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ASA Bans TalkTalk ISP Advert for Misleading FREE YouView TV Promotion

16th January, 2013 (3 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority UK (ASA) has, following a complaint by BT, banned a press and website ad for TalkTalk’s new broadband YouView TV service, which was found to have wrongfully promoted the “FREE” kit as “usually/normally £299” (i.e. retail price of the box).

ISP Virgin Media Tops UK Netflix Chart of the Fastest Movie Streams

15th January, 2013 (1 Comment)

Netflix UK, the unlimited movies and TV subscription based video streaming service, has published its latest December 2012 rankings for broadband Internet Service Providers in the United Kingdom. The ratings reflect the average performance of all Netflix video streams on each ISP.

BT Openreach Confirm UK ISP Pricing for FTTP on Demand Pilot Phase 2

15th January, 2013 (14 Comments)

BTOpenreach, which manages access to BT’s telecoms network in the United Kingdom, has announced the pricing for phase two of its “ultra-fast” 330Mbps (30Mbps uploads) capable FTTP on Demand (FTTPoD) broadband service that will be made available via FTTC (up to 80Mbps) supporting street cabinets from spring 2013.

Ofcom Allows Sea Fibre Networks to Expand UK Fibre Optic Platform

15th January, 2013 (0 Comments)

As expected Ofcom has officially granted Code Powers to Sea Fibre Networks Limited, which will allow the firm to carry out street works in Wales and Staffordshire (England) to help improve the United Kingdom’s existing fibre optic link with Ireland.

UPD VIDEO BBC South Today Looks at the Problem of Rural Broadband

15th January, 2013 (4 Comments)

BBC South Today recently ran a short TV story on the plight of rural areas and their lack of fast broadband. The piece uses the example of Little London in Hampshire (England, UK), which in April last year became one of the first to deliver speeds of up to 40Mbps through clever use of a local fibre optic Public Service Network (here).

ISP PlusNet Trials Controversial IPv4 Address Sharing as IPv6 Alternative

15th January, 2013 (15 Comments)

UK ISP PlusNet has quietly announced a controversial plan to conduct a 3 week trial of IPv4 address sharing (Carrier Grade NAT). But sharing a single IP address between several customers, often as a means of delaying IPv6 adoption, carries with it more than a few problems.

Wales Commits £39m to Improve School Broadband Connectivity

15th January, 2013 (1 Comment)

The Welsh Government (WG) has this week committed £39 million (Learning in Digital Wales Grant) to ensure that its Schools will all have access to “world-class broadband services” by 2014.

BT Wholesale Adds UK Street Cabinet Data to its Broadband Checker

14th January, 2013 (17 Comments)

One of our readers notes that BTWholesale has quietly updated its Broadband Availability Checker service to display some additional information, such as which BT street cabinet you’re connected to and whether or not superfast broadband (FTTC) is enabled or due to be installed.

ISP BT Links UK Home Phone Call Plans to Mobiles with SmartTalk App

14th January, 2013 (1 Comment)

BT Retail has today announced the launch of its new SmartTalk (BTSmartTalk) app for Apple iPhone and Android mobiles. The app requires a wifi or Mobile Broadband connection and enables customers to make phone calls via their smartphone and have them billed under their existing home phone plan (whether in the UK or abroad).

Charter UK Seek FSA Style ISP Regulation to Stop Mid Contract Price Hikes

14th January, 2013 (0 Comments)

The boss of complaints management firm Charter UK has praised the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, for moving to tackle internet and phone providers that impose unexpected price hikes during a contract; but he also told the regulator that it needed to “investigate how this has been allowed to happen in the first place” and change its approach to be more like the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Ofcom Strategist Suggests UK 2Mbps Broadband Goal be Lifted to 10Mb

11th January, 2013 (20 Comments)

Ofcom’s strategy director has told a discussion panel, which was organised by the Policy Exchange, that the United Kingdom’s aim to make a minimum download speed of 2Mbps (Megabits) available to everybody in the country by 2015 (Universal Service Commitment) may now need to be increased up to 8Mbps or 10Mbps.

UPD3 Uncertainty Grips O2 and BE Broadband UK After ISP Sale Rumours

11th January, 2013 (26 Comments)

Mobile operator and ISP O2 UK (BE Broadband) has refused to “comment on rumour or speculation” concerning an alleged plan to offload its unbundled (LLU) fixed line Home Broadband business to another provider (possibly Sky Broadband [BSkyB]).

Isle of Wight Homes Hit by Double Whammy Broadband ISP Outage

11th January, 2013 (2 Comments)

Homes and businesses on the Isle of Wight, the largest island in England (south coast), have been hit by two separate broadband and phone outages this week after problems with BTOpenreach’s “planned maintenance” and a separate submarine fibre optic cable break impacted multiple ISPs on the island.

CLA and NFU Reach Wayleave Deal to Boost Broadband for UK Rural Areas

11th January, 2013 (0 Comments)

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and National Farmers Union (NFU) have unveiled a new wayleave agreement that should make it easier, quicker and cheaper to roll-out new superfast broadband services into rural parts of the United Kingdom. The deal has faced many delays and was originally intended to launch before the end of 2011.

UPD Northumberland Seek Extra £10 million to Boost Rural Superfast Broadband

10th January, 2013 (3 Comments)

Campaigners in Northumberland (North England) will today call on the government’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, to find an additional £10m from the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office to help expand the reach of superfast broadband services into more of the county’s rural towns and villages.

Broadband Delivery UK Stretches Admin Budget Away from Rural Projects

10th January, 2013 (13 Comments)

The governments Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office, which is responsible for managing the £830m publicly funded roll-out of superfast broadband ISP services to reach 90% of people by spring 2015, will see just 63% of its £3.8m administration budget spent on rural projects in 2012-13 (down from 100% in 2010-11 and 94% in 2011-12).

IEEE Approve New 802.11ad Ultrafast 7Gbps WiFi 60GHz Wireless Standard

10th January, 2013 (0 Comments)

The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE) has officially approved the new 802.11ad (802.11ad-2012 amendment) standard that will provide short-range wifi wireless networking (WLAN) speeds of up to 7Gbps (Gigabits per second) by using the unlicensed 60GHz radio spectrum band (typically 57-66GHz).