Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: September 2016 (96 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for September 2016

BT Openreach Cuts Price for UK Long Reach VDSL Broadband Trial

30th Sep 2016 (1 Comment)

Good news for anybody likely to be taking part in Openreach’s (BT) forthcoming trial of the new “Long Reach VDSL” (FTTC) broadband technology, you can expect to receive the service free for up to 2 years. Plus there’s an indication that the top download speed might be boosted up to 55Mbps.

UPD Virgin Media Warn Hike in Business Rates to Hurt Broadband Rollout

30th Sep 2016 (7 Comments)

The Government’s Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has published its proposed non-domestic business rates this morning, which has caused cable operator Virgin Media to warn that it will hamper the laying of new broadband infrastructure by forcing a “steep increase” in related costs (aka – Fibre Tax).

Ofcom Enforces New UK Business Broadband Speed Code of Practice

30th Sep 2016 (3 Comments)

The communications regulator has today started to enforce their new business-focused Voluntary Code of Practice for Broadband Speeds, which aims to provide UK businesses with more accurate and reliable information on what line speeds they should expect from member ISPs.

How to Make Amazon Echo Work with BT’s Home Hub Routers

30th Sep 2016 (8 Comments)

A lot of UK people are buying Amazon Echo, the Internet shopping giants new hands-free speaker and voice-assistant, but apparently not everybody can get it to connect with their home WiFi network and this seems to be especially true of BT’s Broadband customers.

KCOM’s FTTP Broadband Roll-out in Hull UK Reaches 100,000 Premises

30th Sep 2016 (2 Comments)

Good news for East Yorkshire. KCOM’s on-going deployment of their new ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) dominated “Lightstream” broadband network in Hull has now reached 100,000 local homes and businesses (premises passed), which is up sharply from 78,000 in May 2016.

Gov Business Minister Slates “unacceptable” State of UK Broadband

29th Sep 2016 (1 Comment)

The Government’s new Secretary of State for Business, Greg Clark, seems to have gone off-message after he told an annual conference for the Institute of Directors (IoD) that the United Kingdom’s mobile and broadband connectivity was in a “simply unacceptable” state for 2016.

Ofcom Allow UK ISP TalkTalk to Tweak 1800MHz Guard Band for 4G

29th Sep 2016 (0 Comments)

Ofcom has approved a request by TalkTalk to vary its licence for 3.3MHz of radio spectrum in the 1800MHz “DECT guard band” (1781.7-1785MHz paired with the 1876.7-1880MHz block), which supports the ISP’s plan to add small cell / femtocell based 4G (LTE) Mobile into its broadband routers. The regulator also hopes to open the band up more generally to other uses.

Average UK Internet Speeds Hit 15Mbps as World Rank Falls to 20th

29th Sep 2016 (0 Comments)

Akamai has published its Q2-2016 State of the Internet report, which reveals that the United Kingdom’s average fixed line broadband download speed is now 15Mbps (up from 14.9Mbps in Q1) vs a global score of 6.1Mbps (down from 6.3Mbps). Sadly the UK’s world rank has once again fallen from 19th to 20th.

Old Cat5e / Cat6 Twisted Pair Copper Ethernet Cable Given Speed Boost

29th Sep 2016 (0 Comments)

Do you connect your broadband router to a computer via wires? If so then you’re probably using the old Category 5e / 6 Ethernet cable, which is limited to 1000Mbps (1000BASE-T / 1000BASE-TX). Not that you’ll need it, but the new IEEE 802.11bz standard can give those a multi-Gigabit speed boost.

The UK Post Office Offers 18 Month Broadband and Phone Discount

29th Sep 2016 (1 Comment)

Customers looking to take their standard unlimited broadband from the Post Office may like to know that they’re offering the service at £3 a month for the first 18 months (£10 thereafter), although you still have to bundle this with phone line rental from £16.99 per month.

ISP Zen Internet to Grow its UK “Next Generation Network” Reach

28th Sep 2016 (0 Comments)

UK ISP Zen Internet has announced that the reach of their “next generation” consumer broadband and high-capacity data network (e.g. Ethernet, FTTC, FTTP, EFM and ADSL) will be extended to 400 Points of Presence (PoPs) in BT exchanges by January 2017 (reaching over 500,000 postcodes).

Ofcom Q2 2016 Report – BT Broadband Attracts the Most Complaints

28th Sep 2016 (11 Comments)

Good news, Ofcom’s latest Q2 2016 consumer complaints report finds that the total volume of UK Telecoms (mobile, broadband and phone) and Pay TV complaints has declined. Sadly some ISPs have fared better than others, with BT coming out top of the worst for fixed line home broadband.

Sky Offers 9 Months of “Free” Unlimited Broadband to Students

28th Sep 2016 (7 Comments)

UK ISP Sky Broadband has launched a special 9 month contract deal for students, which offers their unlimited ‘up to’ 17Mbps broadband (ADSL2+) service for “free” (£10 a month thereafter) but of course you still have to pay the price of phone line rental on top (£17.40 per month).

Google Station Tries to Bring Global Public WiFi Networks Together

28th Sep 2016 (0 Comments)

Internet giant Google seems to be into almost everything these days and now the operator has decided to enter the market for public WiFi Hotspots by launching a new suit of management tools, which could bring such access points closer together. Mind you, they’re not the first to do that.

TalkTalk Hack – Teenager Held UK ISP to Ransom for 465 Bitcoins

27th Sep 2016 (20 Comments)

The Westminster Magistrates Court has heard how 19-year-old Daniel Kelley, who was arrested in Llanelli (South Wales) at the end of last year on suspicion of blackmail, attempted to extort 465 Bitcoins (worth £216K) from TalkTalk following the devastating 2015 Cyber-Attack on their systems.

Gigaclear Harness Disused Water Mains for UK Fibre Optic Broadband

27th Sep 2016 (9 Comments)

Fibre optic ISP Gigaclear has confirmed that they’re working with the largest water-only supplier in the United Kingdom, Affinity Water, to pilot a new approach in rural Hertfordshire that could see them running their ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) broadband cables through disused water mains.

UPD Ofcom Asks UK People to Help Map Mobile and WiFi Network Quality

27th Sep 2016 (7 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today launched its first “crowdsourced research project“, which asks owners of Android Smartphones’ to download its new Ofcom Mobile Research app, which will help them to build up a more accurate picture of Mobile and WiFi network performance across the United Kingdom.