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Plusnet, Vodafone and EE Stalled Over Automatic Compensation

26th February, 2020 (17 Comments)

Ofcom’s automatic compensation system for customers of UK broadband ISPs has now been in operation for almost a full year, but despite that three of the providers that originally pledged their support – Vodafone, Plusnet and EE – have yet to officially join the scheme. But this could be about to change.

New UK Homes Ombudsman’s Remit to Cover Broadband Speed

26th February, 2020 (6 Comments)

The UK Government has confirmed its intention to launch a ‘New Homes Ombudsman’ in order to protect homebuyers from “rogue” developers and their shoddy work, but if you look deep into the text this also appears to include tackling complaints related to “broadband performance.” Sadly the details are extremely vague.

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H2 2019 – Full Fibre Broadband Covers 83% of New Build Homes

25th February, 2020 (31 Comments)

The latest independent H2 2019 analysis of broadband coverage among UK new build homes has indicated that 83% of houses constructed last year were connected to a “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband ISP network (up from 73% in 2018), which rises to 96% for 30Mbps+ “superfast broadband” services (up from 95% last year).

Investment Firm Blackstone to Pump Money into UK Broadband

25th February, 2020 (10 Comments)

Full fibre builders take note. Global investment firm Blackstone is in the process of establishing a dedicated European infrastructure team, which among other things is looking for opportunities to invest billions of pounds into UK infrastructure upgrades including energy, water systems, transport and broadband ISP networks.

Vodafone UK Extend Unlimited Data to Mobile Broadband Plans

25th February, 2020 (29 Comments)

Mobile operator Vodafone UK has finally extended their range of “unlimited data” plans for 4G and 5G services to include their dedicated Mobile Broadband packages (i.e. data only SIMs, tablets, USB dongles and Mi-Fi routers). Monthly prices for the new plans start from £28 per month.

Devon and Somerset UK Launch New Broadband Procurement

25th February, 2020 (9 Comments)

After another slight delay the Connecting Devon and Somerset project last week launched their new procurement process (previously due by end of 2019), which aims to find a supplier that can help them to roll-out “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) across the remaining poorly served homes and businesses in both counties.

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Gigabit Broadband Could Boost UK Economy by £13bn Come 2025

25th February, 2020 (10 Comments)

New research from the Internet Association, which was prepared by Public First, has claimed that the UK Government’s ambition to achieve universal coverage of “gigabit-capable broadband” (1Gbps+) ISP networks by 2025 could produce an economic boost equivalent to £217 per person per year or 0.7% of GDP (£13bn total).

Openreach Test XGS-PON Ahead of Symmetric FTTP Speed Trial

24th February, 2020 (34 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has announced trials of a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP solution that has been “designed with business customers in mind,” which so far as we can tell appears to be laying the ground work for their future symmetric speed tiers going up to 1000Mbps.

Plum Examine the Gigabit Broadband Question of HFC vs FTTP

24th February, 2020 (16 Comments)

A new paper from Plum Consulting, which was commissioned by Cityfibre, has assessed the viability of using both Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC – Virgin Media) and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based networks to achieve the UK Government’s aim of bringing “gigabit-capable broadband” to every home by 2025.

Ofcom Warns Major UK Broadband ISPs Over Charging for Email

22nd February, 2020 (74 Comments)

Buying your own email address from a dedicated UK web hosting provider is cheap (c.£1-3 a month), unless you’re a former broadband ISP customer of BT (£7.50) or TalkTalk (£5) where in order to keep your address you can end up being charged significantly more for an often inferior product. Ofcom isn’t happy.

Openreach Reveals Price of New 0.5Mbps Fibre Broadband Tier

21st February, 2020 (41 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today revealed how much it will charge UK ISPs to use the new 500Kbps (0.5Mbps) “low bandwidth speed tier” on their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and SOGEA (standalone FTTC / VDSL2) based broadband lines, which might sound silly by modern standards but it has a specific purpose.

Ofcom UK Tests 5G Mobile Emissions and Finds No Concerns

21st February, 2020 (34 Comments)

After recently publishing our fact check article on 5G (mobile broadband) health fears (here), we thought it might also be prudent to report on the results of Ofcom’s recent measurements of the electromagnetic field (EMF) emissions at related mobile sites, which found no problems. But the regulator do plan new licence conditions.

Hampshire UK Look to Boost Rural Gigabit Broadband Vouchers

21st February, 2020 (6 Comments)

The Hampshire County Council (HCC) in England appears to have proposed a new scheme, which will help to improve broadband connectivity in the hardest to reach rural areas by committing £1m to “top up” funding under the Government’s rural voucher scheme (c.2-3% of premises are still without “superfast” speeds of 24Mbps+).

ISP Alncom Extend Wireless and Full Fibre to Rural Durham UK

21st February, 2020 (0 Comments)

Rural ISP Alncom has extended their own mix of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) based connectivity in order bring a gigabit-capable broadband network to some remote homes, farms and businesses on the large Raby Estate in County Durham, England.

ISP Virgin Media UK to Build FTTP Broadband in East Grinstead

21st February, 2020 (10 Comments)

The large West Sussex town of East Grinstead, which is home to around 27,000 people, looks set to be the next to benefit from Virgin Media’s new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, which will start in the south of the town but then rapidly expand across the outer area.

Cityfibre Begins FTTH Broadband Rollout in Adur and Worthing

20th February, 2020 (13 Comments)

Cityfibre has announced that they’ve begun their £25m project to roll-out a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network across the District of Adur and Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, which is being supported by UK ISP partner Vodafone (with TalkTalk expected to follow later).

First Mobile Mast LIVE in Scotland’s Delayed 4G Infill Scheme UPDATE

20th February, 2020 (0 Comments)

Good news, the Scottish Government‘s £25m 4G Infill Programme, which originally aimed to improve rural mobile coverage (mostly notspots across the Highlands and Islands) by building a network of 45 new masts for UK mobile operators to use (here), has finally built its first mast. Bad news, they’re well behind schedule.