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USO
Universal Service Obligation
On 20 March 2020 Ofcom launched the broadband Universal Service Obligation to be delivered by BT and KCOM.
The broadband universal service obligation (USO) will give people in the UK the right to request a decent and affordable broadband connection. Under the USO, eligible homes and businesses will be able to request a connection, where the cost of building it is no more than £3,400.
From 11 November 2021 the delivery of this obligation was officially updated by Ofcom and BT to state in addition to the rules set previous:
- a new cost sharing 'option' for their USO quotes which enabled communities to crowdfund and share the excess cost of a broadband network upgrade would be available;
- if more than 70% of premises in a cluster register their interest, a contribution of an 'additional £3,400 per premise' would be included, thus lowering the excess costs that a community might have to pay;
- on top of that, the 4G solution that BT shipped in response to most other USO requests has been upgraded to include unlimited data (some people can also get an external antenna installed, if necessary).
Further details are available here:
