Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: July 2014 (115 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for July 2014

UPD BT Criticised by Campaign for Better Broadband in London’s Square Mile

28th Jul 2014 (41 Comments)

The City of London Corporation has criticised BT for an “unacceptable” failure to deliver superfast broadband connectivity to businesses based within the heart of London’s Square Mile, which it hopes to put right by developing a new strategy and launching a campaign to help map demand for the service.

Do We Really Need “Superfast” Broadband?

27th Jul 2014 (62 Comments)

Do we really need 1Mbps, 10Mbps, 100Mbps or even 1000Mbps (1Gbps) of Internet download and upload speed to enjoy the online world? It’s an interesting question and one with many different answers, usually depending upon both your perspective and personal expectations. But how much Internet speed is really enough?

BDUK Blacklist No More – Government Lose £900m IT Case vs Fujitsu UK

26th Jul 2014 (16 Comments)

Reports indicate that the Japanese technology and telecoms giant Fujitsu UK has won its case against the 2008 dismissal of their £900m contract for providing the NHS with new IT services. Crucially this is also part of the reason why Fujitsu ended up being classified as “high risk” by the Government for other IT projects, such as the Broadband Delivery UK programme.

Government of Guernsey Conduct “Secret” Broadband Speedtests?

25th Jul 2014 (2 Comments)

A new report today claims that the States of Guernsey (Channel Islands) has conducted a so-called “secret” pilot in order to monitor the performance of broadband connections (obviously), albeit apparently without local ISPs being told.

Sky Broadband UK Growth Slows to Reach 5.247m Customers

25th Jul 2014 (6 Comments)

Media and Internet giant Sky Broadband (BSkyB), which has just this morning gobbled Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland (here), has announced that their total home broadband base grew by only +50,000 during Q2-2014 to total 5,247,000 Internet access customers (down sharply from the +70k added in Q1-2014 and +110k in Q4-2013).

UPDATE Sky UK Gobble Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland to Go European

25th Jul 2014 (1 Comment)

BSkyB has today moved to create a pan-European pay TV and communications provider by announcing the acquisition of Sky Italia (Italy) and a 57.4% stake in Sky Deutschland (Germany). Both companies are controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, although Murdoch’s stake in BSkyB has remained stuck at just over 39% due to political and competition concerns.

EE UK Sees Home Broadband Surge to 775000 Users and 4G Tops 4.2m

25th Jul 2014 (0 Comments)

Mobile and Internet provider EE UK has reported that their fixed line home broadband ISP subscribers grew by an impressive +30k in Q2-2014 (calendar) to total 775,000 customers, which is up from the +19k added during Q1-2014 and also better than the +12k in Q4-2013. Meanwhile their 4G (LTE) users grew +1.3m in the quarter to top 4.183m (way up from the +889k added in Q1).

Broadband Customers Win Most of their ISP Complaints

24th Jul 2014 (12 Comments)

A new survey conducted by Which? on 3,621 members of the public has revealed that 68% of consumers who escalate their complaint against a service or utility provider (e.g. broadband, phone, energy, water etc.), such as by using an independent ombudsman, win their case. But sadly 60% of those who attempted to resolve a complaint directly were left dissatisfied

UK ISP Primus Saver to Scrap and Revamp Home Broadband Packages

24th Jul 2014 (2 Comments)

Bargain hunters looking to take Primus Saver’s ultra-cheap £1.20 per month (plus £13.99 line rental) broadband and phone bundle, which comes with a 20GB usage allowance, free router and free UK evening and weekend calls, should take note that the ISP will soon withdraw it in favour of new “totally unlimited” packages. The existing fibre (FTTC) deals will also soon be gone.

EuropaSat Cuts UK Satellite Broadband Prices in Half for 3 Months

23rd Jul 2014 (0 Comments)

Oxfordshire-based broadband Satellite ISP EuropaSat has announced that customers who take either their Tooway (Eutelsat) or SES based packages will now be able to benefit from half-price monthly rental for the first three months of service.

BT Wifi Brings Fibre Fuelled Wireless Internet to RAF Northolt

23rd Jul 2014 (2 Comments)

Around 2,000 military and civilian personnel at RAF Northolt in London can now get online via a new WiFi Hotspot based wireless Internet access service after BT completed the installation of the new “high-speed” network via 480 access points today.

UK MPs Consider Judicial Review of DRIP Internet Snooping Act

23rd Jul 2014 (4 Comments)

The UK’s semi-recycled Data Retention and Investigation Powers Act (DRIP), which extends the range of Internet snooping that the Government can perform on its citizens and was controversially rushed into law last week under emergency powers (here), will become the subject of a Judicial Review process if some MPs get their way.

Hampshire UK Confirm Phase 3 BDUK and BT FTTC Broadband Rollout

23rd Jul 2014 (0 Comments)

The Hampshire Superfast Broadband Programme in England has today confirmed the next round (Phase 3) of areas that can expect to benefit from the councils state aid supported roll-out of BT’s superfast broadband (FTTC/P) services, which aim to reach “at least” 90% of local premises by the end of 2015 and 95% by 2017.

Cable Ship “Resolute” Brings Fibre Optic Broadband to the Isles of Scilly

23rd Jul 2014 (0 Comments)

The £132m Superfast Cornwall project has announced that the cable ship called ‘Resolute’ will today complete the first major phase of a £3.7m effort to divert two unused submarine fibre optic cables to the Isles of Scilly (the cables had previously been used for communications between the UK, Ireland and Spain).

OECD Rank UK 8th for Fixed Broadband Penetration as Fibre Optic Grows

23rd Jul 2014 (0 Comments)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which covers 34 countries that support democracy and a market economy, has reported that at the end of 2013 the United Kingdom ranked 8th for fixed line broadband penetration (i.e. 35.2 subscribers per 100 inhabitants). Fibre optic (FTTH/P/B) connections also continued to grow.

TalkTalk UK Creep to 4.206m Broadband Users as York FTTP Plan Progresses

23rd Jul 2014 (1 Comment)

Budget ISP TalkTalk has revealed the latest results for Q2-2014 (calendar), which saw their broadband subscriber base grow by +10,000 in the quarter to total 4,206,000 (i.e. stable growth from +10k added in Q1). Meanwhile their planned roll-out of ultrafast FTTP broadband in the city of York is also making progress.

Low UK Uptake of Broadband Connection Vouchers Despite Tweaks

23rd Jul 2014 (3 Comments)

The Government’s Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme, which offers grants worth up to £3,000 to help SME businesses install a superfast broadband (30Mbps+) service in 22 cities across the United Kingdom, is continuing to suffer from low uptake with only around 4% (1,500 approved applications) of the £100m fund being drawn down.