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B4RN Target £1.375m to Extend 1Gbps Fibre Broadband in Lancashire UK

6th July, 2013 (70 Comments)

The non-profit B4RN (Broadband 4 Rural North) scheme, which is rolling out a “hyperfast” 1000Mbps capable community-built Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network in rural Lancashire (England, UK) and has now connected 170 premises, hopes to secure an extra £875k from the RCBF and a bank loan of £500k to boost its coverage.

VIDEO BT and UK Police Explain the Problem of Telecoms Cable Theft

6th July, 2013 (4 Comments)

BT has teamed up with the police to release a well-polished video that is intended to help raise awareness and educate younger people about how much damage the theft of their vital copper telecoms cable can do, not just to businesses but also to ordinary people.

BT Openreach Open NGA Test Facility and Explain FTTC Self Install Filters

5th July, 2013 (5 Comments)

BTOpenreach has launched a new Next Generation Access (NGA) test facility to help UK ISPs conduct live network tests of new broadband services and devices before making them available. The operator has also revealed a bit more information about the “filter” options for their forthcoming self-install FTTC superfast broadband product(s).

UK Satellite ISP EuropaSat Adds 20Mbps SES Broadband Products

5th July, 2013 (2 Comments)

Oxfordshire-based EuropaSat (SSW) has signed a new agreement that will allow them to add a new range of ‘up to’ 20Mbps Ka-band based satellite broadband products from SES (ASTRA) to their existing portfolio of home and business packages, which already includes services from Eutelsat (KA-SAT) and Avanti (HYLAS).

UK Map Shows Consumer Superfast Broadband Uptake Hits 20%

5th July, 2013 (4 Comments)

The latest map from Point Topic has revealed that uptake of superfast broadband (30Mbps+) based internet connections in the United Kingdom has now reached 20% (Q1-2013), which is largely thanks to Virgin Media’s effort to double its customers speeds and thus lift several million consumers into the same area of performance.

ISP Virgin Media UK Launches Broadband Help Channel on YouTube

5th July, 2013 (1 Comment)

Cable provider Virgin Media has launched a new “Helping Hands” channel on YouTube today that’s designed to help its home customers make the most of their broadband connections and other services.

UPDATE National Audit Office Scalds 2 Years Late Broadband Delivery UK Project

5th July, 2013 (9 Comments)

The National Audit Office (NAO), which is responsible for scrutinising the value for money of public spending in the United Kingdom, has described the government’s national £1.2bn superfast broadband roll-out scheme as “moving forward late“, lacking “strong competition to protect public value” and being underfunded.

NAO Praises Smooth Ofcom Auction of 4G Mobile Broadband Spectrum

4th July, 2013 (0 Comments)

The National Audit Office (NAO) has given its approval to Ofcom’s recent auction of 4G (LTE) based Mobile Broadband spectrum (800MHz and 2.6GHz), which some had criticised for only being able to raise £2.368bn (about £1bn less than the government had initially hoped for).

UK Office of Fair Trading Probes Supply of ICT Services to the Public Sector

4th July, 2013 (0 Comments)

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which is the United Kingdom’s consumer and competition authority, has started a new probe into the supply of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) goods and services to the public sector. The move is likely to include some aspects of the government’s national broadband scheme(s).

Europe and Japan Aiming to Build 100Gbps Fibre Optic Internet

4th July, 2013 (8 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) and Japan have announced the launch of six joint research projects, supported by £15.3m+ (€18m) in funding, that aim to build networks which are “5000 times faster than today’s average European broadband ISP speed (100Gbps compared to 19.7Mbps)“.

PCCW Owned UK Broadband Moots Launch of 4G Voice Service VoLTE

4th July, 2013 (1 Comment)

The sibling of Hong Kong based telecoms firm PCCW, UK Broadband (UKB), has hinted that its fixed wireless 4G (3.5/3.6GHz LTE) broadband network could potentially launch Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) support onto its platform.

UPD2 Smaller UK ISPs Asked to Help Find the Final Rural Broadband Areas

4th July, 2013 (9 Comments)

The government’s culture secretary, Maria Miller, has written to a group of smaller UK ISPs (altnets) and called them to a 15th July 2013 summit with BT where she will attempt to find a solution to the “final 10%” problem (i.e. nobody is quite sure where it is).

At800 Name UK Areas Most At Risk of TV Loss Due to 4G Mobile Launch

3rd July, 2013 (12 Comments)

at800.tv has recently published an indicative list of areas in the United Kingdom, which are potentially at risk of losing their Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV) services when the new generation of superfast 4G based Mobile Broadband services begin to go live in the 800MHz band over the coming weeks or months.

UPD Impressive Full Spec for EE BrightBox 2 Home Fibre Broadband ISP Router

3rd July, 2013 (8 Comments)

Customers interested in taking EE’s superfast “Home Fibre Broadband” (up to 76Mbps FTTC) package might also like to know precisely why the ISP’s latest BrightBox 2 wireless router is going to give rival devices from Sky Broadband, BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media a run for their money. Built-in VDSL2 and 802.11ac support.

EE UK Prep New Fibre Broadband Router and Start 4G Speed Boost to 150Mb

3rd July, 2013 (6 Comments)

Mobile network operator EE has confirmed that its new 4G (LTE / 1800MHz) “double speed” Mobile Broadband upgrade will go live tomorrow and boost headline speeds up to 150Mbps (i.e. average speeds of 24-30Mbps). A new BrightBox 2 ac spec wireless router has also been launched for their for Home Fibre Broadband package(s).

Deloitte Study Finds Big Broadband Speed Divide in North West England

3rd July, 2013 (8 Comments)

A new study from global financial services firm Deloitte has unsurprisingly revealed a big Digital Speed Divide between the performance of broadband internet connections across the North West of England, which it fears could damage business. Speeds were found to vary between a low of 3.94Mbps and a peak of 60Mbps+.

UPD Ofcom to Cut the Price of UK Fibre Superfast Broadband ISP Migrations

3rd July, 2013 (3 Comments)

The national UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today launched a new consultation that proposes to boost competition for superfast broadband (FTTC and FTTP) services by cutting the wholesale cost of switching between ISPs on BT’s network to £10-£15 and slashing contract lengths for migrations to just 1 month. BTOpenreach will also face stiffer rules.