Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: April 2014 (89 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for April 2014

The Tricky Question of Censorship and Age Verification via Broadband ISPs

17th Apr 2014 (5 Comments)

One of the more puzzling aspects of the on-going political debate over Internet censorship (Parental Controls) is the issue of Age Verification, which has some politicians aggressively calling for a system that can verify an Internet user’s age before the ISPs network-level filters can be disabled. But is it even possible and do we really need it?

A Quick Snapshot of BT’s Recent Broadband Provisioning Performance

17th Apr 2014 (3 Comments)

The intense storms that ravaged much of the United Kingdom over winter clearly had an impact on BTOpenreach’s engineering crews (here) and some of the affected areas are only now getting back to normal. But what do the statistics say about the effect on new broadband provisions and missed appointments? Let’s take a look.

Entanet Based ISPs to Launch Cheaper FTTC Broadband Installs and Migrations

16th Apr 2014 (4 Comments)

Business ISP Entanet, which supplies wholesale Internet access and related communication services to a number of ISPs and businesses across the United Kingdom, has moved to boost sales by allowing their resellers to offer Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) based superfast broadband connections with a free installation or migration.

UK ISPs Continue the War of Fictional Headline ADSL Broadband Speeds

16th Apr 2014 (3 Comments)

Customers aren’t likely to notice much of a difference but the headline (advertised) download speed of Sky Broadband’s standard unlimited Internet access product has just been raised again from “up to” 16Mbps to 17Mbps, even though it’s still the same old ADSL2+ based connection underneath. No doubt more ISPs will soon follow.

UPD Average UK Home Broadband ISP Speeds Climb to 17.8Mbps – Ofcom

15th Apr 2014 (21 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today published its latest biannual report into the real-world Internet speeds of fixed line broadband ISP consumers across the United Kingdom, which reveals that the average download rate has risen to 17.8Mbps (up by +17.41% from 14.7Mbps in August 2013). Sadly a huge gap still exists between urban and rural areas.

9 Extra Berkshire UK Villages to Get Superfast Broadband

15th Apr 2014 (2 Comments)

A new grant worth £550,000 from the often criticised Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF) looks set to help 9 additional villages (3,300 properties) in the south eastern county of Berkshire (England) to receive a “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) service from BT.

UPDATE2 Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre to Launch 1Gbps FTTP Broadband in York

15th Apr 2014 (15 Comments)

In a major development two of the United Kingdom’s largest ISPs, TalkTalk and Sky Broadband (BSkyB), have “joined forces” with fibre optic infrastructure developer CityFibre to expand its existing Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in the City of York (England) by launching a 1000Mbps capable “ultra-fast” broadband service to thousands of local homes.

Rutland Target 15 New Areas as First BDUK Fibre Broadband Rollout Completes

15th Apr 2014 (15 Comments)

The Rutland County Council in England appears to have almost completed the local £3m roll-out of BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network, which would make it one of the first Broadband Delivery UK supported schemes to cross the finish line. Now another 15 villages are being targeted as part of a £180,000 extension programme.

Eutelsat Trains Ex-British Army to Install Satellite Broadband in UK Homes

14th Apr 2014 (1 Comment)

European Satellite operator Eutelsat, which supplies the United Kingdom’s “Tooway” (KA-SAT) based ISPs, has confirmed that they’re helping to retrain almost 50 former British Armed Forces personnel in the fine art of installing Satellite broadband infrastructure for homes and businesses.

UK Digital Inclusion Charter Attempts to Get Everybody Online.. again

14th Apr 2014 (18 Comments)

If at first you don’t succeed. The Government has launched its new Digital Inclusion Charter, which marks the latest in a long list of attempts to get the 11 million adults in the United Kingdom, specifically those who “lack basic digital skills and capabilities“, to finally go online. As usual various ISPs, mobile operators and others have been roped in to join the holy war on refuseniks.

New Deal Brings 100Mbps Wireless Link to Businesses in Shepway

14th Apr 2014 (0 Comments)

A new 3-year deal has been signed between Shepway District Council in Kent (England) and Maidstone-based Custodian Data Centre that will make Internet data speeds of up to 100Mbps (Megabits per second) available to businesses in the district’s main employment sites.

UK Government Reduces Minimum Grant for Broadband Connection Vouchers

12th Apr 2014 (2 Comments)

The Government’s Connection Vouchers scheme, which forms part of the £150m Urban Broadband Fund (“Super-Connected Cities“) to help SME businesses install superfast broadband (30Mbps+), has now completed its roll-out to all 22 cities across the United Kingdom and reduced the minimum voucher value.

ISP Aquiss Reintroduces FREE UK FTTC Fibre Broadband Installations

11th Apr 2014 (13 Comments)

Shropshire-based Internet provider Aquiss has reintroduced the offer of a free installation or migration alongside their superfast unlimited “fibre broadband” (FTTC) packages, which will save new customers up to £96 inc. VAT off the normal retail price. But there’s more.

O2 Bring 4G Mobile Broadband to 41% of People in 191 UK Towns and Cities

11th Apr 2014 (0 Comments)

Mobile operator O2 (O24G) has announced that their new 4G (LTE at 800MHz) based Mobile Broadband network can now cover 41% of the United Kingdom’s outdoor population (around 33% for indoor users) in 191 Towns and Cities, which apparently equates to about 20 million people.

UPDATE4 Open Rights Group Call on UK ISPs to Clarify Data Retention Policy

11th Apr 2014 (0 Comments)

The Open Rights Group (ORG) has written a new open letter that calls upon BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk and Virgin Media to clarify their positions on the storing of personal customer data / access logs, which follows a decision by the European Court of Justice to rule that the EU’s Data Retention Directive was now “invalid“.

Superfast Cornwall UK Project Hits 90% Fibre Broadband Coverage Milestone

11th Apr 2014 (5 Comments)

The £132m “Big Build” Superfast Cornwall scheme, which involves a public and private partnership where BT are aiming to make their “high-speed fibre optic broadband” (FTTC/P) network available to 95% of Cornwall in England and the Isles of Scilly by the end of 2014, has reached another crucial milestone by covering 90% of local premises.

BT to Scrap BT Vision Broadband IPTV Box and Replace it with YouView

11th Apr 2014 (9 Comments)

Customers of the BT TV service have been told that the operator intends to “close” their original silver BTVision broadband IPTV box service. Owners of the related set top box devices will instead be offered an upgrade to the new YouView based STB kit “at no extra cost“, but you’ll have to re-contract both your TV and broadband for another 18 months first.