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UPD Average UK Home Broadband ISP Speeds Climb to 17.8Mbps – Ofcom

15th April, 2014 (21 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today published its latest biannual report into the real-world Internet speeds of fixed line broadband ISP consumers across the United Kingdom, which reveals that the average download rate has risen to 17.8Mbps (up by +17.41% from 14.7Mbps in August 2013). Sadly a huge gap still exists between urban and rural areas.

9 Extra Berkshire UK Villages to Get Superfast Broadband

15th April, 2014 (2 Comments)

A new grant worth £550,000 from the often criticised Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF) looks set to help 9 additional villages (3,300 properties) in the south eastern county of Berkshire (England) to receive a “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) service from BT.

UPDATE2 Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre to Launch 1Gbps FTTP Broadband in York

15th April, 2014 (15 Comments)

In a major development two of the United Kingdom’s largest ISPs, TalkTalk and Sky Broadband (BSkyB), have “joined forces” with fibre optic infrastructure developer CityFibre to expand its existing Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in the City of York (England) by launching a 1000Mbps capable “ultra-fast” broadband service to thousands of local homes.

Rutland Target 15 New Areas as First BDUK Fibre Broadband Rollout Completes

15th April, 2014 (15 Comments)

The Rutland County Council in England appears to have almost completed the local £3m roll-out of BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network, which would make it one of the first Broadband Delivery UK supported schemes to cross the finish line. Now another 15 villages are being targeted as part of a £180,000 extension programme.

Eutelsat Trains Ex-British Army to Install Satellite Broadband in UK Homes

14th April, 2014 (1 Comment)

European Satellite operator Eutelsat, which supplies the United Kingdom’s “Tooway” (KA-SAT) based ISPs, has confirmed that they’re helping to retrain almost 50 former British Armed Forces personnel in the fine art of installing Satellite broadband infrastructure for homes and businesses.

UK Digital Inclusion Charter Attempts to Get Everybody Online.. again

14th April, 2014 (18 Comments)

If at first you don’t succeed. The Government has launched its new Digital Inclusion Charter, which marks the latest in a long list of attempts to get the 11 million adults in the United Kingdom, specifically those who “lack basic digital skills and capabilities“, to finally go online. As usual various ISPs, mobile operators and others have been roped in to join the holy war on refuseniks.

New Deal Brings 100Mbps Wireless Link to Businesses in Shepway

14th April, 2014 (0 Comments)

A new 3-year deal has been signed between Shepway District Council in Kent (England) and Maidstone-based Custodian Data Centre that will make Internet data speeds of up to 100Mbps (Megabits per second) available to businesses in the district’s main employment sites.

UK Government Reduces Minimum Grant for Broadband Connection Vouchers

12th April, 2014 (2 Comments)

The Government’s Connection Vouchers scheme, which forms part of the £150m Urban Broadband Fund (“Super-Connected Cities“) to help SME businesses install superfast broadband (30Mbps+), has now completed its roll-out to all 22 cities across the United Kingdom and reduced the minimum voucher value.

ISP Aquiss Reintroduces FREE UK FTTC Fibre Broadband Installations

11th April, 2014 (13 Comments)

Shropshire-based Internet provider Aquiss has reintroduced the offer of a free installation or migration alongside their superfast unlimited “fibre broadband” (FTTC) packages, which will save new customers up to £96 inc. VAT off the normal retail price. But there’s more.

O2 Bring 4G Mobile Broadband to 41% of People in 191 UK Towns and Cities

11th April, 2014 (0 Comments)

Mobile operator O2 (O24G) has announced that their new 4G (LTE at 800MHz) based Mobile Broadband network can now cover 41% of the United Kingdom’s outdoor population (around 33% for indoor users) in 191 Towns and Cities, which apparently equates to about 20 million people.

UPDATE4 Open Rights Group Call on UK ISPs to Clarify Data Retention Policy

11th April, 2014 (0 Comments)

The Open Rights Group (ORG) has written a new open letter that calls upon BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk and Virgin Media to clarify their positions on the storing of personal customer data / access logs, which follows a decision by the European Court of Justice to rule that the EU’s Data Retention Directive was now “invalid“.

Superfast Cornwall UK Project Hits 90% Fibre Broadband Coverage Milestone

11th April, 2014 (5 Comments)

The £132m “Big Build” Superfast Cornwall scheme, which involves a public and private partnership where BT are aiming to make their “high-speed fibre optic broadband” (FTTC/P) network available to 95% of Cornwall in England and the Isles of Scilly by the end of 2014, has reached another crucial milestone by covering 90% of local premises.

BT to Scrap BT Vision Broadband IPTV Box and Replace it with YouView

11th April, 2014 (9 Comments)

Customers of the BT TV service have been told that the operator intends to “close” their original silver BTVision broadband IPTV box service. Owners of the related set top box devices will instead be offered an upgrade to the new YouView based STB kit “at no extra cost“, but you’ll have to re-contract both your TV and broadband for another 18 months first.

Virgin Media Sign LN Comms Deal to Boost Superfast Broadband in Yorkshire

10th April, 2014 (0 Comments)

Cable provider Virgin Media Business has signed a new 3-year and £350k deal that will help local ISP LN Communications to deploy super-fast broadband into 8 sites across Yorkshire (England) by the end of April 2015; including Castle Howard, Darlington, Barlby, Darley, Kettleworth, Bradley, Northallerton and Stokesley.

BT Confirm 1 Million Premises in Scotland Can Get Fibre Broadband

10th April, 2014 (2 Comments)

BT has revealed that its UK-wide £2.5 billion roll-out of “high-speed fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) connectivity has achieved a significant milestone by making the service available to 1 million homes and businesses in Scotland (premises passed), with another 400,000 expected to be done before their commercial deployment is completed.

Virgin Media UK Adds Online Sign Language Interpreter for Deaf Users

10th April, 2014 (0 Comments)

Cable operator Virgin Media has moved to improve its customer support by offering deaf customers access to an online and fully qualified sign language interpreter, which can then be used to relay the customer’s problem to Virgin’s front line support staff.

Lycamobile’s Unlimited UK 4G Mobile Broadband Comes with Restrictions

9th April, 2014 (15 Comments)

Mobile operator Lycamobile, which uses O2’s Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) platform, has launched a new 4G based top-up (UK Plan 12) that claims to offer 500 UK minutes with “unlimited” texts and data for just £12. Sounds good, until your connection gets throttled back to almost dialup speeds.