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

ISP News Archives for July 2014

FREE WiFi Plan for Newcastle and Gateshead At Risk Over GOWEX Trouble

7th Jul 2014 (3 Comments)

The new plan to roll-out a free wireless Internet (wifi hotspot) network across “scores of public areas” in Newcastle and Gateshead (North East England) could be at risk after it emerged that Spain-based GOWEX, which had been appointed to setup the new infrastructure, had falsified its accounts and filed for bankruptcy.

UK Hotels Still Think Poor WiFi Access is a Price Worth Paying

7th Jul 2014 (8 Comments)

A new study commissioned by NETGEAR has surveyed 150 small and medium-sized hospitality and leisure venues across the UK, including 2,042 adults, to discover that 43% of hotels, B&Bs and theme parks etc. still think poor or non-existent WiFi Internet access is a price worth paying for a better experience in other areas. Most customers understandably disagreed.

ITS Technology Gobbles Manchester Wireless Broadband ISP CityServe

7th Jul 2014 (1 Comment)

The ITS Technology Group, which builds next generation infrastructure like fibre optic networks, has today acquire the majority shareholding (70%+) in a wireless broadband ISP (CityServe Limited) that specialises in delivering access and other services to social housing and hard to reach homes across East Manchester in England.

Keswick Post Office in Cumbria Crippled Due to Lack of Broadband

7th Jul 2014 (3 Comments)

Residents of Keswick, a small market town in remote rural Cumbria (England), have been left without access to vital services (e.g. pension and cash withdrawals) for two weeks after the areas local Post Office closed for a refit and the temporary mobile facility that was setup outside found itself unable to function due to a poor “broadband signal“.

Vodafone UK Launch Cheaper World Mobile Broadband Roaming

7th Jul 2014 (3 Comments)

Mobile operator Vodafone UK has launched WorldTraveller, which for £5 inc. VAT extra per day will allow pay-monthly customers (including business travellers on certain price plans) to take their existing data (Mobile Broadband), voice and text allowances to a number of major destinations outside of Europe (e.g. the USA and South Africa). Calls and texts received are also free.

39 New Local Growth Deals to Improve Superfast Broadband in England

7th Jul 2014 (2 Comments)

The Government has today announced an investment of £6bn to help fund the first wave of 39 new Growth Deals with businesses and local authorities across England, which among other things will also bring new money to build new homes and improve the coverage of superfast broadband services alongside the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.

UPDATE Network Rail Fine to Help Improve FREE WiFi on UK Train Routes

7th Jul 2014 (1 Comment)

In an odd twist the Government’s Department for Transport has said that a multi-million pound fine, which is being imposed upon state-owned Network Rail for missing performance targets (the penalty could be worth up to £70m), will be used to help fund a £90m investment into rolling out free superfast wifi Internet access on the busiest train routes.

Site Status – UK ISP Listings Updated and Expanded

5th Jul 2014 (0 Comments)

ISPreview.co.uk has just completed a new update of our UK ISP Listings database, which as well as ensuring that all of the Internet Service Provider details and prices are correct has also introduce a few new features and sections, such as the ability to search for ISPs by their general geographic location (HQ).

RCBF Fails Target to Give 70000 Rural Premises Superfast Broadband

5th Jul 2014 (25 Comments)

The government’s controversial £20 million Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF), which originally aimed to help remote rural areas in the last 5-10% of England gain access to superfast broadband, will fall well short of its original target to help up to 70,000 premises and is instead only set to pass between 20-25,000 premises.

Small Progress on Broadband Cover and 7 Digit Postcodes in Cumbria

4th Jul 2014 (7 Comments)

The Cumbria County Council and BT have finally given a full 7-digit postcode level breakdown (albeit in verbal form) of their anticipated superfast broadband (FTTC/P) coverage in the region, although unfortunately the data is only for the Grasmere telephone exchange area.

UPDATE London’s Tech City Still Suffering a Lack of Superfast Broadband

4th Jul 2014 (13 Comments)

The government’s plans for Shoreditch’s Tech City have been criticised by Labour MP Meg Hillier after it was claimed that around a third of local businesses, not to mention many homes, are still without access to high-speed broadband, while the £3,000 Connection Voucher (“Super-Connected Cities“) scheme that was setup to help has been branded as a “national embarrassment“.

UPDATE West Yorkshire Name Phase 2 Rollout for BT Fibre Broadband

4th Jul 2014 (8 Comments)

The £21.96m Superfast West Yorkshire project in England, which is working to roll-out BT’s “high-speed fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network to cover 97% of local homes and businesses (708,000 premises) by the end of Autumn 2015, has started the second phase of its local deployment. There’s also some good news for Exchange Only Lines (EOL).

UK Government Agrees – Too Much Internet Content Regulation is Bad

4th Jul 2014 (1 Comment)

The Government has just given its official response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s inquiry into Online Safety, which in March 2014 warned that website blocking by UK ISPs was “highly unlikely to be a suitable approach” for tackling porn or violent material on the Internet (here). Broadly the government agrees, but you should still expect more filtering by ISPs in the future.

UPDATE UK Government Targets 100% Superfast Broadband Coverage

3rd Jul 2014 (34 Comments)

The Government’s Communications Minister, Edward Vaizey (MP), has today told the House of Commons that the money they’ve already allocated should “give us the figure we need to get to 100%” (coverage of superfast broadband connectivity). We remain to be convinced.

Copper Lines Decline as Global Fixed Broadband Lines Top 690M

3rd Jul 2014 (10 Comments)

The latest Q1-2014 global broadband report from UK telecoms analyst Point Topic has revealed that the world is now home to 690.1 million fixed line broadband subscribers (+1.9% in the quarter), which is up from +0.4% recorded at the end of 2013. It’s also the first quarter where the market share for older copper line broadband connections (e.g. ADSL, SDSL) has dipped below 50%.

BT Agrees “wage stability” Pay Rise with CWU for 47,000 UK Employees

3rd Jul 2014 (2 Comments)

No disputes over pay this year. Telecoms giant BT and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have today agreed a new pay package that will last for the next three years (until January 2017) and see 47,000 of the operators “team members” (primary staff) receive a modest increase in pay.

Devon and Somerset Name 42 New Communities for Fibre Broadband

3rd Jul 2014 (0 Comments)

The joint £94m Connecting Devon and Somerset programme in England, which is working to make BT’s “fibre optic broadband” (FTTC/P) service available to more than 90% of local premises by the end of 2016 and hopefully 100% by 2020, has today announced a list of the next 42 communities that will benefit from its roll-out.