Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: December 2018 (77 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for December 2018

Openreach Start SOGEA Pilot and Reveal Standalone Broadband Prices

12th Dec 2018 (42 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today confirmed that their new Single Order Generic Ethernet Access (SOGEA) product, which enables consumers to buy a standalone FTTC “fibre broadband” (VDSL2 or G.fast) line without the voice (phone) service, will enter the UK ISP pilot phase on 9th January. The first prices have also been published.

ISP Onestream Cuts 35Mbps FTTC UK Broadband Price to £19.95

12th Dec 2018 (0 Comments)

Hampshire-based UK ISP Onestream has sharply reduced the price of their Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) based 35Mbps – average download speed – unlimited broadband and phone line rental package to just £19.95 per month for the first 12 months of service (£34.99 a month thereafter).

Vonage Fined £24.5K by Ofcom for Failure of UK VoIP Phone Service

12th Dec 2018 (11 Comments)

An investigation into the availability of Vonage‘s internet phone (VoIP) service has resulted in Ofcom imposing a £24,500 penalty on the provider, which came after they discovered that the company had “failed to provide uninterrupted access” to the emergency services (999 or 112 for police, fire etc.).

CBI Demands Urgent Action to Fast Track UK Gigabit Broadband

12th Dec 2018 (10 Comments)

A new report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that the UK Government must take “urgent action” and “fast track [new] laws” in order to ensure the delivery of its aspiration to achieve nationwide coverage of future 5G mobile by 2027 and “full fibre” (FTTP) Gigabit broadband ISP networks by 2033.

Top 20 UK Fastest and Slowest Streets for Broadband Speed 2018 UPDATE

12th Dec 2018 (6 Comments)

A new study has used data from 279,186 consumer speedtests to produce a list of the top 20 fastest and slowest UK streets for broadband ISP download speed. Overall Greenmeadows Park (Cheltenham) has been named the slowest on 0.14Mbps, while Abdon Avenue (Birmingham) was the fastest 265.89Mbps.

ISP Community Fibre Deploys FTTP Broadband to L&Q Social Homes

11th Dec 2018 (0 Comments)

The L&Q Group, which houses around 250,000 people in more than 95,000 UK homes (mostly across London and the South East), has announced that they will be working with ISP Community Fibre to deploy their 1Gbps capable ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to “all their residents.”

Openreach to Start UK ISP Trial of Self Install G.fast Broadband

11th Dec 2018 (21 Comments)

As predicted Openreach (BT) has today announced the forthcoming launch of a new Proof of Concept (PoC) trial, which will make it possible for ISPs to offer customers a “self install” (i.e. no engineer required) variant of their new 330Mbps capable G.fast (hybrid fibre) based ultrafast broadband service.

Ofcom Move to Redefine UK Geographic Fibre Markets from 2021

11th Dec 2018 (4 Comments)

Over the next few years the UK will witness a surge in alternative fibre optic (FTTP) broadband ISP networks, which means that investment and competition will vary a lot by geography. In response Ofcom has today begun consulting upon a new approach to how they set regulation and define such markets from 2021.

Gov Commits Extra £2m to UK ISP Internet Anti-Piracy Campaign

11th Dec 2018 (5 Comments)

The Government has pumped an additional £2 million of public money into the “Get it Right” campaign, which among other things has used a combination of educational advertising and internet piracy warning emails via broadband ISPs (“subscriber alerts“) to help discourage online copyright infringement.

Openreach and UK ISPs Reach Deal on Automatic Compensation

11th Dec 2018 (16 Comments)

After some disagreement Openreach (BT) and five major retail ISPs appear to have finally reached agreement on payments as part of Ofcom’s new automatic compensation system, which from “early 2019” will require them to compensate consumers for a total loss of fixed broadband and phone connectivity.

Welsh Government Issue Statement on Broadband Roll-out Progress

10th Dec 2018 (0 Comments)

The Leader of the House and Chief Whip of the Welsh Government, Julie James AM, has this afternoon issued a statement on the progress of their state aid supported Superfast Cymru project with Openreach (BT). Sadly there’s still no word on when the contract for LOT 2 of their Phase 2 roll-out will be awarded.

ISPA UK Starts Hunting for the 2019 Best Broadband ISPs

10th Dec 2018 (0 Comments)

The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has this afternoon launched the hunt for next year’s best ISPs, which includes several familiar categories (e.g. Best Superfast ISP, Best Business ISP) and some new ones (e.g. Best Infrastructure Provider). Plus the “Internet Villain Award” has finally returned.

Vodafone Improves UK 4G and 5G Mobile Coverage via Manholes

10th Dec 2018 (12 Comments)

Most of the time when a mobile operator wants to improve their network coverage then they install new base stations or small cells in high locations, such as on top of a building, mast or street light. Now Vodafone has decided to go in the opposite direction by installing small antennas “below street level.”

Virgin Media UK Contractors in Wrexham Accused of Harassment

10th Dec 2018 (7 Comments)

Cable broadband ISP Virgin Media has apologised after the councillor for Queensway in Wrexham (North Wales), Carrie Harper, accused their contractors of harassing six woman in Caia Park by using “sexually inappropriate behaviour” and swearing.

15 UK Municipalities Win EU Funding to Install FREE WiFi Networks

10th Dec 2018 (1 Comment)

The European Commission has announced the winners from their latest round of applications for the €120m WiFi4EU initiative, which includes 15 municipalities in the United Kingdom that will now receive vouchers worth up to €15K (£13.5K) to help them install FREE WiFi wireless broadband hotspots by 2020.

BT Appoints Jane Wood as New UK Nations and Ireland Director

10th Dec 2018 (0 Comments)

The BT Group has today appointed a new UK Nations and Ireland Director in the shape of Jane Wood. She will become responsible for leading the telecoms giant’s relationships with politicians, public bodies and key opinion formers across the devolved nations.

O2 UK Outage Triggers Mobile Roaming and Compensation Debate

10th Dec 2018 (11 Comments)

One positive outcome of last week’s O2 network outage (here) is that it has triggered a debate about whether mobile operators should introduce Automatic Compensation, like broadband ISPs will soon receive. On top of that others have called for more roaming flexibility, so users can use rival networks during downtime.