A pair of new laws have come into effect in parts of the UK that are designed to improve broadband access, touts the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. An amended Building Regulations 2010 now requires that new homes in England be built with gigabit fiber broadband connections. Meanwhile, the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act (TILPA) aims to make it easier for broadband providers to gain access to apartments and flats in England and Wales (and in Scotland this summer) to fulfill renters’ requests for new broadband connections.
The new home law aims to avoid forcing new homeowners to go through the rigors of a gigabit broadband connection process after they’ve moved in. The connection costs during the home construction phase will be capped at £2,000 per home for developers. If the connection cost exceeds this cap, developers are mandated to install the next fastest connection available. The ministry estimates that 98% of new homes should support connections at £2,000 or less. The government also estimates that each year, approximately 12% of new homes, approximately 25,300, don’t have such a full fiber connection at present.
Meanwhile, TILPA aims to enable subscribers and service providers to circumvent landlords who fail to provide access permission. The law creates a new legal process through which operators can gain to access blocks of flats and apartments. The process becomes available 35 days after the service provider requests access from the landlord. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport estimates that an extra 2,100 residential buildings a year will gain broadband connections thanks to this new process.
“Nothing should stop people from seizing the benefits of better broadband, whether it is an unresponsive landlord or a property developer’s failure to act,” commented Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez. “Thanks to our new laws, millions of renters will no longer be prevented from getting a broadband upgrade due to the silence of their landlord, and those moving into newly built homes can be confident they’ll have access to the fastest speeds available from the day they move in.”
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.