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UK CLA Calls for 2Mbps Broadband to be a Universal Service Obligation

15th Mar, 2012 (4 Comments)

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), a lobby group for land owners across England and Wales, has told the UK governments House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, which recently launched an inquiry into the country’s superfast broadband strategy (here), that it must provide a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband of at least 2Mbps (Megabits per second) in rural areas.

Lack of Good Rural Broadband in Wales Could Cost Homes GBP3769 Per Year

15th Mar, 2012 (6 Comments)

Wispa Limited, an outspoken group of consultants who believe homes and businesses in Wales (UK) deserve better broadband, claims to have estimated the “true cost of a lack of rural broadband” to the Welsh economy and population. Apparently a poorly served household in Wales could be paying £3769.20 extra per year due to a lack of adequate internet connectivity.

IDC Predicts Global Broadband Internet Traffic to Grow 50% Each Year

15th Mar, 2012 (0 Comments)

The International Data Corporation (IDC), a global telecoms analyst firm, has predicted that “power users” who consume a “disproportionate amount of bandwidth” will drive internet generated broadband traffic to grow by approximately 50% year over year on fixed line ISP networks and double on mobile platforms.

Virgin Media Deploy FREE Wireless WiFi Internet to London UK Tube Stations

15th Mar, 2012 (0 Comments)

Cable operator Virgin Media has won the contract to provide free public wireless internet access (WiFi) at up to 120 tube station platforms in London for “zero cost to the fare or taxpayer“. The “unlimited” service will also deliver live TfL travel information.

Internet Central Brings 40Mbps Wireless Broadband to Cheshire and Staffordshire

14th Mar, 2012 (1 Comment)

UK ISP Internet Central (IC) has launched a new superfast wireless (WiFi) broadband service called IC-air, which offers download speeds of up to 40Mbps (Megabits per second) to homes and businesses in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire areas.

UPD Marks and Spencer UK Stores Trial FREE Wireless WiFi Internet Access

14th Mar, 2012 (0 Comments)

The Cloud (BSkyB), a public UK WiFi Hotspot operator, has announced that the popular Marks and Spencer (M&S) high street retail chain has begun trials of a free wireless internet service across 10 of its stores.

MetroNet UK Expands Fibre and Wireless Broadband Network into Crewe

14th Mar, 2012 (0 Comments)

ISP Metronet UK has announced that its next generation fibre optic and wireless broadband network has been expanded to cover businesses in Crewe (Cheshire) and the surrounding area.

UK ISP Ask4 Expands 50Mbps Broadband Service to Leeds Apartment Block

14th Mar, 2012 (0 Comments)

Sheffield-based ISP Ask4 has once again expanded its uncapped 50Mbps (Megabits per second) broadband service, this time to 20:20 House in Leeds, which claims to be a prestigious development of 242 high-specification apartments, micropads and also includes commercial office space.

UK Government Admits Broadband Availability Maps Exclude Wireless Services

14th Mar, 2012 (5 Comments)

The governments Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office, which wants 90% of people to be within reach of a superfast broadband (24Mbps+) service by 2015, has confirmed that its maps of national broadband availability (example) could be seriously flawed because they often exclude wireless networks (WiFi, WiMAX etc.) and instead focus on fixed line ISP connectivity.

UPD NextGenUs UK CIC Runs Out of Money for Rural Broadband Initiative

14th Mar, 2012 (4 Comments)

NextGenUs UK CIC, a community focused broadband developer that hoped to bring superfast internet services to rural areas via a mix of fibre optic and wireless (WiFi) connections, has issued a general notice to creditors and customers informing them that the group has effectively run out of money. NextGenUs claims to have “exhausted all serious discussions with potential investors” and are “unable to secure any other viable sources of finance“.

BE Wholesale UK Renames to O2 Wholesale and Launches Ethernet Products

14th Mar, 2012 (0 Comments)

Broadband ISP supplier BE Wholesale, the wholesale business division of home internet provider BE Broadband, has officially joined the brand of its parent company O2 UK (Telefonica) by renaming to O2 Wholesale. Consumer ISP BE Broadband has been quick to clarify that the change “doesn’t affect us or our members at all“.

UPD Ofcom Back T-Mobile and Orange Rollout of 4G Mobile Broadband in 2012

13th Mar, 2012 (0 Comments)

The communications regulator, Ofcom, has today “provisionally” proposed to allow mobile operators T-Mobile and Orange UK (Everything Everywhere) to deploy a new generation of 4G (Long Term Evolution / LTE or WiMAX) superfast Mobile Broadband services over their existing 1800MHz radio spectrum. The group first put in a request to re-purpose the spectrum for 4G use during January 2012 (here).

EU Telecoms Regulators Find ISP Blocking of P2P and VoIP is Common

13th Mar, 2012 (2 Comments)

The Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC), which is composed of the heads from 27 national regulators (e.g. Ofcom in the UK), has published its preliminary findings on internet Traffic Management practices by broadband ISPs and mobile operators in Europe. The practices were found to “vary widely” between countries and providers with some exceptions, the blocking of VoIP (e.g. Skype) and P2P (BitTorrent – File Sharing) traffic is common.

UPD2 BT Confirm UK Launch Date for 80Mbps Superfast FTTC Broadband Upgrade

12th Mar, 2012 (53 Comments)

BTOpenreach, which is responsible for providing UK ISPs with equal access to BT’s local and national telecoms and internet infrastructure, has confirmed that its new ‘up to’ 80Mbps (Megabits per second – download speed) superfast Fibre-to-the-Cabinet ( FTTC ) broadband speed upgrade will officially be introduced from “early” April 2012. The maximum upload speeds will also rise to 20Mbps.

UK Concedes that Scotland Did Not Get a Fair Share of Broadband Funds

12th Mar, 2012 (2 Comments)

The Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Investment, Alex Neil (SNP), claims that the UK’s central government (Westminster) “have now conceded that we did not get our fair share” of funding to assist with the rollout of faster broadband internet access services in rural areas.

Mitchells and Butlers Pubs Gain FREE WiFi Internet from O2 UK

12th Mar, 2012 (0 Comments)

Mitchells & Butlers, a leading operator of restaurants and pubs in the UK, has today signed a new three year agreement with mobile provider O2 for the provision of a free wireless internet (WiFi) service at 1,600 of their outlets around the country. This includes 13 different brands, such as Harvester, Toby Carvery, Vintage Inns, Browns, All Bar One and O’Neill’s.

UK Study Finds Lower Home Broadband Penetration in Unbundled LLU Areas

12th Mar, 2012 (4 Comments)

New Ofcom (UK telecoms regulator) commissioned research from Imperial College London (ICL) claims to have discovered that the process of freeing up an incumbent operators (e.g. BT) telephone exchange so that rivals can install their own kit inside, which is better known as Local Loop Unbundling (LLU), actually results in “lower penetration levels” (about -2%) for residential broadband access than areas without unbundling (i.e. BT only).