News

The news follows BT’s initial launch of the content delivery solution in December 2023 

BT and Edgio have announced the launch of the world’s first Multicast-Assisted Unicast Delivery (MAUD)-enabled Content Delivery Network (CDN).  

The partnership aims to improve the delivery of live television over the internet, by offering benefits such as cost reduction, enhanced content quality, scalability, and more sustainable streaming. 

Edgio, integrating its CDN with BT Group’s MAUD technology, will be the first to implement this solution in a live environment. The companies plan to trial the delivery of EE TV content on selected set-top boxes within the live network in the coming months. 

MAUD combines multiple streams into a single ‘multicast’ in the core of the network, which is then converted back into single streams to serve individual customer. In this way, MAUD improves the efficiency of live streaming over the internet, giving a more reliable user experience. 

For CDN operators like Edgio, MAUD will be particularly impactful for for live streaming TV, reducing the impact of other internet traffic and ensuring consistent content quality, especially during large-scale events with more viewers. 

According to BT, MAUD technology requires up to 50% less bandwidth during peak events, reducing strain on the network and energy consumption, as well as removing the need for extensive hardware. Content providers can integrate with the MAUD-enabled CDN without needing to modify their existing player applications. 

“Our collaboration with Edgio represents an important step in developing an efficient live streaming solution that aligns with the needs of content delivery networks. By integrating MAUD with CDNs, we aim to provide a practical solution for content providers,” said Howard Watson, Chief Security and Networks Officer at BT. 

“The partnership allows us to deliver more consistent and high-quality experiences to our clients, particularly in markets with diverse network solutions,” said Emma Whitmore, Group Vice President EMEA at Edgio. 

Join BT at this year’s Connected Britain, 11-12 September in London. Get tickets here 

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News 

On Day 1 of Connected Britain (September 11), ten startups from the Startup Village will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, including investors and industry experts. The winner will be awarded the Connected Britain 2024 Startup of the Year Award at the prestigious Connected Britain Awards ceremony later that evening.

After a competitive first round of judging, here are the ten startups shortlisted from the 90 attending the show this year! 

Connected
Specialising in advanced building management solutions, the company focuses on integrating technology to enhance the efficiency and functionality of commercial spaces. Their offerings include smart building technologies for managing lighting, heating, cooling, and security, all designed to be energy-efficient and user-friendly. 

ZIM Connections
This eSIM marketplace provides a variety of affordable data plans for over 190 countries. The platform allows users to compare, select, and purchase eSIM plans in three steps, simplifying international travel by eliminating roaming fees and ensuring global connectivity. 

yWe Media
Based in Oxford, yWe Media focuses on ethical digital solutions in media and audio. It offers privacy-friendly products such as cookie-free analytics and customisable podcast hosting. The company emphasizes ethical data usage and helping businesses avoid reliance on large corporations. 

EV Mobiliti
Providing comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) solutions, EV Mobiliti offers services including public and rapid charging, charge station booking, and consultancy. Its MELT system prevents internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles from blocking EV charging slots, and their priority booking service enhances charging efficiency and revenue for charge station operators. 

Appella AI
This startup delivers AI-powered voice assistants designed to boost customer service for businesses. Its solutions handle call routing, FAQ answering, appointment scheduling, and real-time transcription. With a focus on data security and customisation, Appella AI integrates with over 100 apps to align with specific business needs while ensuring accurate and reliable AI interactions. 

Thinking Machine
An AI-driven platform aimed at mid-to-large enterprises, Thinking Machine optimises telecom and IT procurement costs. The platform continuously audits contracts and invoices to identify savings opportunities, reduce hidden costs, and streamline vendor management, providing immediate financial benefits without complex integrations. 

Qomodo
Focusing on cybersecurity, Qomodo offers solutions for identity verification and fraud prevention. Its tools ensure secure and seamless online transactions, helping businesses mitigate risks associated with identity theft and fraud. It provides real-time identity verification, user authentication, and risk assessment to enhance trust and safety in digital interactions. 

Halleyx
Specialising in advanced logistics and supply chain solutions, Halleyx offers a platform that optimises and streamlines logistics operations. Its tools enable real-time tracking, management, and analysis of supply chains, enhancing efficiency and transparency for businesses. 

Lumilinks
Founded in 2018 and based in Cambridge, Lumilinks helps organisations effectively use their data. Led by data science expert Dr. Tim Drye, the company offers services such as data storage, visualisation, and analysis. They transform complex data into understandable charts and graphs and use advanced techniques like machine learning to predict future trends. 

