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Cityfibre Preps Start of GBP23m Halifax FTTP Broadband Rollout

10th Aug, 2021 (3 Comments)

CityFibre has today announced that they’ll begin the £23m rollout of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network in the large West Yorkshire (England) town of Halifax during January 2022, which will be supported by civil engineering firm Nmcn (they’re also working with them in Barnsley).

Virgin Media O2 Network Engineer and Map

Virgin Media Switch-on 1Gbps Broadband for 1.5 Million More UK Premises

10th Aug, 2021 (70 Comments)

UK ISP Virgin Media (VMO2) has today switched-on their DOCSIS 3.1 network upgrade for 1.5 million more premises (total 8m) in places such as Bournemouth, Bristol, Northampton, Sunderland, Wolverhampton, Wigan and York, which means they can now access their top Gig1 service (1130Mbps download and 52Mbps upload).

Virgin Media O2 to Create 400 New Jobs Ahead of Network Plans

10th Aug, 2021 (3 Comments)

Broadband ISP, TV and mobile operator Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have today announced that they will recruit a further 400 UK staff (c.300 will be field engineers and 100 will work in retail roles), including 100 apprentices, as part of a £10bn plan to upgrade their fixed line and 5G mobile networks over the next 5-years.

SPACEBEE Pico Satellites from Swarm Technologies

SpaceX and Starlink Branch Out into Tiny Internet Pico Satellites

10th Aug, 2021 (5 Comments)

SpaceX appears set to complement their Starlink broadband service by acquiring Swarm Technologies, which has built a global network of tiny satellites (i.e. pico satellites built to the 0.25U CubeSat form factor) that will enable it to serve the Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity space (agricultural sensors, buoys at sea, smart energy meters etc.).

ISP 1310 Building Own Gigabit FTTP Broadband in Hampshire UK

10th Aug, 2021 (8 Comments)

New UK ISP 1310 (pronounced thirteen-ten), which initially started life in 2018/19 by offering services via Openreach’s national platform, has informed ISPreview.co.uk that they’ve started to build their own trial Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network for homes and businesses in the Hampshire town of Farnborough.

Bundle of optical fibers with lights in the ends lay on keyboard.

Modern Networks Acquires UK Broadband ISP Bridge Fibre

9th Aug, 2021 (0 Comments)

Communications and IT provider Modern Networks, which is being fuelled by a recent investment from Horizon Capital, has today announced the acquisition of Cambridgeshire-based broadband ISP Bridge Fibre. The latter mostly serves commercial properties and multi-tenant buildings (e.g. on business parks).

U Turn as Vodafone UK Reintroduce EU Mobile Roaming Charges

9th Aug, 2021 (72 Comments)

Well, that was one of the fastest U-turns in history. Mobile operator Vodafone UK, which in June 2021 (here) told ISPreview.co.uk they had “no current plans to change our approach to roaming in the EU” (this after rival EE reintroduced roaming charges), has now decided to introduce such charges after all.

Freedom Fibre Van and Engineer in Cherry Picker Box

Freedom Fibre Set to Connect First TalkTalk Homes in Cheshire

9th Aug, 2021 (4 Comments)

Alternative network provider Freedom Fibre (FF), which since earlier this year has been busy building a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network across semi-rural parts of Cheshire (England), appears imminently set to go live with their first customers (on TalkTalk) in the village of Culcheth.

North of Tyne Gets GBP7m for 5G and Future Connectivity Fund

9th Aug, 2021 (2 Comments)

The North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA), which represents Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland in England, recently announced that they will put £7 million toward a new 5G and Future Connectivity Fund, which is largely intended to help boost mobile and “full fibre” broadband connectivity in rural areas.

Construction worker repairing a broken water pipe on the concrete road.

Gov to Trial Running UK Fibre Broadband Lines via Water Mains

9th Aug, 2021 (40 Comments)

The UK Government (DCMS) has today unveiled a new £4m ‘Fibre in Water‘ project trial, which will experiment with connecting homes, businesses and mobile masts to gigabit-capable broadband in “hard-to-reach areas” (e.g. remote rural) by running Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) style lines through the water mains.

consumer complaint uk red triangle warning sign by 123rf

Performance of UK Broadband Complaints Handlers Compared

8th Aug, 2021 (7 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, recently published updated Key Performance Indicator (KPI) statistics for the broadband and mobile market’s only two approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) providers, which are independent ombudsman services that help consumers to resolve complaints when ISPs fail to do so.

Global Chip Shortage Continuing to Impact UK Broadband ISPs

7th Aug, 2021 (20 Comments)

Back in the early spring, we reported on how the global shortage of semiconductor chips was causing huge delays in the market for broadband ISP network kit (e.g. routers), which could make it harder for providers to add new customers, replace faulty kit or launch new products. Bad news, it’s still a big problem.

Ofcom Provisionally Clears Openreach FTTP Broadband Price Cut

6th Aug, 2021 (14 Comments)

As expected Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, has today launched a final consultation on Openreach’s (BT) recently proposed plan to introduce a “major” change to the wholesale pricing of their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband products for ISPs (details), which could result in cheaper prices for consumers.

Vodafone-Pro-Alexa-Super-WiFi-Device-and-Broadband-Router

Vodafone UK Pro Broadband Gets Super WiFi with Alexa Built-in UPDATE

6th Aug, 2021 (5 Comments)

Mobile operator and ISP Vodafone has today enhanced their existing range of home fixed line “Pro Broadband” (FTTC / FTTP) packages by integrating Amazon’s Alexa AI personal voice assistant into their bundled “Super Wi-Fi Plus” (mesh network) booster device, which has also been upgraded to support Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax).

Virgin Media O2 Extend 1Gbps FTTP to 4,000 Warrington Homes

6th Aug, 2021 (2 Comments)

A further 4,000 homes in the large Cheshire (England) town of Warrington can now access gigabit broadband speeds from Virgin Media (VMO2), which occured after the UK ISP extended the reach of their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based internet and pay TV network in the area.

Grain Prep GBP175m Plan for Large UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

5th Aug, 2021 (1 Comment)

Full fibre UK ISP Grain Connect, which was initially supported by £10m from Albion Capital, has today confirmed that they’ve scored a £75 million equity investment from Equitix, one of Europe’s top infrastructure investors, to help extend their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to 300,000 premises.

EE UK Launch New 4G PAYG Connected Data SIM Packs UPDATE

5th Aug, 2021 (33 Comments)

Mobile network operator EE (BT) has launched a new range of contract free ‘Connected Data SIM‘ packs for their 4G using Pay As You Go (PAYG) customers, which are specifically designed to help fuel connected tablets, laptops or other Mobile Broadband devices (e.g. USB Wi-Fi routers / dongles).