Home » UK ISP News Archive » Mark Jackson (18916 Posts)

Latest

Ofcom UK Proposes to Make Calls to 0800 Numbers Free from all Phones

4th April, 2012 (11 Comments)

Ofcom, the communications and media regulator, has today moved to simplify UK call charges by proposing to make all calls, from both fixed lines and mobile phones, to 0800 and 116 telephone numbers completely free. At present calls to 0800 numbers can, somewhat confusingly, still attract charges of up to 21p a minute from mobiles.

UPD Sky Broadband UK Launch Free WiFi Wireless Internet Service

4th April, 2012 (6 Comments)

Sky Broadband (BSkyB) has today confirmed the much anticipated mid-April 2012 launch of its free wireless internet (wifi) service, which will be available to the ISPs existing SkyBroadband Unlimited, Sky Fibre Unlimited (due to launch next week) and Sky Connect customers from over 10,000 Hotspots across the UK.

ITU Claims Broadband Can Reduce Greenhouse Gasses and Save the Planet

4th April, 2012 (0 Comments)

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which is part of the United Nations, has released an interesting new report that highlights a number of different ways in which broadband internet access can help to reduce greenhouse gasses (GHGs), mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change and promote resource efficiency, while at the same time “building more prosperous and inclusive societies“.

BT Wholesale Cuts Broadband ISP Bandwidth Charges for UK Rural Areas

4th April, 2012 (13 Comments)

BTWholesale, the wholesale division of national UK telecoms operator BT, has this week informed internet providers about a number of new broadband price changes. The biggest of which is a 13% reduction in the price of its IPstream Connect (i.e. up to 8Mbps ADSL technology) contracted bandwidth for Market 1 (rural) areas.

South Yorkshire Digital Region ISP Reveals TV and 80Mbps Broadband Services

3rd April, 2012 (6 Comments)

The almost endlessly troubled Digital Region project in South Yorkshire (UK) has gained a slight boost today after one of its newest consumer broadband ISPs, LittleBigOne, announced the launch of their first “independent network TV” (IPTV – Internet Protocol TV) service.

UPD Serious Incident Knocks Some BT Broadband Services Offline in Scotland

3rd April, 2012 (1 Comment)

Several ISPs are reporting that a “Serious Incident” on BT’s network in Scotland (UK) appears to be affecting broadband services for “all providers“. As a result an unspecified number of customers are said to be experiencing a loss of service.

Business ISP Supplier Entanet UK Reveals 80Mbps Broadband Prices

3rd April, 2012 (2 Comments)

Communications provider Entanet, which supplies broadband internet access solutions to ISPs in the UK, has revealed how much its channel partners will have to pay if they want to offer the forthcoming 80Mbps (Megabits per second) capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) based superfast broadband upgrade to their customers.

O2 WiFi Delivers FREE Wireless Internet to 1200 UK McDonalds Restaurants

3rd April, 2012 (0 Comments)

Mobile operator O2 UK (Telefonica) has today signed a new 5 year deal to deliver free wireless internet (wifi hotspot) services to McDonald’s 1,200 strong chain of fast food restaurants in the UK by summer 2012 (i.e. the London Olympic Games).

BT Confirms 97 Percent of Lancashire UK to Get its Superfast Broadband

3rd April, 2012 (10 Comments)

BT and the Lancashire County Council (LCC) have announced that 97% of homes and businesses in the UK county will be able to receive the telecom operators superfast broadband (FTTC , FTTP) ISP services by the end of 2014 (subject to the timing of State Aid approval) after both parties agreed the new £62.5 million project.

UPD Confusion as UK ISPs Struggle to Adopt New Broadband Speed Rules

3rd April, 2012 (4 Comments)

Broadband internet providers around the UK are still struggling to adapt after new advertising guidelines were imposed on Sunday 1st April 2012 (full details), which is despite ISPs having a full years worth of advanced warning. One of the biggest problem areas appears to stem from how an ISP is now expected to demonstrate that its advertised speeds are achievable by at least 10% of users.

ISP KC Makes Universal 2Mbps Broadband a Reality for Hull in Yorkshire UK

2nd April, 2012 (2 Comments)

KC, the incumbent broadband and phone provider for Hull and East Riding in Yorkshire, has today issued a brief trading statement for the period ending 31st March 2012, which confirms that the telecoms provider has been able to deliver a minimum download speed of 2Mbps (Megabits per second) to all homes and businesses on its network.

UK ISP Aquiss Reveals Cost of 80Mbps FTTC Superfast Broadband Upgrade

2nd April, 2012 (6 Comments)

Aquiss, a UK internet provider that is based in Shropshire, has today become the latest ISP to reveal how it intends to price its forthcoming 80Mbps (Megabits per second) capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) based superfast broadband upgrade (the current service is theoretically only capable of 40Mbps).

UPD UK ISP TalkTalk Hikes the Price of Phone Line Rental and Related Bundles

2nd April, 2012 (1 Comment)

Budget broadband and phone provider TalkTalk has announced on its Price Notifications page that the cost of standard phone line rental on its service will be hiked from £13.80 to £14.50 per month from 1st May 2012.

Shetland Islands Connect Local Superfast Fibre Optic Link to SHEFA2 Cable

2nd April, 2012 (2 Comments)

Shetland Telecom, which was setup by the Shetland Islands Council (SIC) to develop better telecom and superfast broadband internet access services in the remote Shetland Islands (North of Scotland, UK), has successfully connected up its new fibre optic infrastructure to the undersea SHEFA-2 cable that links the Faroe Islands to mainland Scotland (UK).

UPD Virgin Media UK Add Traffic Management to 50Mb and 100Mbps Packages

2nd April, 2012 (29 Comments)

Cable giant Virgin Media, fresh from doubling its UK customers broadband speeds (here) and revamping their bundles (here), has announced the introduction of Traffic Management on their 50Mbps and 100Mbps services. But it’s not all bad news as they’re reducing the downstream speed reduction on 30Mbps (Virgin’s new entry-level speed) and above from 75% to 50%.

UPD2 UK ISPs React as ASA Start Enforcing New Broadband Advertising Rules

1st April, 2012 (10 Comments)

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) will, from today (Sunday 1st April 2012), officially begin enforcing a new set of guidelines that have been designed to clamp down on misleading ISP promotions of broadband internet access speeds and “unlimited” style usage allowances.

B4RN Begins First Dig of New 1Gbps FTTH Broadband Network in Lancashire UK

31st March, 2012 (1 Comment)

Just after midday today the B4RN (Broadband 4 Rural North) project, which hopes to connect thousands of rural homes in north Lancashire UK via a unique “hyper-fast” 1Gbps (Gigabits per second) capable fibre optic (FTTH) broadband ISP network, will officially begin construction with a ceremonial “breaking of the sod” event (Jubilee Tower – 1pm).