Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: August 2021 (117 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for August 2021

Freedom Fibre Van and Engineer in Cherry Picker Box

Freedom Fibre Set to Connect First TalkTalk Homes in Cheshire

9th Aug 2021 (4 Comments)

Alternative network provider Freedom Fibre (FF), which since earlier this year has been busy building a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network across semi-rural parts of Cheshire (England), appears imminently set to go live with their first customers (on TalkTalk) in the village of Culcheth.

North of Tyne Gets GBP7m for 5G and Future Connectivity Fund

9th Aug 2021 (2 Comments)

The North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA), which represents Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland in England, recently announced that they will put £7 million toward a new 5G and Future Connectivity Fund, which is largely intended to help boost mobile and “full fibre” broadband connectivity in rural areas.

Construction worker repairing a broken water pipe on the concrete road.

Gov to Trial Running UK Fibre Broadband Lines via Water Mains

9th Aug 2021 (40 Comments)

The UK Government (DCMS) has today unveiled a new £4m ‘Fibre in Water‘ project trial, which will experiment with connecting homes, businesses and mobile masts to gigabit-capable broadband in “hard-to-reach areas” (e.g. remote rural) by running Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) style lines through the water mains.

consumer complaint uk red triangle warning sign by 123rf

Performance of UK Broadband Complaints Handlers Compared

8th Aug 2021 (7 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, recently published updated Key Performance Indicator (KPI) statistics for the broadband and mobile market’s only two approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) providers, which are independent ombudsman services that help consumers to resolve complaints when ISPs fail to do so.

Global Chip Shortage Continuing to Impact UK Broadband ISPs

7th Aug 2021 (20 Comments)

Back in the early spring, we reported on how the global shortage of semiconductor chips was causing huge delays in the market for broadband ISP network kit (e.g. routers), which could make it harder for providers to add new customers, replace faulty kit or launch new products. Bad news, it’s still a big problem.

ISP BT Makes UK FTTP Home Broadband Packages Even Cheaper

6th Aug 2021 (46 Comments)

UK ISP BT has today launched a range of discounts for new customers, which among other things knocks their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based ultrafast and gigabit speed home broadband packages down to some of the cheapest monthly prices that they’ve ever offered. The setup fee is also now free.

Ofcom Provisionally Clears Openreach FTTP Broadband Price Cut

6th Aug 2021 (14 Comments)

As expected Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, has today launched a final consultation on Openreach’s (BT) recently proposed plan to introduce a “major” change to the wholesale pricing of their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband products for ISPs (details), which could result in cheaper prices for consumers.

Vodafone-Pro-Alexa-Super-WiFi-Device-and-Broadband-Router

Vodafone UK Pro Broadband Gets Super WiFi with Alexa Built-in UPDATE

6th Aug 2021 (5 Comments)

Mobile operator and ISP Vodafone has today enhanced their existing range of home fixed line “Pro Broadband” (FTTC / FTTP) packages by integrating Amazon’s Alexa AI personal voice assistant into their bundled “Super Wi-Fi Plus” (mesh network) booster device, which has also been upgraded to support Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax).

Virgin Media O2 Extend 1Gbps FTTP to 4,000 Warrington Homes

6th Aug 2021 (2 Comments)

A further 4,000 homes in the large Cheshire (England) town of Warrington can now access gigabit broadband speeds from Virgin Media (VMO2), which occured after the UK ISP extended the reach of their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based internet and pay TV network in the area.

Grain Prep GBP175m Plan for Large UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

5th Aug 2021 (1 Comment)

Full fibre UK ISP Grain Connect, which was initially supported by £10m from Albion Capital, has today confirmed that they’ve scored a £75 million equity investment from Equitix, one of Europe’s top infrastructure investors, to help extend their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to 300,000 premises.

EE UK Launch New 4G PAYG Connected Data SIM Packs UPDATE

5th Aug 2021 (33 Comments)

Mobile network operator EE (BT) has launched a new range of contract free ‘Connected Data SIM‘ packs for their 4G using Pay As You Go (PAYG) customers, which are specifically designed to help fuel connected tablets, laptops or other Mobile Broadband devices (e.g. USB Wi-Fi routers / dongles).

CityFibre Expand Strategic UK Full Fibre Network Deal with Neos

5th Aug 2021 (1 Comment)

Fibre optic broadband builder CityFibre (CF) has announced that their strategic partnership with Neos Networks, which enables both sides to take more advantage of each other’s respective fibre networks, is being expanded to work across a further 9 cities in the United Kingdom.

Technicolor and Net Lynk Offer New Wi-Fi 6 Routers to UK ISPs

5th Aug 2021 (6 Comments)

More broadband ISPs in the UK look set to start bundling a new generation of faster Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) routers and mesh (repeater) network devices with their packages, which comes after Technicolor’s Connected Home division and Birmingham-based Net Lynk teamed-up to make a related line of products available to internet providers.

Rootmetrics Names EE Best for UK 5G Mobile Reach and Speeds UPDATE

5th Aug 2021 (17 Comments)

Mobile benchmarking firm RootMetrics will today publish a new biannual H1 2021 report into the performance of 5G (mobile broadband) networks in the United Kingdom, which praises EE (BT) for their “consistent broad availability … fast speeds and reliability.”

Ookla Data Reveals Starlink’s UK Satellite Broadband Speeds

4th Aug 2021 (22 Comments)

A new report from Ookla (Speedtest.net) has revealed how fast SpaceX’s new Starlink constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) ultrafast broadband satellites are for UK customers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it comfortably beats fixed broadband ISPs for median (average) download speeds, but uploads and latency are another matter.

space satellite broadband spacecraft by 123rf

Survey Wrongly Claims 1.3 Million UK Homes Use Satellite Broadband

4th Aug 2021 (35 Comments)

A somewhat questionable new survey from Uswitch, which is based on feedback from a nationally representative sample of 4,002 UK adults, has boldly claimed that 1.3 million UK households are already using a satellite broadband connection. But we can’t find anything to substantiate such a figure.

Full Fibre UK ISP Hyperoptic Introduce Cheaper 24 Month Contracts

4th Aug 2021 (2 Comments)

City focused broadband ISP Hyperoptic, which is building a new gigabit-capable FTTP/B network across large UK residential buildings, office blocks and some houses, will today introduce a new 24-month contract term option to complement their existing monthly (30 day) and 12-month terms. The advantage is a lower price.