Polaris Safety 

Polaris is a live GPS-sharing public safety app. It acts as “digital North Star” for humans globally, starting from women and girls. IT does this by providing AI-powered self-protection features, connecting users to 24/7 multilingual helplines, and digitally integrating with user’s local emergency institutes. 

Watch these amazing startups present their business cases on the Innovate Britain stage on September 11 at Connected Britain! Tickets for Connected Britain 2024 are still available here 

Network operator FullFibre Limited (Fibre Heroes), which has already extended their open access Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGSPON) broadband network to cover 380,000 UK premises (up from 339k in May 2024), have today made a faster 2.3Gbps (symmetric speed) tier available to their partner ISPs for consumers and businesses to take.

The underlying full fibre network typically covers 170 towns across parts of Derbyshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire in England.

The operator’s growing network is also supported by a number of retail ISPs, such as BeFibre, Link Broadband, iDNET, Squirrel Internet, Octaplus, Fusion Fibre, TalkTalk, Direct Save Telecom Home Telecom and more. But until now the fastest packages that those providers could sell went up to a maximum speed of 1Gbps (1000Mbps).

However, over the past few months we’ve seen a number of network operators launch 2Gbps or faster tiers, which have today been joined by a new 2.3Gbps tier from FullFibre. This is now available to the “majority of FullFibre’s existing 380,000+ premises” footprint, with plans to enhance additional GPON areas “soon“.

Matt Baker, Head of Wholesale at FullFibre, told ISPreview:

“With FullFibre largely building in areas traditionally served by older infrastructure, the introduction of our 2.3Gb symmetric service offers an exciting new option for both businesses and consumers. This new level of performance is designed to meet the growing demands for high-speed, reliable broadband connectivity, enabling businesses to run critical services more effectively and efficiently.”

At the time of writing there don’t appear to be any live retail packages available at this speed on their network, although that will no doubt change. Looking ahead, the network operator said they’re “on track” to reach 400,000 premises Ready For Service (RFS) in the “second half of this year“.

In addition, today’s announcement also reveals that Cumbria-based wholesale (aggregator) connectivity provider IP River have also joined their network.

Interview

Following rural ISP Quickline’s recent success in securing its fourth round of government funding earlier this month, Total Telecom sat down with CEO Sean Royce to discuss all things rural broadband 

Founded in 2006, Quickline’s mission is to get rural communities connected “to a world of possibilities,” according to the website. The company is based in East Yorkshire and focuses on connecting local communities in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire with fixed wireless access and, more recently, full fibre technology. 

The company today serves “more than half a million homes”, a figure which is set to increase quickly thanks to a new £250 million debt facility package secured earlier this month. The funding, which takes the form of a £125 million term loan, a £100 million debt guarantee, and a £25 million term loan provided by NatWest, will reportedly allow Quickline to expand its network to 190,000 additional locations. 

“UKIB and NatWest, who we’ve done the deal with, they see the opportunity in rural areas – they see that these areas are being left behind,” explained Quickline CEO Sean Royce, who joined the company back in 2021. “They’re seeing an operator who was laser focused about trying to build where nobody else is building. And that’s really important point today in the UK.”  

Royce joined the company as Managing Director in 2021, having spent over 30 years at Hull based ISP KCOM. In 1999, KCOM was floated on the stock exchange, and was the most successful float of that year, at the height of the dot com bubble. Royce oversaw KCOM’s completion of Hull’s whole fibre rollout, which remains the only city in the UK where full fibre is ubiquitously available.  

 A challenging broadband market 

The new funding no doubt comes as welcome relief for Quickline in a market that has seen its purse strings tighten in recent years, following a surge of investment at the start of the decade.  

 “It is a very, very difficult sector right now. Sentiment is poor in the fibre sector particularly,” said Royce, noting that capital was much more available four years ago and investors less risk averse.  

“Money was cheap and there was lots of it around […] There was this opportunity to build full fibre networks in the UK because the incumbent was distracted with BT support and buying EE. They won’t say that, but that’s exactly what they were doing!” 

This positive financial environment saw the rise of over 100 altnets across the UK, which today serve roughly 2 million customers.  

The boom of investment was not to last long, however. In the past two years, interest rates have soared and altnet investment has largely dried up as a result.  

“Investors get nervous about returns in a market like that,” said Royce. 

