Stories from Abroad

This research examines how people in the UK are spending their time online.

Israel told Elon Musk his Starlink satellite network will only be allowed to operate in Gaza with Israel's approval, as the entrepreneur met the country’s leaders amid a furore over alleged antisemitism on his social platform X. Musk declared in late October 2023 that his satellite internet service Starlink would “support connectivity to internationally recognised aid organisations in Gaza”, which has suffered lengthy blackouts under Israel’s bombardment.

Whether network slicing complies with the net neutrality rules currently in force in Europe and previously applicable in the U.S. presents a key issue in the deployment of 5G. In many ways, both regimes frame the issues in a similar manner, with the exceptions for reasonable traffic management and specialised services likely to play the most important roles.

Geopolitical tensions have compounded supply chain disruptions that were already visible during the pandemic in ways that make achievement of ubiquitous broadband even more difficult and potentially more expensive than in the past. Promotion of broadband deployment, adoption and use are all important for both fixed and mobile broadband; however, different policy levers are needed in each case, on both the supply and demand sides. The market will not always deliver complete solutions.

Telecommunications and cable companies are emerging as some of the biggest losers of the high interest rate era. Buoyed by a sudden increase in demand, many firms took on vast amounts of credit to boost spending on increasing download speeds through expensive fiber rollouts. Now, changing consumer behaviors are causing turmoil and pushing companies in the US and Europe to invest in new infrastructure.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Austria cannot force Google, Meta, and TikTok to pay millions in fines if they fail to delete hate speech from their popular social media platforms. Austria had attempted to hold platforms accountable for hate speech and other illegal content after passing a law in 2021 requiring tech giants to publish reports as often as every six months detailing content takedowns.

In an attempt to boost broadband competition, Canada's telecommunication regulator, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), is forcing large phone companies to open their fiber networks to competitors.

The rapid spread of fiber broadband connections in emerging markets is set to drive growth in those countries’ digital economies, according to the Financial Times-Omdia Digital Economies Index. India, Brazil, Kenya, and Mexico are among the countries highlighted by Omdia analysts as experiencing rapid take-up of fiber broadband, which is faster and more reliable than mobile or older copper-wire broadband connections.

The information collected by, and stored within, mobile networks can represent one of the most current and comprehensive dossiers of our life. Our mobile phones are connected to these networks and reveal our behaviours, demographic details, social communities, shopping habits, sleeping patterns, and where we live and work, as well as provide a view into our travel history. This information, in aggregate, is jeopardized, however, by technical vulnerabilities in mobile communications networks.

The United Kingdom's current net neutrality rules are set out in legislation. Any changes to the rules in future would be a matter for Government and Parliament. Ofcom is responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the rules and providing guidance on how ISPs should follow them. In 2021 Ofcom started a review of net neutrality. The review has found that, in general, it has worked well and supported consumer choice as well as enabling content providers to deliver their content and services to consumers.