Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: June 2012 (99 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for June 2012

Jeremy Hunt MP to Support Rural B4RN Broadband Network in Lancashire UK

16th Jun 2012 (31 Comments)

The UK governments somewhat embattled Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Jeremy Hunt MP, has surprisingly agreed to visit and “support” the B4RN (Broadband 4 Rural North) project in northern Lancashire UK.

Sky UK Offers 6 Months Half Price Unlimited Broadband and Free Calls

16th Jun 2012 (0 Comments)

Sky Broadband (BSkyB) has this week launched a new promotion that offers their unlimited broadband and free calls (evenings and weekends) bundle at half price for 6 months to new customers (i.e. £5 per month), which includes a £25 M&S voucher (Marks & Spencer).

Chi Onwurah MP Accuses EU of Bias in Favour of Ultrafast Fibre Broadband

15th Jun 2012 (17 Comments)

The local MP for Newcastle Central and Labour’s shadow minister for innovation and digital infrastructure, Chi Onwurah, has criticised the European Commission (EC) for having a “bias in favour of fibre” and switching its EU state aid rules (here) to focus more on “ultra-fast” (100Mbps+) fibre optic FTTH style broadband networks.

O2 WiFi Bring FREE Wireless Internet to 167 Debenhams UK Shops

15th Jun 2012 (5 Comments)

Mobile operator and ISP O2 UK (Telefonica) has signed a new deal with high street retail giant Debenhams, which will see the operators free wireless internet service being rolled out across the groups 167 shops and giving it the “largest wifi coverage of any department store in the UK“.

UK ISP Fluidata Slams Outdated Music Industry for Pirate Bay Blockade

15th Jun 2012 (4 Comments)

Business ISP Fluidata has criticised the UK music industry for forcing the country’s big broadband providers into blocking access to The Pirate Bay website, which is accused of facilitating unlawful P2P internet piracy, instead of updating their own “out of date” business models to address the real problems.

Sky Broadband to Overtake TalkTalk and Become 3rd Largest UK ISP

15th Jun 2012 (2 Comments)

Analyst firm Strategy Analytics predicts that Sky Broadband (BSkyB) will continue to see strong growth throughout 2012 and add an additional 425,000 broadband subscribers by the end of 2012, which would give them a total of roughly 4.3 Million and most likely place them ahead of TalkTalk and close to the second largest ISP Virgin Media.

Cumbria UK Reject Superfast Broadband Rollout Bids from BT and Fujitsu

15th Jun 2012 (11 Comments)

A plan to deploy superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services to 90% of people in Cumbria (England) by 2015 (the last 10% would get speeds of at least 2Mbps), which could be worth up to £40 million, looks set to face further delays after the Cumbria County Council (CCC) rejected the only two available bids from BT and Fujitsu.

UPD UK Government Publishes Details of its Draft ISP Internet Snooping Law

14th Jun 2012 (8 Comments)

The government has today published a first draft of the Home Office’s revived Communications Data Bill, which seeks to expand the United Kingdom’s existing internet snooping laws (data retention) and force ISPs into logging a much bigger slice of everybody’s online activity (e.g. Skype access); irrespective of whether or not you’ve committed a crime.

ISP MetroNet UK Gobbled by LDC Backed Management Buyout

14th Jun 2012 (0 Comments)

Manchester-based business ISP Metronet UK, which operates a hybrid superfast fibre optic (FTTx) and wireless broadband network, claim to be planning for further coverage expansion after a management buyout supported by private equity firm LDC pushed an additional investment of £11 Million into the provider.

BT Vision Broadband IPTV Service Gains Major UK Football Content Boost

14th Jun 2012 (3 Comments)

BT has moved to make its broadband IPTV service (BTVision) more competitive with Sky (Sky Broadband) by grabbing the rights to broadcast 38 live Premier League Football matches a season (2013-14 and 2015-16), which will be shown through a new football-focused channel with extra features for its BTInfinity superfast broadband customers.

Vodafone UK Launch Cheaper EU Mobile Broadband Roaming Service

14th Jun 2012 (2 Comments)

Mobile operator Vodafone UK has this week joined both O2 UK (here) and Three UK (here) in launching a cheaper package (EuroTraveller) for Mobile Broadband users who still like to get online while roaming around within Europe.

BT Offers Reward to Catch Scottish Subsea Fibre Optic Cable Thieves

13th Jun 2012 (3 Comments)

BTOpenreach are offering a reward of up to £1000 for information that leads to a conviction of those responsible for cutting a vital 1000 metre long fibre optic cable (probably because they thought it was made of more valuable copper) that runs across Loch Carron in Scotland’s (UK) rural Highlands region.

Sky Broadband Study Names Leeds City as WiFi Capital of the UK

13th Jun 2012 (0 Comments)

ISP Sky Broadband (BSkyB) has today published new research into the wireless internet (Hotspot) usage in 10 of the UK’s biggest cities, which found that 22% of people in Leeds have used public WiFi in the past 24 hours. That’s twice the national average (11%) and above London’s result of 20% (Manchester and Birmingham scored 13% each).

UPD2 BT Claim Ofcom Rules Hamper UK Superfast Broadband Investment

13th Jun 2012 (27 Comments)

BT has told the Lords Select Committee Inquiry into the UK governments superfast broadband strategy that its new fibre optic based network (FTTC , FTTP) will need more freedom from Ofcom’s changing regulation and price controls if it is to make a bigger “long-term investment” in related services.

UPD 3 Mobile UK Launch Cheaper Mobile Broadband Roaming Package

13th Jun 2012 (0 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK has today become the latest to launch a new Euro Internet Pass service, which reflects Europe’s new roaming regulation (details) by making it cheaper to use your mobile phone and Mobile Broadband connection when roaming abroad within the EU.

ISP BE Broadband UK Confirms Date for Delayed Core Network Upgrade

13th Jun 2012 (16 Comments)

Internet provider BE Broadband (O2 UK) has finally revealed a date for the start of its migration over to a new core network, which was originally supposed to get underway by the end of February 2012 but has since faced delays. This has also affected its FTTC superfast broadband plan.

EU Approve State Aid for Ultrafast Broadband Rollout in Birmingham UK

13th Jun 2012 (3 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has given state aid approval for the UK government to release between £7m-£10m in order to rollout an “ultra-fast” fibre optic based 80-100Mbps+ (Megabits per second) capable broadband ISP network in Birmingham by 2015 and turn it into one of ten large “super-connected cities“.