Full fibre and the rural divide 

Today, around 65% of the UK has access to full fibre connectivity, a figure that is rising steadily thanks to the efforts of Openreach, Virgin Media O2, and the altnet community. The vast majority of these deployments are in population-dense urban areas where deploying infrastructure can be more cost effective. Rural areas, on the other hand, typically represent a far less appealing prospect for operators, with deployments being more expensive and logistically challenging for far fewer potential customers. 

This lack of quality connectivity in small communities, Royce says, can be hugely detrimental, even resulting in their complete abandonment in some cases.  

This is especially true for communities smaller than villages, such as tiny hamlets already lacking nearby access to services like GPs, banks, and public services.  

“These little villages will wither and die, and we’re trying to regenerate the rural north of England. The first building that Quickline connected (in Escrick, North Yorkshire) did not even have mains gas!” joked Royce. 

Deploying fibre under these conditions comes with a considerable number of challenges, from working on difficult terrain to the red tape associated with crossing privately owned land. This means Quickline’s build rate is never going to achieve the same speed as its more urban-focussed rivals – Openreach, for example, regularly passes 40,000 additional premises a week.  

Nonetheless, Royce notes that progress remains steady, with Quickline expecting to pass between 500 to 1,000 rural premises a month. 

Perhaps even more important is that, in 9 out of 10 of these locations passed, Quickline is the only provider to offer gigabit capable connectivity.  

For Royce, this hints at a potential future for the broadband industry where – following considerable consolidation – the market is split into a small number of national players and rural broadband specialists. 

Transforming communities beyond connectivity 

Beyond simply rolling out broadband infrastructure to rural locations, a large part of Quickline’s business is engaging with and improving the communities they serve; in fact, Quickline has an internal team fully dedicated to this purpose. It has a company programme, aimed at supporting and sustaining rural communities by investing in their future. Named QFutures, it is focussed on three Es: education, enriching livelihoods, and the environment. It has brought over £13 million in social value to the two counties in which Quickline operates in the last year. 

“It’s not just is a couple of apprenticeships and a few laptops,” Royce jokes. Earlier this month, for example, Quickline announced a £150,000 partnership with The Prince’s Trust, a charity founded by the King that supports young people facing challenges such as unemployment. Over the next three years, Quickline’s investment will support a range of programmes, equipping young people in South Yorkshire with digital skills to further their chances of employment. 

The Road Ahead for Rural Connectivity 

As the UK continues to grapple with the digital divide between urban and rural areas, Quickline is positioning itself as a critical player in bridging that gap. 

The future of rural connectivity will depend on a combination of continued investment from both public and private sectors, technological innovation, and strategic partnerships across the industry. As these dynamics evolve, the extent to which rural areas can keep pace with their urban counterparts will be a key factor in shaping the UK’s digital landscape. 

Join Sean Royce speaking on the ‘Customer uptake’ panel at this year’s Connected Britain, 11-12 September in London. Tickets are available here.  

News

President Joe Biden and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi both made mention of rural broadband at the Democratic National Convention

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

President Joe Biden’s ‘Internet for All’ initiative took center stage this week at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, even eliciting a mention from the president himself.

Biden addressed the convention on Monday night, laying out a case for the presidential candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris. While doing so, the president highlighted his efforts over the past four years.

He said his administration has given America an “infrastructure decade.”

“We’re modernizing our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports, our trains, our busses,” he said. “We’re removing every lead pipe from schools and homes, so every child can drink clean water. We’re providing affordable, high-speed internet for every American, no matter where they live.”

Biden said the efforts to provide internet to all Americans were “not unlike what (President Franklin Delano) Roosevelt did with electricity.”

The president also argued that his programs have “delivered more to red states than blue.”

On Wednesday night, as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi took the stage, rural broadband got yet another high-profile mention.

Pelosi, who represents California’s 11th congressional district, called Biden’s presidency one of the most successful of modern times.

“We quickly proved that Democrats deliver,” she said. “Millions of jobs, stronger infrastructure on rural broadband, a Biden child tax credit, rescuing human pensions, honoring our veterans, bold climate action, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, all thanks to President Biden’s patriotic vision of a fairer America.”

Federal efforts to support rural broadband expansion stem from the passage off the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. The law included more than $42 billion in appropriations for broadband spending with the creation of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

So far, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has approved dozens of initial proposals from states and territories. The approvals, which are continuing on a rolling basis, allow states and territories the ability to request access to federal funds allocated under the BEAD program.

