
Europe faces a growing digital divide between countries with widespread broadband access, and those without, according to the European Commission.

Across the region, average numbers of subscribers are rising. But the best performing – such as Denmark and the Netherlands – have around one third of the population using high-speed connections. Where at the bottom of the league table, Bulgaria has a penetration rate of only six per cent.

Digital switch offers boost to European coffers

Europe could see economic benefits of more than €20bn (£14bn) if the wireless spectrum made available by switching to digital broadcast services is used for mobile internet access, according to research.

In the UK, the switchover from analogue to digital-only television started in Whitehaven in Cumbria last week. Debates are now raging over potential uses of the freed-up bandwidth when it starts to be auctioned off by communications regulator Ofcom next year.

Post Office broadband targets silver surfers

The Post Office's broadband service will go live next week, with a core target audience of the over 50s and late adopters of internet technology.

Subscribers may pay for the service in cash at any of the UK's 14,000 local Post Offices, in an offering designed to appeal to low-income users and those previously discouraged by the perceived complications of card payments.

November

Chinese telecoms firm sets its sights on Europe
China’s second-largest telecoms company is setting up a London office to spearhead its expansion into the European market.

China Netcom (CNC) is not the first to set up shop in Europe ¬ - China Telecom has been here since 2004. And CNC is already a key partner for Western operators providing managed network services to multinationals with a presence in China.

BT continues growth in broadband and IT services

BT’s half-year results showed a revenue increase of three per cent to £10.1bn.
The telecoms provider showed growth in so-called "new wave" revenue generated from networked IT services and broadband.

New wave sales were 10 per cent higher than last year at £1.9bn, accounting for 38 per cent of the group’s revenue. Networked IT services revenue grew by 12 per cent to £1.1bn and broadband revenue increased by 12 per cent to £543m.

Telecoms watchdogs to gain new powers

The European Commission has unveiled plans to boost the powers of national telecommunications regulators.

Under the new proposals, watchdogs would gain the power to split up the business and network divisions of large service operators. But any decision to take such action would be watched over by a single Brussels-based regulator, the European Telecom Market Authority (ETMA).

Telecoms spending boosts UK R&D

Strong investment in the telecommunications sector has helped push the UK’s research and development (R&D) spending ahead of the global average.

Fixed-line telecoms reported the largest growth in annual funding as investment increased 54 per cent to £1.1bn, according to the 2007 R&D Scoreboard, published by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills this week.

Ofcom opens consultation on 900Mhz spectrum

Regulator Ofcom has launched a consultation on proposals to open up portions of radio spectrum as part of wider plans to boost competition.

The 900Mhz band is currently used by O2 and Vodafone for the provision of 2G mobile services, while Orange and T-Mobile have control of the 1800Mhz spectrum.
The telecoms watchdog plans to allow the bandwidth to be used for 3G services and other next generation technology such as mobile broadband.

December

More spectrum for wireless broadband

Unused parts of the radio spectrum are to be auctioned for provision of mobile broadband services, regulator Ofcom revealed today.

Bandwidth in the 10 GHz to 40 GHz range can carry large volumes of data over distances of up to 12km, making it ideally suited for sharing high-speed internet access between several adjacent buildings.

Ofcom embraces next-generation networks

Work to prepare the UK for next-generation telecoms networks will play a key role in Ofcom's policies for 2008 to 2009.

The regulator said that the further release of wireless radio spectrum will also be a priority in its activities for the months ahead. Bandwidth auctions are due to start from spring next year, and could result in widespread upgrades to the provision of mobile broadband across the country.

Digital inclusion worth €85bn
Digital inclusion such as ubiquitous broadband access and better web sites could be worth up to €85bn (£60bn) to the European economy over the next five years, according to Brussels.

Ministers from member state governments met in Lisbon this week to check progress towards the target to halve the estimated 200 million people without access to IT-enabled services by 2010.

ISPs urged to be honest about broadband speed
Broadband providers should adhere to a code of practice that allows customers to cancel their order if the line speed does not match up to its advertised bandwidth, according to an influential advisory group.

The Ofcom Consumer Panel has asked the communications regulator to produce a mandatory code of practice for ISPs to address consumer concerns over the difference between advertised line speeds and the service delivered.