Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: January 2020 (102 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for January 2020

Ofcom UK to Make 6GHz Band Available for Faster Home Wi-Fi

17th Jan 2020 (7 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has today proposed to free up 500MHz of spectrum in the 6GHz frequency band on a licence-exempt basis so that it can be used by the latest WiFi networks (e.g. Wi-Fi 6 / 6E – 802.11ax), which would make such networks faster, more reliable and a bit more secure.

BT is First UK ISP Partner for Google’s Stadia Cloud Gaming

17th Jan 2020 (26 Comments)

Broadband ISP BT has today become the first UK and European distribution partner for Google’s new cloud-based online video gaming platform, Stadia, which enables gamers to remote play video / computer games – on almost any device – by streaming them live to you from a huge data centre.

ISP Sky Broadband UK Discounts 59Mbps FTTC Price to £25

17th Jan 2020 (13 Comments)

UK ISP Sky Broadband has shaved a further £2 off the already discounted price of their “superfast” (Average speeds of 59Mbps) Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) service, which also comes with anytime UK calls and is now priced at £25 per month for the first 18 months of service (£32 thereafter). The one-off setup fee is also now free.

F&W Networks First FTTP Broadband Network Set for Horsham

17th Jan 2020 (15 Comments)

Last year a new full fibre developer called F&W Networks, which is being supported by retail ISP partner Hey!Broadband (H!B), cropped up with an aspiration of deploying a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to over 1 million UK premises by 2024 (here). Now their first roll-out seems destined for Horsham.

Sky Mobile UK Add Ultrafast 5G Plans At No Extra Cost for VIPs

16th Jan 2020 (6 Comments)

Sky (Sky Broadband) has, after a short delay, finally made ultrafast 5G technology available on their Sky Mobile plans at no extra cost (with VIP), which as part of their existing Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement is based off the new network being deployed by O2 (Telefonica UK) in the 3.4GHz band.

Community Fibre Build FTTP Broadband to 100,000 UK Premises

16th Jan 2020 (7 Comments)

London-focused UK ISP CommunityFibre has today confirmed that the roll-out of their Gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network has now reached their first target of 100,000 premises. On top of that they have plans in place that should see this grow to 370,000 homes via 40 of London’s largest landlords.

O2 UK Follows Vodafone into Testing an OpenRAN Network

16th Jan 2020 (1 Comment)

Mobile operator O2 (Telefonica UK) has today announced its own plans for an Open Radio Access Network (OpenRAN), which works to standardise the design and functionality of mobile network (3G, 4G or 5G) hardware and software (i.e. making network deployments more cost effective). Vodafone also plans O-RAN trials (here) in rural areas.

Government Changes UK Gigabit Broadband Voucher Rules

16th Jan 2020 (48 Comments)

The Government has just approved some changes to the rules and eligibility criteria for both their £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) and the £200m Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme, which effectively harmonises both schemes and helps the funding get to the right areas.

SSE Broadband and Energy Customers Now Owned by Ovo UK

15th Jan 2020 (0 Comments)

Millions of SSE’s retail energy, broadband ISP and home phone customers have today officially become part of Ovo after the company completed its £500m acquisition. Initially nothing is expected to change for SSE’s customers, although over time there may be more differences.

Ruling by EU Court Adviser May Hamper UK Internet Snooping

15th Jan 2020 (2 Comments)

The Advocate General for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Campos Sánchez-Bordona, has today issued a landmark legal “opinion” that could effectively limit the ability of national security agencies (e.g. GCHQ) to force internet providers (e.g. broadband ISPs) into the bulk retention of personal customer data.

Vodafone UK Confirm 1Gbps FTTH Network Live in Cambridge

15th Jan 2020 (28 Comments)

UK ISP Vodafone has today finally confirmed our report from last month (here), which revealed that their new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network with Cityfibre had gone live in the city of Cambridge. The deployment is costing £20m and will ultimately cover around 60,000 local premises.

Virgin Media Get New CFO and Deputy CEO Ahead of Big Change

15th Jan 2020 (10 Comments)

Cable broadband and TV operator Virgin Media UK (Liberty Global) has announced the appointment of Severina Pascu to become its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), which will become effective from 1st February 2020 and help to lead the ISP through an “exciting new growth chapter.”

Openreach Extend Free FTTP Offer to Smaller UK New Build Sites

14th Jan 2020 (20 Comments)

At present Openreach (BT) already provides their Gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to UK new build home developments of 30+ plots for free, while smaller builds could only get a discount. The good news is that they’ve today extended this free build offer to new sites of just 20+ plots.

Ofcom Hit Post Office with £175K Fine – Overcharging for Calls

14th Jan 2020 (1 Comment)

The UK broadband ISP and phone division of the Post Office has today been fined £175,000 after the national telecoms regulator, Ofcom, found that they had overcharged customers, specifically those people with hearing or speech impairments who made telephone calls using a relay service.

Business ISP MLL Telecom Appoint New CEO Shaun Ledgerwood

14th Jan 2020 (0 Comments)

Buckinghamshire-based UK business ISP MLL Telecom has announced that their long standing CEO, Gary Marven, is to retire after 10 years in the job and hand over to new boss Shaun Ledgerwood. Gary will however remain a Director of the business.

EE and Vodafone Come Top of New 2020 UK Mobile Benchmark

14th Jan 2020 (8 Comments)

Mobile operators EE and Vodafone have today come top in umlaut‘s (formerly P3) annual 2019 UK Mobile Network Test, which used a range of different benchmarks to test 3G and 4G (voice and data / broadband) services across 21 cities, 29 towns and along 10,700km of major roads.

Farmers Survey Highlights Poor UK Rural Mobile and Broadband

13th Jan 2020 (36 Comments)

Once again the National Farmers Union has published the results from its annual online and telephone based survey of several hundred members, which found that just 17% of farmers had access to “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) speeds (up from 16% last year and 4% in 2015) and 15% have no indoor mobile signal at all.