July policy update
In the run up to the General Election on July 4, ISPA released its 2024 policy roadmap, "Delivering Digital Britain," last month. This critical document outlines strategic priorities and actionable policies for the new UK Government to continue the work of transforming the nation's digital infrastructure, ensuring that all citizens have access to fast, reliable, and future-proofed internet connectivity.
ISPA’s roadmap provides the new administration with policy ideas to hit the ground running in the first one hundred days, and more medium–to-long term priorities to deliver a competitive and inclusive digital economy.
The roadmap outlines a number of quick wins that the next Government can unlock within the 100 hundred days of taking office and which would deliver meaningful change:
- Recognise that the UK can only tap into the full potential of digital connectivity if it becomes a cross-government priority
- Provide an immediate speed boost to rollout by fully embracing flexi permits and cancelling plans for street works charging.
- Create a supportive planning framework that enables providers to focus on delivery and connecting the final third of the country.
ISPA will now be working closely with the new government to realise our ambition. Find the full press release here.
ISPA AGM
ISPA held it's annual general meeting on 2nd July where we elected 7 new Council members, two returning members - Steve Leighton from Voneus and Rob Burles from APFN/Cuckoo and welcomed 5 new members - Max Fernando (Glide), Casey Calista (Vorboss), David Swanston (Gigability), Tom Ives (Freedom Fibre) and Tim Stranack (Community Fibre). We are happy to have them on board! You can check the new ISPA Council here.
ISPA Events
200+ industry leaders at ISP Business Summit
Our annual ISP Business Summit - ISPA’s annual conference for business leaders in the UK internet industry took place on Tuesday 2nd July.ISPA hosted leading industry representatives for a day of engaging discussions and healthy debate with sessions that included:
- Acquisitions and mergers – How to optimise value in a consolidating market
- Racing towards rollout – tackling challenges and seizing opportunities for rural network deployment
- Understanding consumer decisions: Turn your marketing engine into a customer acquisition machine
- Exploring consumer decision making: strategies to maximise take-up
- Unlocking network value and maximizing ROI for ISPs
... and featured senior industry speakers:
- Richard Allwood, CSTO at Openreach
- Rajiv Datta, CEO at Nexfibre
- Neil McArthur, CEO at Freedom Fibre
- Oliver Bradley, Senior Managing Director at Macquarie
- Rob Hamlin, CSO at Cityfibre
- Dana Tobak, CEO at Hyperoptic
- James Harraway, Managing Director at Infracapital
- Graeme Oxby, CEO at Community Fibre
plus many more!
The event saw a record breaking number of attendees and we thank all ISPA partners for sponsoring and supporting this event.
2024 ISPA Awards
Digital Inclusion Award is open for entries!
This year we are showcasing the efforts of digital inclusion initiatives in not only one, but two categories dedicated to celebrating some fantastic achievements over the past 12 months. The category is being split to focus on two important parts of the discussion. The first will centre on the initiatives led by community driven & charity organisations, who have gone above and beyond, using limited resources to deliver access and skills to those most in need. The second award will be specifically focused on the UK’s internet sector, and those organisations that have prioritised digital inclusion initiatives as a core part of what they do.
We want to celebrate those organisations who have dedicated time, effort and resources to overcoming the digital divide, whether that’s providing important hardware, affordable connectivity or implementing campaigns to improve digital skills.
To enter this year's digital inclusion awards, please fill out the written entry form of the relevant category, which can be found here and submit to awards@ispa.org.uk by the deadline of 1st September 2024.
For more information on the ISPA Awards, please visit https://www.ispa.org.uk/
The shortlist will be announced soon and winners at the awards ceremony at Raffles London at The OWO hotel on 21st November. This year we are offering an Early Bird tickets to members, finalists and partners that removes the service fee from your order, this will run until 1st August 2024. Last year's event sold out in record time so if you plan to attend, please book your tickets now here.
