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Articles for Category Tag - Mobile Broadband

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UK Government Seeks Seat at the UN Telecoms Agency’s Council

9th July, 2021 (7 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced that it will run for election to the governing council of the United Nations (UN) telecoms agency – the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) – in order to have more of a say in future standards (broadband technologies etc.) and the allocation of global spectrum (mobile etc.), among other things.

Some Smarty UK Customers Start Seeing 5G Mobile Connectivity

8th July, 2021 (25 Comments)

A number of customers on mobile operator Smarty have this week reported being able to connect via an ultrafast 5G mobile (mobile broadband) signal for the first time, which started on Tuesday night and suggests that the operator is close to going live with the new service. But officially, they’re not quite ready yet.

Virgin Media O2 UK Mobile Upgrade Holiday Picture

Virgin Media O2 Boost 4G and 5G at Major UK Holiday Sites

8th July, 2021 (7 Comments)

Customers of mobile operator O2 (VMO2) may like to know that they’ve upgraded the capacity of their 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) network at almost 600 UK cell sites, which is part of their preparations for a “record staycation summer” (i.e. the sites are popular tourist destinations and seaside areas, such as Bognor Regis, Bath and Stirling).

Testing 5G Speeds in Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle

7th July, 2021 (10 Comments)

Mobile benchmark firm RootMetrics has just published a new summary of their latest 5G based UK mobile broadband speed and availability testing across the four primary network operators – EE (BT), O2 (VMO2), Vodafone and Three UK – in the cities of Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.

First In-Field 700MHz UK Standalone Private 5G Network Goes Live

6th July, 2021 (5 Comments)

The 5G RuralDorset (5GRD) project, which is testing a mix of 5G based mobile technologies alongside existing fibre optic infrastructure, has announced the successful installation and testing of the “world’s first” in-field 700MHz based Standalone (SA) private 5G network to serve rural parts of the Jurassic Coast. But not for consumers.

EE UK’s New Service Makes Capped Mobile Data Plans Unlimited

6th July, 2021 (23 Comments)

Mobile operator EE (BT) has today soft launched a new ‘Stay Connected‘ feature for Pay Monthly customers, which means that 4G and 5G plans with a capped data allowance (mobile broadband) will be able to continue using the internet “at no extra cost” even when their monthly allowance runs out. Obviously, there’s a catch.

Three UK Launch New 4G Home Broadband Router, Declines to Identify it

6th July, 2021 (18 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK has quietly begun to ship a new router (hub) alongside orders for their mobile-based unlimited 4G Home Broadband service, although unusually they’ve chosen not to share the exact specifications and model number because this is said to be “commercially sensitive“. But it looks like a ZTE.

Three UK Boost 4G and 5G Mobile Data on Pay As You Go Packs

2nd July, 2021 (25 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK has launched a new offer for their Pay As You Go (PAYG) customers, which doubles the mobile broadband data (4G or 5G) on their cheapest £10 data pack from 6GB (GigaBytes) to 12GB, while their £15 pack jumps from 20GB to 30GB. The packs, which last for 1 month, also add unlimited minutes and calls.

Gov Commits GBP30m to Help UK Develop 4G and 5G OpenRAN

2nd July, 2021 (1 Comment)

The UK Government has today committed £30m to support the launch of their Future RAN Competition (FRANC), which will aim to fund “innovative R&D projects” that could help to speed up the adoption of a new breed of wireless Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) based 4G and 5G mobile networks.

Gov Updates on UK 4G Shared Rural Network Rollout Progress

29th June, 2021 (6 Comments)

The UK Government has today published somewhat of a progress update on their £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, which reveals that Scotland, Wales and North East England will benefit most from the expansion of 4G based mobile network (mobile broadband) coverage into rural areas.

BT Sign OneWeb Deal to Tackle UK Rural Broadband Slow Spots

27th June, 2021 (21 Comments)

UK ISP BT and satellite operator OneWeb, which is partly owned by the UK government, have reached an agreement that will see the two working together to bring ultrafast low-latency broadband speeds to some of the hardest to reach rural parts of the country, where even their £5bn Project Gigabit programme would struggle to go.

H1 2021 – Fastest National UK Mobile and Home Broadband ISPs

26th June, 2021 (9 Comments)

We’re nearly six months into 2021 and that means it’s time to take a quick look back to see how the UK’s average broadband download and upload speeds have changed across the fastest nationally available fixed line ISPs and mobile network operators. The good news is there’s been a good increase from most providers.

Giffgaff UK Boost Mobile Data Allowances for Existing Plans

25th June, 2021 (14 Comments)

Mobile operator giffgaff has announced that they’re boosting the data (mobile broadband) allowances on some of their existing 4G and ultrafast 5G plans, which will apply to both new and existing customers. For example, their £12 per month “goodybag” will grow from 10GB to 12GB at no extra cost.

5G Mobile Users Gobble up to 2.7 Times More Data Than 4G

25th June, 2021 (5 Comments)

Opensignal, which uses crowd-sourced data to benchmark mobile networks, has found that 5G connected users in 20 of the leading markets for the new mobile broadband tech see much greater mobile data usage than 4G users. The biggest increase was in Japan (2.7x), while the UK scores 2.0x and Ireland came last on 1.2x.

O2, Vodafone and Three UK Respond to EU Roaming Concerns

24th June, 2021 (31 Comments)

The controversial decision today by UK mobile operator EE to reintroduce EU roaming charges for new and upgrading customers (here) has resulted in some concern that other operators would follow suit. In response, we asked O2, Vodafone and Three UK to clarify whether they’re planning to do something similar.

Mobile Operator EE UK to Reintroduce EU Roaming Charges UPDATE

24th June, 2021 (43 Comments)

EE (BT) has followed this morning’s confusion over O2’s tougher excess data charges for EU roaming (here) by revealing that they will be reintroducing EU roaming charges for new or upgrading customers from 7th July 2021. In short, you’ll be charged £2 a day to use your allowances across 47 European countries from January 2022.

Vodafone UK Pilot 5G Standalone in London, Manchester and Cardiff

24th June, 2021 (8 Comments)

Mobile operator Vodafone has today confirmed that their first pilots of ultrafast 5G Standalone (SA) network technology, which is being supported by kit from Ericsson (here), have finally gone live in parts of London, Manchester and Cardiff. The move follows last year’s trial at Coventry University in summer 2020.