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A specialist broadband provider for the UK education market, Talk Straight (aka – Schools Broadband), has today announced that they’ve successfully completed the 100% cash acquisition of the share capital of E2BN Protex Ltd, trading as Internet4Schools.

Both providers appear to serve some of the same market, although Internet4Schools has tended to focus more on the East Midlands region. The Talk Straight Group state the new deal will thus support their strategic growth plan, which aims to turn them into the largest provider of WAN, ISP, safeguarding, and security services to schools across the UK.

The Talk Straight Group, which currently encompasses Talk Straight Ltd, Trust IT Ltd and United Networks Ltd, has a turnover of £13.5m and supports more than 3,000 schools, as well as 275 Multi Academy Trusts nationwide.

David Tindall, Founder and CEO of Talk Straight Group, said:

“We are thrilled to welcome E2BN Protex Ltd and its Internet4schools brand into the Talk Straight Group of companies. There is a significant synergy between our organizations, and we eagerly anticipate integrating their schools into our robust national education network.

From the moment I met with Kathy Olsson and Philip Pearce, the Directors of E2BN Protex Ltd, it was evident that their team would be an ideal fit for our group. Their extensive experience in the Education ISP and safeguarding industry will undoubtedly add substantial value to our services.”

E2BN will continue to operate independently of this transaction, offering schools professional development and procurement advice through its Everything ICT framework.

Customers of Hampshire-based UK ISP Onestream, which sells broadband packages using Openreach’s national full fibre network, have criticised the provider after they claim to have been automatically opted-in to take a service from VPN firm NordVPN that indicated they could be charged an extra £4.95 per month if they don’t opt out.

ISPreview’s readers will note that we covered this announcement last week (here), although the press release didn’t include any solid details on either the “discounted rate” that customers were to be offered for NordVPN or how its implementation would be handled. But Onestream soon began emailing customers with more information, and that’s when the complaints started.

The email revealed that Onestream’s partnership with NordVPN would form part of a “30-day free trial” that had already “started“, after which the service would be charged at £4.95 per month. Customers were then invited to click the ‘Get Started‘ button in the email in order to setup the service.

The bottom of the email also included a cancellation link for those who “want to end your free trial“. Suffice to say that the language seemed to suggest that those contacted had already “started” the trial and would need to specifically select to cancel it in order to avoid being charged, after 30-days had passed. Hard luck if you overlooked or skipped the email, assuming it to be just another one of those ignorable upsell promotions that ISPs often run.

Partial Copy of the Email

Some customers who went on to query all this with Onestream’s support staff via Live Chat were again informed that they’d been automatically opted-in to the trial (i.e. suggesting they’ll face that extra £4.95 charge at the end of the trial period) and, if you want out, then you’ll have to specifically select to cancel the service (see here and here).

This also appears to be echoed via the related NordVPN support page on their website (emphasis on the “do not activate” below):

Extract from Onestream’s Support Page (NordVPN)

What happens if I do not activate my trial?

At the end of your free trial, you will be charged £4.95 per month. This will show on your bill each month and can be cancelled anytime in the services area of your MyAccount portal.

In addition, the bottom of the original email states: “NordVPN is not tied to your broadband services with Onestream, should you ever leave Onestream for your broadband service, we will continue to provide you with your NordVPN service until such time as you instruct us to cancel it.” Related complaints about all this soon arrived in our inbox, as well as via social media (examples here, here, here and here).

Sample Customer Complaint 1

“Just got the email and it infers that they have signed you up automatically and will also automatically start charging you every month on your bill unless you unsubscribe.

Surely this is illegal? Things like this should be opt-in not opt-out right?

Even if it’s not setup that way, the email and the help pages certainly make it seem that way.”

Sample Customer Complaint 2

“I contacted customer services and it seems that customers are opted in. When I queried it they said I had to opt out (even though I hadn’t clicked the button in the e-mail). They directed me to cancel NordVPN in ‘My Account’. Very concerning.”

Sample Customer Complaint 3

“Just had the same email from onestream. Signed me up for a free one month trial of NordVPN without asking and then charge me £4.95 a month if I don;t cancel. Surely this is against the rules.”

Sample Customer Complaint 4

“WTH! The company that provides my friend’s internet just signed up every customer of theirs for a recurring subscription to NordVPN for [£4.95 per month]. EVEN IF you cancel your internet, you separately need to cancel this NordVPN subscription you never consented to.”

