Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: December 2014 (98 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for December 2014

UK Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act Faces Judicial Review

8th Dec 2014 (3 Comments)

The High Court in London has today granted permission for a Judicial Review of the United Kingdom’s controversial and semi-recycled Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIP), which is the law that among other things governs how much information the security services can collect from Internet and phone providers.

TalkTalk’s Talk2Go Allows Home Phone Calls via Mobile Data or WiFi

8th Dec 2014 (0 Comments)

Customers of TalkTalk’s home broadband service can now download a new Talk2Go app for Android and iOS (iPhone etc.), which allows them to make and receive calls (i.e. using their landline minutes) whilst out and about on 3G or 4G based mobile broadband or over Wi-Fi connections (charged at the same rate as if they were at home).

UK ISP TalkTalk Hails Project Genesis and “Self-Healing Broadband”

8th Dec 2014 (0 Comments)

Budget Internet provider TalkTalk has praised the success of their “ground-breaking” Project Genesis system (not to be confused with the world-colonising ‘Genesis Device’ from StarTrek 2), which helps to tackle broadband and phone connection faults by carrying out thousands of line checks every day and automatically raising fault tickets if it finds a problem. Sadly it cannot currently resurrect Vulcan science officers.

Ofcom – 75% of the United Kingdom Can Sign-up to Superfast Broadband

8th Dec 2014 (14 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published their annual 2014 Infrastructure Report and revealed that 75% of premises are now within reach of a superfast broadband (30Mbps+) connection (this falls to just 22% superfast coverage in rural areas or 33% for raw NGA reach), with take-up of related services hitting 22% (up from 16% last year).

UPDATE2 Virgin Media UK Users Hit by Internet Video Buffering Woes Again

8th Dec 2014 (12 Comments)

Oh no, not again. Once more customers of Virgin Media’s cable broadband service across the United Kingdom have spent the best part of the weekend having to complain after the curse of buffering on Internet video streams returned to strike down the entertainment value of services like YouTube (Google) etc.

Three UK Expands 4G Mobile Broadband Coverage to 48 Percent

8th Dec 2014 (3 Comments)

Data focused mobile operator Three UK has announced that their new 4G (LTE at 1800MHz) based Mobile Broadband network is, after its first year of physical deployment work, now available to 48% of the United Kingdom and their next enhancement could help to significantly improve that figure.

Connection Drops Continue to Hit Relish’s London Fixed Wireless 4G Users

8th Dec 2014 (30 Comments)

Customers of Relish’s new superfast 4G (LTE at 3.5 / 3.6GHz) based fixed wireless broadband service in central London, which offers an “unlimited” connection with Internet speeds of up to 50Mbps from just £20 per month (no line rental required), have continued to complain about frequent connection drops and unresponsive support.

Next Gen 1Gbps G.Fast Copper Broadband Standard Gains Final Approval

7th Dec 2014 (18 Comments)

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) has now given its final approval to the next generation G.fast (ITU G.9701) broadband standard, which in a few short years could replace BTOpenreach’s ‘up to’ 80Mbps FTTC service and potentially deliver up to around ten times the speed using similar hybrid fibre lines (mixed fibre optic and shorter copper).

TalkTalk and BT in Comedy Squabble Over Promotional Rocket Graphics

5th Dec 2014 (11 Comments)

Several weeks ago the Director of BT’s Superfast Broadband Programme in Cornwall, Ranulf Scarbrough, comically complained to us and others that TalkTalk had “stolen our rocket!“. At the time we chuckled and moved on from what appeared to be little more than a bit of comedy jesting between competitive foes in the ISP sector, but today it’s made the news.

Northumberland UK Finally Publishes a Detailed BDUK Fibre Broadband Map

5th Dec 2014 (3 Comments)

It’s been a long time coming but Rothbury councillor Steven Bridgett has today informed us that the Northumberland County Council in North East England has finally uploaded a much more detailed coverage map of their local £19m iNorthumberland project, which also depicts their tentative plans for ultrafast 330Mbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) coverage.

Worcestershire UK Criticised for Low BDUK “Fibre Broadband” Take-up

5th Dec 2014 (20 Comments)

The £21m Superfast Worcestershire (England) scheme shows why councils might be nervous about revealing the take-up figures for their state aid supported roll-out of BT’s “Fibre Broadband” (FTTC/P) network. A Freedom of Information (FoI) request has revealed that the county’s uptake for related upgrades is just 3.2% and naturally political opponents have been quick to criticise.

RCBF Supported Superfast Broadband Rollout in Rothbury Completed

4th Dec 2014 (0 Comments)

The Northumberland (England) based market-town of Rothbury, including several surrounding communities, can now access faster “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) services after a scheme funded by the Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF) and BT finally completed its planned deployment in the area.

BT TV Expands its Buy-to-Keep Movie Streaming Service to Multiple Devices

4th Dec 2014 (1 Comment)

BT has announced that customers of their broadband TV (IPTV) platform, specifically those who make use of their Buy-to-Keep movies service, will now be able to access the content they purchase on more than the ISPs Set-Top-Box hardware. In addition, customers can now also watch their TV channels on multiple devices but you’ll need an ‘Extra Box’.

UK Government’s Copyright Tsar Blames ISPs for Facilitating Sony Hack

4th Dec 2014 (9 Comments)

The UK Prime Minister’s (David Cameron) sometimes controversial Intellectual Property Advisor, Mike Weatherley (Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade), has somewhat bizarrely blamed broadband ISPs for helping to “facilitate” major hacks like the recent once that took place against Sony.

BT Completes Scotland’s Subsea Fibre Optic Rollout Project

4th Dec 2014 (6 Comments)

The £409.8 million Digital Scotland programme and BT have today announced that their joint £26.9 million subsea project, which has been rolling out 250 miles of fibre optic cable under the sea in order to reach various remote and island communities with superfast broadband (FTTC/P), is finally complete.

BT Adjusts Support for Slow UK FTTC “Fibre Broadband” Lines

4th Dec 2014 (5 Comments)

The Managing Director of Andrews and Arnold (AAISP), Adrian Kennard, has noted a number of interesting changes to the terms of BTWholesale’s up to 80Mbps “fibre broadband” Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL) connections, which appears to take away some of the ISPs flexibility and at the same time make it harder for consumers to get the connection speed they expected.

Key Points from BT’s Oral Evidence to the UK Rural Broadband Inquiry

3rd Dec 2014 (25 Comments)

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has just held an Oral Evidence session for their on-going inquiry into UK rural broadband coverage and digital-only services. First in the hot seat was the familiar face of Sean Williams, BT’s Group Director of Strategy, Policy & Portfolio, whom had a few interesting points to make on the matter.