ISPA Partners
Heights Telecom and ENet partner to deliver advanced Wi-Fi connectivity to Guyana Fiber customers
Heights Telecom, a leading provider of telecommunications solutions to global CSPs, has today announced a strategic partnership with ENet, Guyana's only locally owned telecommunications provider. Heights Telecom and ENet have successfully launched a state-of-the-art internet service, delivering ultra-fast internet and advanced Wi-Fi connectivity to ENet’s Fiber customers.
Heights Telecom will be providing ENet with state-of-the-art 2.5GPON Fibre Home Gateways to deliver super-fast internet to their customers. Additionally, Heights Telecom’s long-range Wi-Fi Extenders will be deployed to ensure maximum throughput and coverage in every household. This upgrade will replace all of ENet’s current Wi-Fi gateways and routers and enhance the overall internet experience for their customers.
The integration of OpenSync across both the Home Gateways and Wi-Fi extenders will empower ENet to deliver more than just ultra-fast internet. This collaboration will offer ENet customers the opportunity to take advantage of state-of-the-art Wi-Fi management tools and services including cybersecurity controls, Parental Control, Band Steering and Wi-Fi Sensing.
Driven by a rising urban population and the growing adoption of smartphone services, the Guyana telecom market has witnessed strong growth over the past few years, with projections indicating continued expansion through 2025. This collaboration between Heights Telecom and ENet marks a significant milestone in the Guyana telecoms market, enabling ENet to enhance its ability to meet the growing demand for reliable and high-bandwidth connectivity, and fostering a more vibrant digital ecosystem for homes and businesses across Guyana.
Maximising sales for Fibrus across 150,000 premises
''...what I like about PSI is they’re continually adapting their product to suit their customers’ needs – and in an ever evolving world, they help us stay on top of it all.” - Head of Business Improvement and Systems Support
Find out how Fibrus have been rapidly scaling, using the PSI platform to acquire customers and manager their sales all in one place.
Find the case study here.
For over 35 years Adtran has been the pioneer in delivery network communication services. With offices located around the world serving thousands of customers, Adtran brings to the market the most comprehensive end-to-end AI fiber network solutions which currently deliver quality broadband services to millions of homes.
ADTRAN’s open disaggregated cloud-based solutions enable operators to deliver to their communities, no matter how varied their location, an AI-driven sustainable, scalable service to all their customers covered by a comprehensive global support services, which means they can invest as they grow knowing there is no minimum starting point nor maximum ending point.
New ISPA Members
ISPA is happy to introduce Zentive who joined us as our new Consultancy member and Hull Fibre who joined as our members.
For 20 years, Zentive has been at the forefront of technical innovation as a trusted partner to the world’s largest telco companies, specialising in bespoke systems integration, platform modernisation, and transaction processing. Wherever you are in your transformation journey, Zentive has the knowledge and experience to assist along the way.
Hull Fibre - A fresh ISP in the Hull and Yorkshire areas, currently rolling out in partnership with MS3 Networks.
Partner Events
We would like to invite you to the Women in Telecoms group meeting and networking drinks reception on Tuesday 23rd July in our offices at Zetland house, 2nd floor, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London, EC2A 4HJ.
The event starts at 4pm with welcoming drinks, followed by a regular group meeting at 4.30pm and we will end with networking drinks reception with cheese boards!
The group started by Comms Council UK in late 2022 to give women working within our industry a regular opportunity to network, share career experiences, discuss hot topics and exchange ideas.
The group opened to ISPA members in 2024. By encouraging women on your team to join ‘Women In Telecoms’, you can actively support them with their career goals as well as giving them a voice on the key issues impacting our industry.
Please RSVP to Michaela@commscouncil.uk if you can attend or would like to add your colleagues to the group.
Find more info about the group here.
Connected Britain - 11th and 12th September - Find out more and register with 15% discount here.
Intelligent Automation Conference Global - 5th and 6th February 2025 - Find out more and register here.
Unified Communications Conference Global -5th and 6th February 2025 - Find out more and register here.
ISPA Partners
Become an ISPA Partner
Find out what the opportunities are here.
To enquire about an ISPA partnership, please message our Head of Partnerships at krystian@ispa.org.uk.