In the UK, telecoms providers generally cannot just opt residential consumers into an extra service at a cost without your explicit consent (note: the rules for business services are a bit more.. flexible). Doing so could potentially violate consumer protection laws, specifically the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which specifies that any additional charges must be clearly communicated and agreed upon by the customer.

If you find that you’ve been opted into a service without your consent, you have the right to dispute the charge and request a refund. Should the provider decline, then the case can be elevated to their Ofcom approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider (i.e. the Communications Ombudsman) – see Onestream’s Complaints Policy. Sending a complaint to Trading Standards is another option.

In this case, there is an ability to cancel, so the above is seemingly more applicable to those who might find they’ve been charged in the future, such as after ignoring or overlooking the original email. This is why it’s always a good idea to review your bills regularly and contact your provider if you notice any unexpected charges.

Naturally, we attempted to query these concerns with Onestream and received the following response, which stated that the offer was “initially made … exclusively to a limited number of qualifying customers” and that no customer data has been shared with NordVPN. The ISP added that the customer then has to “choose to activate the offer” by clicking the link in their email.

A Spokesperson for Onestream told ISPreview:

“This offer is designed to give Onestream customers the opportunity to benefit from additional security and protection from cyber threats.

Onestream have initially made the offer exclusively to a limited number of qualifying customers, before the service goes fully live on September 1.

No Onestream customer data has been shared with NordVPN. Onestream provides a single click link for customers to choose to activate the offer, at which point they agree to send their email address to NordVPN so they can receive their licence key.

There is no contracted period, and Onestream pay the full costs of the free trial.

Customers can call, email, chat or login to their Onestream account at any time to cancel.

Onestream is committed to compliance with all relevant consumer protection and data protection legislation. If any customer feels they have been unfairly charged, we would encourage them to contact us.”

As the language in Onestream’s official response doesn’t completely clear up some of the confusion, we then asked the provider to clarify – twice – whether customers who see the email but do nothing (i.e. ignore or overlook it) will ever face any charge(s) for the service after the first 30-days have passed. The provider did not give a simple Yes or No response and instead reiterated the following.

A Spokesperson for Onestream added:

“Customers are informed that the service is free for the first month and given an activation link so they can enjoy the benefits of the VPN. There is also a clear invitation to cancel if they do not wish to receive the service.

Onestream pays for the first month for the customer and there is no obligation for them to keep the service – they can cancel at any time. There is no contract.

Onestream is committed to meeting its obligations under the Consumer Rights Act and any customer who has a billing query is invited to contact Onestream directly.”

Some of those who complained have also raised their concerns with NordVPN directly. A support agent for the VPN provider has since told them: “We wanted to let you know that we are in contact with Onestream and collecting additional details to understand the issue better. All of our resell partners must rely on lawful and ethical means to sell Nord products. If that is not the case here, we will make sure to get it right.”

Finally, Ofcom said they would investigate the complaints. The regulator does have relevant enforcement powers under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and the related Digital Markets Competition and Consumer (DMCC) Act (which will repeal and replace the CPRs) to examine and stop any offending practice, although it’s not yet clear if that will be needed.

A Spokesperson for Ofcom told ISPreview:

“These reports are concerning, and we will be raising this with Onestream. The practice of automatically opting customers into a service without their agreement and later charging for it if they do not cancel is known as inertia selling, and consumer legislation expressly prohibits this.”

UPDATE 9:31am

Onestream has now informed ISPreview that “nobody has been charged and nobody will be charged unless they opt in“, which is hopefully something that any future emails and customer support agents will now similarly be reflecting to those who contact them about it.

A recent ruling by the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) in London means that UK mobile and broadband operators will effectively have to pay landowners of rural greenfield mast sites significantly more to place their masts, with the typical rental for such sites being expected to rise from £750 to £1,750 per year.

In the past it was often landowners that would extract highly lucrative rental agreements in return for allowing telecoms operators to deploy infrastructure on their land (e.g. mobile masts, trenches for optical fibre etc.). But this often made it too expensive for network operators to expand their coverage as much as they would have liked and thus inhibited the roll-out of new services.

The government attempted to correct this in 2017 by revising the Electronic Communications Code (ECC) to make it easier and cheaper for operators to access public or private land (here). But that initially swung the problem in the other direction (here and here) and resulted in some providers, particularly mobile operators, trying to force the adoption of dramatically lower rents (sometimes slashing rents worth thousands to just a few tens of pounds).

Since then various tribunal rulings and wider political efforts have been made to find a fairer balance, which has had some modest success (here and here), although experiences do vary. The latest case, which concerned the renewal of a lease for an existing site – at Vache Farm near Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire (AP Wireless were the landlord) – that EE and Three UK were using (tenants), feeds into all that.

The site itself has three-phase power and two separate fibre optic connections for backhaul data capacity. The equipment on site is a 20 metre high lattice steel mast, standing on concrete, to which are fixed a number of antennae and microwave dishes. At ground level several cabins house electricity and telecommunications apparatus. The site is used for mobile network services operated by all four primary providers.

In terms of the rental value for such sites, a previous decision by the Upper Tribunal over a similar site (Dale Park) in 2020 had pegged the figure at around £750 per year. Telecoms operators have since taken this as somewhat of a standard level, while landowners that challenged it were often faced with the high risk and expense of needing to go to a tribunal. But the new case has hand landlords another modest victory.

Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) Ruling

The more onerous burdens accepted by a landlord entering into a lease of the Site on the new terms, by comparison with an agreement for a noise monitoring or similar low intensity or passive site, are: the potential difficulty of regaining possession for redevelopment at a site which enjoys statutory security of tenure; greater regular access by multiple operators and the anticipation of significant additional access and activity involved with future upgrade work; the rights to use adjacent land for set-down and to undertake tree lopping. We agree with Mr Williams that a landlord would take a high level view of them, rather than make a detailed assessment. However, we consider that he has been over generous in his assessment of a high level adjustment of £1,350, on top of £500 for size, especially having accepted that his base level of rent would already account for some benefits and burdens.

We nevertheless give weight to Mr Williams’ opinion because of his extensive and relevant experience in the rural market, and we use our own experience of that market in making this determination. We are persuaded that the Tribunal’s earlier figure of £750 was too low and should be reconsidered, not only because of inflation but in the light of the evidence of non-telecommunications transactions for unexceptional rural sites. That material, heavily adjusted though it necessarily is having regard to the artificial paragraph 24 hypothesis under which the valuation must be carried out, enables us to conclude that the appropriate annual consideration for a rural mast site is £1,750.

We do not consider it necessary to update the table of figures in Affinity in January 2022, nor to identify any particular relativity between consideration for rural sites and those in other situations, other than to reiterate the impact of inflation on figures determined in previous years.

The decision isn’t merely about one single site and could open the door to a review of many prior rental agreements, such as for the original Dale Park decision in 2020 and all those that followed it. The tribunal also appears to be suggesting that inflation should apply to the agreed rents, which is a view that could be applied to different site types too.

Paul Williams of Carter Jonas (witness for APW in the case) said:

“Not only did the tribunal agree that the Dale Park decision needed to be looked at again, but it also informed us that the door isn’t shut if new evidence which does not offend the statutory basis of value for telecoms emerges. Aside from market evidence, the tribunal also sent a clear message that inflation should apply, including to those for other site types, such as rooftops.

This will make a huge difference to many landowners who host telecoms sites, especially in rural settings, where the tribunal was persuaded that a greater-than-inflation increase should apply.

This isn’t about extracting huge amounts of money from the operators; it’s about receiving a payment that is reasonable for the rights that are being granted, and the burdens that inevitably come with hosting telecoms, rather than a less intrusive tenant, or more passive use.”

The tribunal also determined a disputed right of the landlord’s ability to break any agreement for the purpose of redevelopment. AP Wireless’s position was that, as provided for by the Code, notice could be given to the operator in the event that they wished to redevelop, and could not do so with the agreement in place.

Mobile operator EE had attempted to argue that any break should not include redevelopment for the purpose of telecommunications itself. EE was concerned that as AP Wireless had a group company that developed telecommunications infrastructure, they could effectively be displaced by such development.

However, the tribunal declined to award such a pre-condition, principally as the Code itself was not drafted in that way (i.e. mobile operators will not get special protection). It was also determined that any intent to develop need only be shown at the date of any termination hearing, rather than at the point of break notice. In effect, this provides landowners with an 18-month period to secure the necessary evidence to succeed in terminating an operator’s rights.

Suffice to say that deploying new masts on this type of rural site just got a bit harder and more expensive for mobile operators, which could have an impact on some of their 4G and 5G roll-out plans. We’ve asked the trade body for mobile operators, Mobile UK, to comment.

