EU refuses to mandate broadband for all
News The EU announced the universal service obligation that currently covers fixed landline telecoms - ensuring every European has access to landline service if they want it - won't be extended to cover broadband and mobile services.
[April 13, 2006, 10:00]
Gov't confusion over national 2Mbps commitment
Blog It will be the universal service obligation and I feel confident that we will be able to ensure that 2Mbps is available everywhere," Timms said. Later in the conference, Derek Wyatt MP - the head of the All-Party Communications Group (apComm...
[October 15, 2009, 16:07]
Rupert Goodwins' diary
Blog Introduce a universal service obligation and say that, while it doesn't matter how it's done, anyone subscribing to telephone service is entitled as part of that service to have a broadband option at a reasonable price.
[April 12, 2001, 16:47]
Rocky road ahead for Ofcom
News The government has scrapped plans for Ofcom to set up a Universal Service Obligation for the delivery of broadband services in the UK but believes a strategy to ensure "widespread availability of broadband" is necessary.
[January 23, 2001, 10:35]
BT justifies broadband plans
News Andradi ruled out the possibility of making nationwide ADSL rollout part of its universal service obligation. Oftel is currently consulting industry about whether BT's universal service obligation should be extended to broadband, but Andradi...
[October 17, 2000, 8:19]
Government 'interested' in universal broadband
News The day we start seriously discussing universal service obligation for broadband is the day we have achieved a successful mass-market product," Walker told the conference. Speaking on Tursday at Building Broadband Britain, a conference organised by...
[November 22, 2002, 11:28]
Communications Bill ignores broadband
News As the government said in the Communications white paper, "The case for a universal obligation to ensure everyone has access to more rapid digital services may, however, become more compelling as the roll out of these services accelerates and as...
[May 8, 2002, 17:16]
Ofcom needs more broadband clout, say MPs
News Another committee member, John Robertson, MP for Glasgow Anniesland, also proposed that the universal service conditions clause should be changed to include an obligation to provide "affordable access to services on ever-greater bandwidth.
[January 7, 2003, 16:28]
AOL fights MPs over rural broadband
News Internet service provider AOL clashed with an influential committee of MPs on Thursday morning, rejecting suggestions that telecommunications firms have a social obligation to provide broadband connections to rural areas when it isn't yet...
[June 13, 2002, 16:41]
UK's minimum Net speed creeps up
News At 28.8Kbps, the new obligation is only around half the speed of most narrowband modems, which typically have a theoretical maximum speed of 56Kbps but deliver closer to 40Kbps. The regulator announced on Wednesday that it is extending the...
[July 23, 2003, 15:42]
Experts: Broadband access is priority over fibre
News The interim report, expected to be published later this week, is rumoured to include a proposal to make broadband part of the universal service obligation that currently requires all UK households have access to a fixed telephone landline and...
[January 27, 2009, 7:51]
Government announces broadband investment
Blog UPDATE: Looking at the Budget report, it appears that the government has committed to the 2Mbps universal service obligation, although further details will only be available in the final Digital Britain report.
[April 22, 2009, 13:24]
Vodafone and O2 could share networks
Blog It also means overall coverage is improved in terms of quality and, potentially, extent - a very important factor when taking into consideration the role that mobile networks are being asked by the government to play in fulfilling the universal...
[March 12, 2009, 14:44]
Carphone Warehouse rapped over 'two-tier pricing'
News The spokesperson continued: "From the regulatory point of view, there is currently no universal service obligation [USO] on providers when it comes to broadband… unlike in fixed-landline calls, for example," adding that it would be for the...
[May 29, 2007, 12:22]
Broadband's inspectors sport varied track records
News Lansley argued that such a move could actually make it harder for the government to eventually impose a universal service obligation that would force telcos to make broadband available to all. The latest group of MPs to put the Broadband Britain...
[September 16, 2003, 18:30]
