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B4RN Founder Says Fibre Optic is the Only Broadband Worth UK Investment

17th September, 2012 (42 Comments)

One of the founders of Lancashire’s unique community-built and owned “hyper-fast” fibre optic (FTTH) rural broadband network, Chris Condor, has in our exclusive interview told ISPreview.co.uk that “fibre is the only technology worth investing time, effort and money in”. Condor also warned that the UK government’s current strategy wasn’t working.

UPD No More IPv4 Internet Addresses in Europe and UK as RIPE Runs Dry

14th September, 2012 (3 Comments)

The RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC), which manages the regional distribution of internet addresses for the UK, Europe, Middle East and parts of Central Asia (required by all devices that connect to the internet), has officially handed out the final blocks of IPv4 address space from its available pool.

O2 UK and Vodafone Moot 4G Mobile Broadband via 900MHz.. Will it Work?

14th September, 2012 (2 Comments)

Several reports have suggested that O2 UK and Vodafone are considering the possibility of re-purposing their existing 900MHz radio spectrum for use by the next generation of 4G superfast mobile broadband (LTE) technology, which could be used as a means of combatting EE’s new 4G via 1800MHz service (details). Easier said than done.

UK Government Black Marks Fujitsu Superfast Broadband Bids as High Risk

14th September, 2012 (4 Comments)

The governments Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has confirmed that Fujitsu UK, which alongside BT is one of only two telecoms operators bidding for major national superfast broadband deployment contracts, is now classified as “high risk” and thus subject to additional scrutiny.

BT Pickup UK Superfast Broadband ISP Contracts for Norfolk and Cumbria

14th September, 2012 (17 Comments)

As hinted last month both Norfolk and Cumbria county councils in England (UK) have this week awarded their respective £40m and £70m contracts for a county-wide roll-out of superfast broadband (speeds greater than 24Mbps) services to BT, with Gloucestershire and Herefordshire expected to follow suit.

UK Broadband Moots Hybrid FTTC and Fixed Wireless to Solve Rural Divide

13th September, 2012 (7 Comments)

The boss of UK Broadband, sibling of Hong Kong telecoms giant PCCW, has called upon the government and telecoms operators to adopt a more “joined-up” network design to achieve their superfast broadband goals and suggested that we should be aiming to deliver download speeds of “at least 30Mbps” (same as the EU target for 2020).

SSE Telecoms Starts Upgrade of UK JANET Research and Education Network

13th September, 2012 (1 Comment)

Millions of students and researchers from across the UK look set to benefit after SSE Telecoms revealed more details about their £30m 10-year contract to build a next generation fibre optic platform for the Joint Academic Network (JANET), which will simply be called Janet 6.

UPD BTVision Broadband TV Boosted by GBP152m Premiership Rugby Deal

12th September, 2012 (2 Comments)

BT has today won four years’ worth of exclusive live TV broadcasting rights for Aviva Premiership Rugby and the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Sevens from the 2013-14 season, which will be shown over its broadband IPTV service (BTVision) and could be seen as yet another challenge to Sky (Sky Broadband) and ESPN’s dominance of TV sport.

Ofcom Approve Fibrewaves 100Mb Fibre Broadband for Cambridgeshire UK

12th September, 2012 (0 Comments)

As expected Ofcom has today officially granted code powers to ISP Fibrewave Networks, which allows them to carry out street works as part of their plans to roll-out a new rural fibre optic based Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) superfast broadband network in Cambridgeshire (initially covering the villages of Earith, Bluntisham and Colne).

UPD2 Surrey Council UK Hands GBP33m Superfast Broadband Contract to BT

12th September, 2012 (105 Comments)

The Surrey County Council (SCC) today announced that BT has somewhat unsurprisingly won the £33 million contract for making superfast broadband (25Mbps+) ISP services available to “nearly” 100% of local businesses and homes by the end of 2014.

Fibre GarDen in Cumbria Wins First UK Rural Community Broadband Cash

12th September, 2012 (2 Comments)

The UK governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has today given its first of two pre-contract agreements for £157,500 to help 525 homes and businesses in Garsdale and Dentdale (Cumbria) gain access to a superfast “fibre optic” broadband service through its £20m Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF).

UK Government Publishes Written Evidence for New ISP Internet Snooping Bill

12th September, 2012 (4 Comments)

The Joint Committee on the UK government’s Draft Communications Data Bill, which aims to expand existing internet snooping laws by forcing ISPs into logging a much bigger and more accessible slice of your online activity, has published a full summary of all the written evidence submitted to its inquiry.

Broadband Delivery UK Boss Expects EU State Aid Clearance This Month

12th September, 2012 (6 Comments)

The boss of the government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office, which is responsible for managing the country’s national superfast broadband strategy, tenders and related public funding, has said that he expects to resolve Europe’s competition concerns with the process “this month“.

Broadband Provider Zen Internet Wins PC Pro 2012 Best UK ISP Award

11th September, 2012 (6 Comments)

Computing magazine PC Pro has announced the winners of its annual PCPro Excellence Awards 2012, which saw Zen Internet win the Best ISP gong for a ninth time (overall satisfaction score of 93%). Meanwhile BE Broadband (83%) and PlusNet (83%) walked away as runners up. Sadly other ISPs didn’t do quite so well.

UPD Everything Everywhere Launch EE for UK 4G Mobile and Fibre Broadband

11th September, 2012 (22 Comments)

Mobile operator Everything Everywhere (Orange UK and T-Mobile) has today announced the launch of a third new network and new brand, EE (4GEE), to support the forthcoming launch of its new superfast 4G (LTE) 1800MHz based mobile broadband and fixed line “fibre broadband” ISP services.

Analysys Mason Warns New ITU Regulation Could Break the Internet

11th September, 2012 (0 Comments)

Consultancy firm Analysys Mason has warned that plans to adapt the telephone settlement system, which established how phone operators compensate each other for terminating international voice calls (i.e. settlement payments), to the internet through the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) could “halt growth and find users cut off“.

Analyst Slams UK Superfast Broadband Target as Irrelevant and Not Achievable

11th September, 2012 (4 Comments)

Tim Johnson, a telecoms analyst for Point Topic, has called the UK government’s target for having the “best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015” both “not relevant to Britain’s needs” and “not achievable“. Johnson instead called for the new Culture Secretary, Maria Miller, to replaced it with a more “intelligent” goal.