Entanet welcomes prospect of 10Mbps USO but says questions still need to be answered
Leading wholesale communications provider sounds note of caution on what would be a legally-binding objective for whoever is given the responsibility of delivering superfast broadband anywhere in the UK
Telford, 24 November 2015 – Entanet has welcomed the prospect of a new 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for all broadband services being introduced by 2020, but sounded a note of caution on the move, saying many questions need to be answered before the industry and Internet users can be confident that the new promise of fast broadband for everyone will be fulfilled.
In a posting on its opinion blog (www.enta.net/opinion/), Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing at Entanet, points out that the plan is already being interpreted in some quarters as a ‘get out of jail’ manoeuvre by the government and a step towards passing the buck for enabling the UK’s hard-to-reach areas for broadband onto ISPs.
Farnden states: “We think the concept of a new 10Mbps USO is great news for the industry, channel and customers alike and we hope that it’s not used as an excuse by government to pass off the responsibility of connecting the final 5per cent to incumbent providers who may not be able to deliver the most suitable technology.”
The proposed USO would be legally binding and thus force BT or any other service providers to deliver at least 10Mbps anywhere in the UK.
In addition, there are a number of other questions that must be answered before anyone can have confidence in the plans, Farnden writes. The issues of how the USO will be defined and monitored, the potential impact on competition, and what impact it might have on the decision of whether or not to split BT from Openreach, will all need to be addressed. Most industry players – Entanet included – are calling for the BT/Openreach separation to go ahead as they believe it will allow better services and fairer competition.
To read the full blog post click here.
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About Entanet
Entanet is a leading wholesale voice and data communications provider and operates via a network of wholesale and resale channel partners. It was founded in 1996 and employs over 80 staff at its offices in Telford, Shropshire.
In February 2014, mid-market equity investor Mobeus Equity Partners made an initial £6 million investment to support a £14 million management buyout.
Entanet offers an extensive portfolio of connectivity services, including wholesale and packaged broadband, leased lines, EFM, IP VPNs, hosting and co-location, VoIP and traditional telecoms. The company operates its own fully-resilient nationwide next generation network which enables it and its partners to provide up to 10Gbps capacity to customers right across the UK. In addition, it has further connectivity into Amsterdam and Frankfurt and over 900 peering relationships across Europe.
The quality of Entanet’s services and its commitment to partners has been widely recognised. The company was recently named ‘Wholesale Provider of the Year (Large)’ in the 2015 Comms Business Awards and received the 2015 ISPA award for ‘Best SME Business Broadband’ and CRN Sales and Marketing Award for ‘Best Vendor Account Management Team’. The company has also been listed on a number of occasions in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA and other listings of fast-growing, privately-held UK companies.
For more information contact:
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing
Entanet International Ltd
Tel: 0333 101 0000