Once the USO becomes active it will be good to hear from members who are or have gone through the process, maybe a thread dedicated to it like FTTPoD so members can share their experience's.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I'm not aware of Ofcom prohibiting other providers from satisfying the requirements. Only that BT must if others don't.

Of course, any operator can provide a 10Mbps+ connection at any location if they choose. But then you're not talking about the USO, which is the subject of this thread.

The USO is a very specific service, with specific government co-funding via specific chosen providers.

Other providers were encouraged to bid for the USO pot. They all dropped out, apart from BT and KCOM.

We seem to be talking at a slight cross-purpose .

As Andrew explained, to instigate a USO-satisfying service in an area you are correct. However, the result of that is that if it is landline based then that landline service can be provided to all other people covered by the same aggregation point (for FTTP) or FTTC cabinet by any provider of their choice

The USO-instigated service becomes available to all, and they do not have to get it from BT Consumer or Business.

If instead it requires installation of a mast for "mobile broadband", this may or may not be the case. Depending on the mast-sharing agreements in place between providers.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

We seem to be talking at a slight cross-purpose .

As Andrew explained, to instigate a USO-satisfying service in an area you are correct. However, the result of that is that if it is landline based then that landline service can be provided to all other people covered by the same aggregation point (for FTTP) or FTTC cabinet by any provider of their choice

Sure. There are even incentives in that direction: there is "assumed aggregation" of demand, so if there's a cluster of 10 houses, and only one of them requests USO, then it's assumed that all 10 will want it at some point and potentially £34,000 is available to connect them.

But equally, BT could just give the one property an EE SIM and an external antenna, if that will do the job.

There's no way that EE will put up a new 4G mast, demand-led from a cluster of 10 houses. But if there's existing 4G coverage (including the new shared rural 4G network), or it's due to be delivered within 12 months of the USO request, BT could use it.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

The USO-instigated service becomes available to all, and they do not have to get it from BT Consumer or Business.

But at that point, they're no longer ordering a "USO" service. You said originally:

"I think you will find it [the USO] applies to all ISPs (Technically, in Ofcom-speak, Communications Providers - CPs)"

But it does not. The Universal Service Obligation applies only to BT and to KCOM. You cannot claim connectivity under the USO from anyone else.

If your neighbour ordered USO at some time in the past, and as a result you have FTTC or FTTP available at your property, then happy days - you don't need USO.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019...

Interesting read for those interested. Page 20 to 24 for those interested in what other technologies they plan to use for USO. I won't hold my breath, but it's safe to say, with or without an external antenna, that 4g services won't provide me with a stable service. Voip, gaming etc..

Time will tell.

Semantics.

What makes you think that you will be eligible for USO support given you say that you currently have access to >10mbps?

3.26 without saying so seems to be implying that short line ADSL2+ i.e. download speeds above 10 Mbps will meet the requirements, this is an area where can see people disputing e.g. download sync of 12384 Kbps and upload sync of 1024 Kbps does meet criteria but a lot of the year the upload sync is lower at 990 Kbps.

As previously stated you likely aren't eligible for the USO.

If you've poor reliability there's a fault on your service that needs fixing.

This still doesn't make you eligible for the USO. You are likely to be listed on the various databases as being able to receive a service that achieves all the objectives, perceived reliability not one of the criteria.

Voice calls are quite tolerant to higher latencies and even the worst fixed line services will be USO compliant in terms of latency unless, again, there's a fault.

I don't really see how you could be eligible for the USO. You need the fault fixing, not to fall back on the USO.

All

If a USO request turns into a 4G solution, why cant the solution be the requestor is simply told to go and buy a 4G router and sim card? It seems crazy to think that BT/KCOM will be pocketing huge sums of money from the USO piggybank just for supplying a 4G router.