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PAC Report Casts Doubt Over Broadband and Other UK Infrastructure Projects

29th April, 2013 (4 Comments)

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is appointed by the House of Commons to examine public expenditure, has criticised the government’s £310bn National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) for being a “list of projects” that lacks a “real plan with a strategic vision and clear priorities“.

BT Not Expecting to Deploy Faster UK FTTC Broadband Speeds in 2013

29th April, 2013 (6 Comments)

BTOpenreach, which maintains and manages access to BT’s national UK telecoms network, has told ISPreview.co.uk that it has “no current plans” to introduce faster FTTC based broadband ISP speeds beyond the current headline rate of 80Mbps (Megabits per second).

Ofcom UK Unveil Autumn Pilot for White Space Wireless Broadband Tech

26th April, 2013 (0 Comments)

Ofcom has today called upon the UK telecoms industry to take part in its forthcoming autumn 2013 pilot of White Space (IEEE 802.22) wireless broadband technology, which harnesses the unused radio spectrum that exists between Digital Terrestrial TV channels to deliver wifi style connectivity over a wide area.

UPD BT Sign £24m BDUK Deal to Boost Superfast Broadband in Durham UK

26th April, 2013 (2 Comments)

The Durham County Council (DCC) in North East England (UK) has today signed a new state aid supported £24 million deal with BT that will see “high-speed fibre broadband” (FTTC and FTTP) services being rolled out to “around” 94% of local premises by the end of 2016.

Virgin Media UK Says SmartCall WiFi Service Has Not Been Forgotten

26th April, 2013 (1 Comment)

The long awaited SmartCall service from cable ISP Virgin Media UK, which allows Smartphone users with a Virgin Phone Line to use the unlimited calls from their talk plan on their mobile (so long as you have a wireless internet connection), should finally surface “later this year“.

BT Abandons Original Rollout Target for Native UK FTTP Broadband

25th April, 2013 (17 Comments)

BT has unsurprisingly abandoned their original 2009 commitment to make ultrafast fibre optic FTTP broadband ISP services available to 2.5 million premises in the United Kingdom and will instead focus on the more economical but slower FTTC solution and the expensive new FTTP-on-Demand (FTTPoD) service.

UPDATE3 Deputy PM Nick Clegg Hints UK ISP Internet Snooping Bill is Dead

25th April, 2013 (6 Comments)

The UK coalition government’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat), has this morning put the cat amongst the pigeons after he told London’s LBC 97.3 radio station that the controversial internet snooping bill “isn’t going to happen“.

40% of UK Adults Say ISPs are Responsible for Protecting their Personal Info

25th April, 2013 (4 Comments)

A new study conducted by Experian Consumer Services, which surveyed 2,249 internet using UK adults, has found that 40% believe the main responsibility for protecting identity and personal information online rests with service providers (broadband ISPs, mobile operators, banks etc.) and not themselves.

BT Openreach Set UK ISP Launch Date for 220Mbps FTTP Broadband

25th April, 2013 (1 Comment)

BTOpenreach has announced that ISPs in the United Kingdom will be able to offer its new 220Mbps (20Mbps upload) capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based ultrafast broadband product to their customers from 1st June 2013. Final prices have also been confirmed.

Ofcom Moves to Free UK Airwaves for Ultrafast 5G Mobile Broadband

24th April, 2013 (4 Comments)

The national telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today issued a new “scoping document” (call for inputs) that will help to determine how existing radio spectrum in the UHF 700MHz (Digital TV) frequency band could be freed up for use by the next (5th) generation of future ultra-fast 5G based Mobile Broadband services.

UK ISP BT.com to Launch Revamped Website with New Features

24th April, 2013 (5 Comments)

Consumer ISP BT Retail has announced that it’s going to launch a new website in June 2013, which will include a variety of new features like a single log-in for customers (i.e. combining news, web search and email access with account and billing information).

UK Government Preps New Code for Blocking Adult Content on Public WiFi

24th April, 2013 (9 Comments)

The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, has confirmed that the government is preparing to detail a new Code of Conduct that will require operators of public wireless internet (wifi) hotspots to block adult content (e.g. pornography).

Virgin Media UK Grows to Reach 4.49 Million Cable Broadband Users

24th April, 2013 (2 Comments)

Cable ISP Virgin Media UK, which is currently in the process of being sold to Liberty Global (LGi) for an enterprise value of approximately £15bn, has reported its latest Q1-2013 financial results which saw their total broadband subscriber base grow by +25,500 in the quarter (down from +51.6k in Q4-2012) to total 4,490,500.

UPD BT Confirm UK Trial Areas for Superfast Broadband FTTC Vectoring Tech

24th April, 2013 (10 Comments)

BTOpenreach has confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that the first locations to trial its FTTC (VDSL2) Vectoring (ITU-T G.993.5) technology in the United Kingdom, which could eventually help ISPs to deliver download speeds of up to 200Mbps (Megabits), will take place in Barnet (London) and Braintree (Essex) in England.

UK Privacy Groups Attack ISP Silence Over Internet Snooping Talks

23rd April, 2013 (6 Comments)

The Open Rights Group, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch have today attacked some of the United Kingdom’s best known ISPs for betraying their customers by engaging “in a conspiracy of silence with the Home Office” over controversial proposals to expand the country’s existing internet snooping law (Communications Data Bill).

Average World Internet Speeds Climb to 2.9Mbps as UK Scores 6.5Mbps

23rd April, 2013 (6 Comments)

Akamai has today published its latest State of the Internet Q4 2012 report, which found that the average global download speed had clawed its way to 2.9Mbps (up from 2.8Mbps in Q3-2012). By comparison the UK reached a speed of 6.5Mbps (up from 6.3Mbps in Q3) to be ranked 18th fastest in the world (down from 17th).

UK Adults Spend 16.8 Hours Online and Visit 19 Websites Per Week

23rd April, 2013 (1 Comment)

Ofcom’s latest annual Adults Media Use and Attitudes Report 2013 reveals that internet use is continuing to rise but sadly 15% of the UK population still do not have the internet at home and 85% of those claimed this was due to a “lack of interest” (23% said cost and 19% pointed to the lack of a computer or related kit).