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Openreach to Stop Selling Copper Phone in 118 Areas – Go FTTP

13th May, 2020 (62 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today announced that they’re accelerating plans to move away from their old analogue phone (PSTN / WLR) services and on to a new all-IP network, which will see more than 118 UK exchange locations receiving over 75% coverage via their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology by June 2021.

Ofcom – Full Fibre Broadband Grows to 3.5Million UK Premises

13th May, 2020 (25 Comments)

Ofcom has published their Spring 2020 update for UK broadband and mobile networks, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage has risen to 12% (up from 10% in September 2019) and the number of premises unable to get 10Mbps+ remains at 2% (608,000 premises). Geographic 4G coverage is now 67% (up from 66%).

Ofcom 2020 Study – Average UK Broadband ISP Speeds Hit 64Mb

13th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual report into fixed line home broadband speeds, which finds that the average download rate has risen from 54.2Mbps last year to 64Mbps now (uploads from 7.2Mbps to 14Mbps). It also examines the performance and latency of big ISPs including BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and others.

The Impact from Full to Capacity FTTC Broadband Cabinets – 2020

13th May, 2020 (35 Comments)

The latest independent data has predicted that 1.8% of UK premises could be affected by full to capacity FTTC (VDSL2) based “fibre broadband” street cabinets on Openreach’s (BT) network (down from 3.8% in April 2019), which might in some cases stop you from being able to order a new service.

KCOM Signs £3m Fibre Broadband Supply Deal with Hexatronic

13th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

Telecoms provider KCOM has announced that they’ve signed a new £3m “strategic supply agreement” with Hexatronic to help provide the necessary passive fibre optic solutions for the on-going expansion of their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network, which is focused on East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

ASA Bans Sky UK Advert for “Lowest Priced” Broadband Claim

13th May, 2020 (9 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a TV advert for ISP Sky Broadband after it was found to have misleadingly claimed to offer “the UK’s lowest priced superfast broadband” service, which was not substantiated by the limited comparison.

KCOM Owner Macquarie to Break Up Business – Focus on Core

12th May, 2020 (0 Comments)

Last year’s £627m takeover of Hull’s incumbent telecoms and broadband ISP, KCOM, by Macquarie Infrastructure (here) has taken another twist. Reports claim that the new owners may now look to carve up the business in order to focus on its core network and expansion across East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

EU Publish Handbook to Help New Rural Broadband Networks

12th May, 2020 (10 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has published a “dedicated handbook” for rural policy makers and broadband project managers who plan to roll-out new ISP networks into remote areas, which uses examples from the UK (e.g. B4RN etc.) and other EU countries to show how the job can be done both “effectively and efficiently.”

Virgin Media Broadband Covers 150000 Extra N.Ireland Premises

12th May, 2020 (3 Comments)

Good news. Cable operator Virgin Media UK has today effectively completed the target they set in 2017 (here) by growing the reach of their “gigabit-capable” broadband ISP and TV network to a further 150,000 premises in Northern Ireland (total of 375,000). As a result half of all premises in the country can now access their service.

Hyperoptic Deal Brings FTTP to 60,000 Social Homes in Leeds

12th May, 2020 (1 Comment)

UK ISP Hyperoptic, which specialises in building 1Gbps capable “full fibre” (FTTP/B) broadband networks to large buildings, has just awoken from a period of reorganisation to announce that “nearly” 60,000 social housing homes across Leeds will soon gain access to their service thanks to a new partnership with the city council.

Frustration in Shropshire Over Stalled Openreach Fibre Rollout

12th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

Frustration has erupted in Shropshire (England) after it emerged that 1,800 premises covered by several street cabinets in Shrewsbury and Ludlow would not gain access to “superfast broadband” (FTTC/P) ISP technology from Openreach (BT). The cabinets had been due to benefit from the operator’s commercial UK roll-out.

Vodafone UK Home Broadband Growth Surges to 751000 Users UPDATE

12th May, 2020 (8 Comments)

Mobile giant and broadband ISP Vodafone UK has published their latest results to the end of March 2020 (financial Q4 19/20), which saw them reach a total of 751,000 fixed broadband customers (up by +64K in the quarter vs +20K previous quarter). Meanwhile Mobile customers hit 18,042,000 (down by -14K vs +250K previous quarter)

Virgin Media UK Fault Cuts Uploads to Nearly 0Mbps in Watford UPDATE2

11th May, 2020 (36 Comments)

Broadband ISP Virgin Media UK is trying to fix an unusual fault that reduces upload speeds for some users in the Watford (WD18) area to just 0.07Mbps, while download speeds are unaffected. Customers have seen their access slow to a crawl and the struggle to contact the provider’s strained support team hasn’t helped.

UK Internet Providers Celebrate Key Workers in COVID-19 Crisis

11th May, 2020 (5 Comments)

The UK Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) has today launched their new “Keeping Britain Connected” campaign, which essentially names and celebrates some of the key workers in the telecoms and broadband ISP sector who have been working throughout the lockdown to maintain and support the network.

ISP G.Network Gives All New Customers 900Mbps Broadband

11th May, 2020 (6 Comments)

UK ISP G.Network, which is currently in the process of building a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to homes and businesses across parts of Central London, has announced that all new customers will be “automatically upgraded to a symmetrical 900Mbps connection” for free, at least for awhile.

Interview – Scotland’s R100 Boss Talks Future Broadband Plans

9th May, 2020 (12 Comments)

The Programme Director for the Scottish Government’s £600m R100 (Reaching 100%) programme, Clive Downing, has kindly provided ISPreview.co.uk with some insight into their approach toward the planned extension of “superfast broadband” into some of the hardest to reach premises across Scotland.

N.Ireland Broadband Project Appears to Scale Back Rural Focus UPDATE

8th May, 2020 (14 Comments)

Concerns are growing that Northern Ireland’s long awaited £165m Project Stratum, which originally hoped to extend “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) to cover around 97,000 extra premises, may shun many rural villages due to a decision that could see it only focus on areas with a larger population. But the project team denies this.