The LSBUD (Line Search Before You Dig) organisation, which offers an online asset search facility to UK civil engineering firms for underground pipes and cables, has published their annual Digging Up Britain 2024 report and revealed that telecoms remains the “most active industry” when it comes to searching before digging (39% of searches).

The report notes that, during 2023, the number of search enquires that passed through LSBUD’s portal reached 3.92 million (up from 3.75m last year). Thanks to the roll-out of new mobile and full fibre broadband infrastructure, telecoms has remained the dominant industry in need of detailed underground mapping, amassing a total of 1,545,456 searches or 39% of the total – closely followed by the water sector (27%) and then council work (11%).

However, when looking at the total number of enquiries, the telecoms share actually decreased in 2023 to 39%, which compares with 1,724,998 search enquiries in the previous year or a share of 46%. Nevertheless, the most popular work types were still found to be telecoms, water, gas and electricity (75%), while agricultural work has continued to rise over the last year (17%).

The report links the dip in telecoms activity to the related slowdown in full fibre broadband and mobile network deployments, which have been hit by rising build costs, high interest rates and fierce competition for customers. Quite a few alternative networks have thus switched to focus on growing consumer take-up rather than network build, although there’s still plenty of general build activity (e.g. Openreach, Nexfibre, Netomnia etc.).

Richard Broome, Managing Director at LSBUD, said:

“The telecoms industry is playing such an important role in protecting the UK’s underground infrastructure. It is the biggest ‘searcher’ in the UK, and we don’t see this changing. It is pioneering best practice and other sectors could certainly follow suit.

In 2023, we did see the numbers fall, but we know that the government has been tasked with 85% full-fibre broadband coverage by 2025. With this in mind, we expect to see even more searches being carried out by the telecoms industry in 2024, as the battle to reach rural, off-grid communities ramps up. Of course, this needs to be done safely, and a quick three-minute search with us is the obvious first port of call.”

The report doesn’t mention it, but it’s also possible that LSBUD’s operations could see some impact from the Government’s ongoing development of a National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), which represents a new digital UK map of underground pipes and cables (broadband, power, water etc.) – intended to help reduce accidental damage.

Mobile network operator Three UK has finally confirmed to ISPreview that they’ve withdrawn their old ‘Data Reward’ Pay As You Go (PAYG) plan for existing customers, which previously pledged that those who had already registered for it before 23rd May 2022 would “continue to receive … 200MB [of data] every month for life.”

As we’ve always said, consumers would be well advised NEVER to put their faith in “lifetime” style service or promotional pledges like this, as we’ve yet to see any mobile or broadband operators maintain such a commitment for more than a few years. Needless to say, we’ve seen quite a few of these come and go over the years, but they often end up being little more than paper tigers.

The latest example of this is Three UK’s original Data Reward SIM, which is a SIM card that came with 200MB (MegaBytes) of free mobile broadband data each month and was designed for use in iPads, tablets etc. But in order to get this you needed to buy a mobile SIM that came preloaded with data (e.g. £10 for 1GB preloaded, valid for 30 days), although after the initial purchase you never strictly needed to top up again to get the free data.

Admittedly, an allowance of 200MB wouldn’t get you very far today, but it did have its uses for basic or occasional communications. The offer finally came to an end for new customers in May 2022, although Three UK had pledged to maintain it for existing customers “for life“.

Data Reward Pay As You Go Info. Page

On 3 February 2016, we introduced Data Reward Pay As You Go plans to join our existing Pay As You Go tariff. Data Reward customers who registered before 23 May 2022 at Three.co.uk/freedata were eligible to receive 200MB data free every month.

From 23 May 2022, we removed our Free 200MB offer from MBB PAYG Data Reward plans and no longer accept any new registrations.

Note: Customers who have registered already will continue to receive the 200MB every month for life and the following information is still applicable.

However, over the past few months’ we’ve seen the operator’s support staff make a variety of different claims about the status of the service (example), and some of ISPreview’s readers (here) recently asked us to investigate.

A Spokesperson for Three UK told ISPreview:

“Due to changes in our IT system, we are no longer able to offer customers our 200MB Data Reward Plan. We’re sorry to the customers impacted and are in the process of contacting them about their options.”

As it turns out, Three UK’s definition of “for life” is rather short, unless you happen to be a Mayfly or its aquatic larvae, that is.