House of Lords get stuck in to the Digital Economy Bill
The Digital Economy Bill continued its progress through Parliament as it entered Report Stage in the House of Lords. Whilst the Bill is only part way through Report Stage, peers have made two notable amendments to the Bill that will be considered at the next stage when the report returns to the Commons.
- An opposition amendment defeated the Government’s USO specification, setting a new minimum USO at 30Mbps with an objective of reaching 2Gbps and making FTTP standard.
- An opposition amendment on bill limits to put a cap on monthly mobile telephone bills and letting end-users change their providers more easily was also passed
During Committee Stage, Government used ISPA’s commitment to internet safety to demonstrate the importance industry gives to helping protecting users online. The minister detailed a number of steps that ISPA is taking in this important area to raise awareness with ISPA members.
ISPA Awards Technical Testing Underway
Entrants in the broadband and hosting categories at the 2017 ISPA Awards and are now undergoing rigorous technical testing which will determine the all-important and hotly-contested shortlist. Each year the awards sees hundreds of thousands of tests carried out to determine the shortlist. This year has seen over 70 providers, competing across 16 categories, and the testing helps ensure the ISPAs are unique, independent and robust. We would also like to remind all entrants that the deadline to complete the entry forms is 31 March. To access the forms, please see the categories here
Sponsor the leading Internet industry awards
Raise your profile at the leading Internet industry awards. The ISPA Awards are the largest gathering of ISPs and providers of VoIP, hosting and cloud services in the UK. Sponsoring the ISPAs is a great way to:
- Promote your company to scores of service providers
- Network with hundreds of senior decision makers
- Gain high profile brand exposure
- Advertise to your target audience before, during and after the ceremony
- Entertain clients and reward staff
- Generate PR opportunities and new business leads
- Benefit from 9 months of promotional benefits, including newsletter editorial and press releases
For full information, please click here or call the awards team on 020 3397 3304 to discuss which package works for you.
ISPA Policy Groups set busy agendas
On March 3rd ISPA held its first cyber security working group meeting of the year with the cyber security subgroup. The group came together to discuss the new cyber security strategy, with a work programme for the year ahead planned around this.
Secretariat will also be holding a broadband subgroup meeting on 21 March 2017. The meeting will touch on a number of issues including advertising and we have confirmed attendance from Ofcom who will give an update on their current work around broadband speeds. If you would like to attend this meeting please let us know.
ISPA in the Press
This month ISPA has been covered in Computer Weekly and uSwitch
Oakford Internet Services joined ISPA
Oakford provides high quality and reliable FTTC, Bonded FTTC and FTTP products to both schools and businesses.
Deals for members
ISPA has secured a number of deals for ISPA members and upcoming ones are:
• At least £200 off Operational Challenges for GDPR Implementation in Banks tickets– 24-25 April, London. This event will consider how banks can overcome the operational challenges of complying with the GDPR, in particular challenges presented by legacy systems and the top three legislative changes. The conference will also cover the impact of cross-jurisdictions and Brexit on GDPR, in particular exploring how those outside the EU will either have to comply or face a barrier in terms of sharing data.
• At least £200 off Risk Data Aggregation and Reporting tickets – 24-25 April, London. This event will provide strategic information on the best practices employed so far and encourage a dialogue between European banks and regulators with the objective to develop a cost effective, viable and compliant risk data business models.
ISPA is also a media partner of Internet Retailing Expo, taking place at NEC arena in Birmingham on 5th and 6th April. This event is free of charge.
The full details of our partner events are here