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ISP BT Prices New UK Gigabit and Full Fibre Broadband Plans

22nd Mar, 2020 (193 Comments)

BT has today quietly revealed how much they’ll charge new customers who pick a package from their refreshed range of “Full Fibre” (FTTP) ultrafast broadband plans, which includes a “gigabit” class top tier that offers average download speeds of 900Mbps+ (uploads of 73Mbps). The good news is that they’re surprisingly cheap.

COVID-19 – Disney+ to Reduce Video Streaming Quality by 25%

22nd Mar, 2020 (15 Comments)

The new Disney+ streaming service, which is due to launch on Tuesday 24th March 2020 next week, has perhaps unsurprisingly become the latest online video platform to confirm they will reduce their bitrates (image quality) in order to help UK and EU broadband ISPs cope with demand during the Coronavirus outbreak.

Bigger Allowances – EE UK Launch New 4G PAYG Mobile Packs

20th Mar, 2020 (10 Comments)

Mobile operator EE UK (BT) has once again refreshed their range of Pay-As-You-Go packs, which they say come with “more data than ever before” (i.e. data / broadband allowances up to 60GB) and each one will receive the operator’s “superfast 4G speeds.”

COVID-19 – Amazon Agrees to Reduce Video Streaming Quality

20th Mar, 2020 (17 Comments)

The latest to join Netflix (here) and YouTube (here) in reducing the bitrate of their streams – so as to help broadband ISPs deal with rising levels of network demand – is Amazon (Prime Video), which claims to be applying a similar measure “where needed,” such as when requested by internet providers and local authorities.

COVID-19 – East Yorkshire ISP KCOM Softens Data Allowances

20th Mar, 2020 (1 Comment)

Hull-based UK ISP KCOM, which is currently investing £100m to extend their “full fibre” network across new parts of East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire (here and here), has announced that – due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) – they will be making changes for those customers still on data capped packages.

Virgin Media UK Release New Movies from Universal, Online

20th Mar, 2020 (0 Comments)

Broadband ISP Virgin Media has joined Sky (Sky Broadband, Sky TV) in reaching a new agreement with Universal Pictures, which means that NBCUniversal titles that are currently in theatrical release will also be available on-demand to customers via Virgin’s Store from today.

COVID-19 – YouTube Cuts Video Stream Quality to Standard Def

20th Mar, 2020 (9 Comments)

Internet video streaming giant YouTube has today announced that it will follow Netflix (here) by reducing the quality of their streams across the EU in order to help broadband ISPs deal with rising levels of network use. But unlike Netflix they’ve “temporarily” switched “all traffic in the EU to standard definition by default.”

COVID-19 – ISP BT (EE) UK Offers Extra Support to Customers

20th Mar, 2020 (4 Comments)

BT (EE) has today become the latest broadband ISP and mobile operator to offer some free extras and support to their customers, which among other things includes changes to help the most vulnerable and ensuring that all of their users can access “unlimited” home broadband (no data caps).

COVID-19 – UK ISPs Being Urged to Offer Free Broadband

20th Mar, 2020 (11 Comments)

The Government is understood to be in “very early talks” with UK internet access providers over how they could better support people during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis, which has resulted in many people and families needing to work from and stay at home. One option could be to offer free broadband.

Netflix Lowers Video Quality to Aid Broadband ISP Congestion

19th Mar, 2020 (43 Comments)

In a somewhat unusual development Netflix, the global internet video streaming giant, has responded to some concerns about broadband congestion in other European countries by agreeing with the EU to lower the quality (bitrate) of its videos for the next 30 days (i.e. easing the strain on fixed line ISPs and mobile operators).

COVID-19 – Everyone on Jersey to Get 1Gbps Broadband Speed

19th Mar, 2020 (4 Comments)

The Government of Jersey (English Channel Island) and Digital Jersey, an economic development agency and industry association, has reached an agreement with local telecoms operators (JT, Sure and Homenet) that will see all “full fibre” broadband lines on the island being speed boosted to symmetrical 1Gbps “at no extra cost.”

10Mbps UK Broadband Universal Service Obligation to Go Live UPDATE3

19th Mar, 2020 (98 Comments)

The UK Government’s new legally-binding Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband – supplied by ISPs BT and KCOM – will tomorrow go live. The aim is to ensure that anybody living in a digitally disadvantaged area can request a “minimum” download speed of at least 10Mbps (1Mbps upload), but there are caveats.

Virgin Media Confirm 1Gbps Broadband Live in West Midlands

19th Mar, 2020 (5 Comments)

Cable and full fibre ISP Virgin Media UK has today officially confirmed that their new 1Gbps+ (52Mbps upload) broadband network upgrade – via the roll-out of DOCSIS 3.1 technology – has finally gone live for more than 1 million homes across Birmingham, Coventry and surrounding areas in the West Midlands (England).

Ofcom’s Plan to Measure the 4G UK Mobile Coverage Obligation

18th Mar, 2020 (4 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today revealed some more details about the new £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN), which aims to extend UK geographic 4G mobile coverage to 95% by the end of 2025, and explained how they will assess the compliance of O2, Vodafone, Three UK and EE (BT) with those commitments.

WightFibre FTTH Broadband Rollout Reaches 15,000 Homes

18th Mar, 2020 (1 Comment)

Broadband ISP WightFibre, which is currently investing £35m to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network on the Isle of Wight (South Coast of Hampshire), has now passed a total of 20,000 premises (15,000 of those are live) in their on-going build programme.

COVID-19 – Virgin Mobile UK Give Customers Free Allowances

18th Mar, 2020 (6 Comments)

Customers of Virgin Mobile UK (Virgin Media) – specifically their Pay Monthly subscribers – are being given unlimited minutes to landlines and other mobile numbers, plus a 10GB data boost (Mobile Broadband), at no extra cost, for a month, in order to help them with the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation.

O2 Refresh Ads Banned by ASA UK for Misleading Comparisons

18th Mar, 2020 (2 Comments)

A website and YouTube advert for O2 UK’s custom plans (refresh campaign – the ability to upgrade your phone at any time) have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following complaints from rivals Three UK and Virgin Media, which said that some of their comparisons were “misleading.”