Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: July 2020 (122 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for July 2020

AVM Release Big Update for FRITZ!Box Routers and WiFi Repeaters

9th Jul 2020 (3 Comments)

Consumers in the UK who own one of AVM’s popular FRITZ!Box broadband routers or a FRITZ!Repeater (WiFi) may like to know that they’ve released a major new firmware update – FRITZ!OS 7.20. The new software adds lots of improvements, such as support for WPA3 encryption, better WiFi, DNS over TLS and faster performance.

Fake Engineers Steal Batteries from Openreach Street Cabinets

9th Jul 2020 (21 Comments)

The Worcester Crown Court (WCC) has this week convicted three men after they dressed up as fake engineers in order to steal vital backup batteries from Openreach’s (BT) street cabinets, which supply broadband and phone connectivity to homes and businesses. The thefts took place across the UK.

Just 2 UK Municipalities Win EU Funds for FREE WiFi Networks

9th Jul 2020 (3 Comments)

The European Commission has revealed the winners from their final call-up for vouchers under the €120m WiFi4EU initiative, which includes just 2 municipalities in the United Kingdom that should now receive vouchers worth up to €15K (£13.42K) to help them install FREE public WiFi broadband hotspots by the end of 2020.

KN Circet Acquires ARCC – Expands into UK Wireless Networks

8th Jul 2020 (0 Comments)

Telecommunications network services provider KN Circet, which is part of the Circet Group and operates across the UK and Ireland (clients include Openreach, Vodafone, Virgin Media, BT, Zayo and many others), has acquired ARCC Communications as part of its strategy to expand into UK wireless activities and infrastructure.

Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile and giffgaff in Top 50 for Customer Satisfaction

8th Jul 2020 (5 Comments)

The latest biannual UK Customer Satisfaction Index (July 2020) from the Institute of Customer Service, which reveals the top 50 organisations for customer service, finds that only three telecoms companies have made it into the top table – mobile operators Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile and giffgaff.

Virgin Media Finish FTTP Rollout to 4,500 Sowerby Bridge Homes

8th Jul 2020 (17 Comments)

Some 4,500 homes in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, have now gained access to Virgin Media UK’s new “gigabit-capable” Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband and TV network. The work forms part of their on-going Project Lightning network expansion.

Sky UK Adds “Smart New Features” to Sky Q TV Box Platform

8th Jul 2020 (27 Comments)

Sky (Sky Broadband) has today unveiled a “raft of new features” for their Sky Q TV boxes and service, such as a new expanded view User Interface (UI), simple new show and sports centres, intuitive smart buttons, Disney+ in HDR (for the first time) and improved voice discovery. But still no Sky Q over broadband.

BT Gets O2 UK Adverts Pulled by ASA for Misleading Price Claims

8th Jul 2020 (7 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has, following a complaint raised by BT, banned two press adverts for mobile operator O2 UK after it promoted a special deal on a bundle with the Microsoft Surface Pro X and iPad devices, albeit without making all of the associated costs completely clear.

Progress on BDUK Plan for £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Rollout

8th Jul 2020 (15 Comments)

Over the past few months’ we’ve seen the UK Government step-up market engagement exercises as part of work to develop a framework for their £5bn investment, which aims to ensure that “every home” can access “gigabit-capable” broadband by the end of 2025. As a result we now have a better idea of what this will look like.

Shetland Threatens to Go it Alone on Future Broadband Upgrades

7th Jul 2020 (15 Comments)

The remote Shetland Islands Council (SIC) has decide to start exploring the possibility of extending “superfast broadband” coverage across the island(s) by itself, which they say is due to a “failure to deliver” under the Scottish Government’s wider £600m R100 (Reaching 100%) programme.

South West ISP Jurassic Fibre Refresh FTTP Broadband Plans

7th Jul 2020 (7 Comments)

Full fibre ISP Jurassic Fibre, which aims to cover 350,000 UK premises with a 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across South West England (here and here), appears to have refreshed their packages and reduced prices on several tiers.

2020 H1 – UK Gigabit Broadband Covers 22% as FTTP Hits 14.8%

7th Jul 2020 (23 Comments)

The latest independent model has estimated that the H1 2020 coverage of “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband ISP networks across the UK has risen to 14.8% of premises (up from 11% in H2 2019), while 61.7% can get 100Mbps+ (up from 59.3%) and 22.1% are within reach of “gigabit” (1Gbps) speeds.

ISP Hyperoptic Donates IT Kit to Help Low-Income Households

7th Jul 2020 (0 Comments)

Full fibre UK ISP Hyperoptic has announced that they’re donating IT equipment and dongles in Edinburgh (Scotland) to help enable 17 low-income households in the port district of Leith to get online and access essential services.

Scottish ISP HighNet Attracts Investment from Shawbrook Bank

7th Jul 2020 (0 Comments)

Business broadband ISP HighNet has revealed that an unspecific investment from Shawbrook Bank has enabled the company to be “fully business as usual” during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, while at the same time continuing to fuel its growth by investing in new hardware and additional IP addresses.

H.266 Standard to Bring High Quality Video to Slower Broadband

7th Jul 2020 (14 Comments)

At present most consumer UK internet traffic is made up of video content (70-80%) and one of the problems with having a slower broadband ISP connection is that you’re often stuck with lower quality streaming. But that could be about to change with the new H.266 Versatile Video Coding standard, which offers 50% more compression.

Openreach Add 94 Rural Villages and Towns to FTTP Broadband Plan UPDATE

7th Jul 2020 (34 Comments)

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today announced that a further 94 rural villages and towns have been added to their UK roll-out plan for 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology over the next 2 years, but all of them will be in Northern Ireland.

Broadband ISP Zen Internet UK to Offer Netgem TV Service

6th Jul 2020 (5 Comments)

Broadband ISP Zen Internet looks to have become the latest provider to add a Pay TV service after they began contacting existing customers to offer them a special deal on the Netgem TV (IPTV) platform, which reduces the normal monthly cost from £14.99 to £9.99 and is free for the first month (on a 12 month contract).