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Google Chrome Joins Firefox – Soft Defaults to DNS over HTTPS

20th May, 2020 (9 Comments)

The latest version (v83) of Google’s popular Chrome website browser has finally made its new ‘Secure DNS’ feature available to all, which by “default … will automatically upgrade you” to use their DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) service. But in order to placate concerns it only does this if your current broadband ISP supports it.

WightFibre Get £50m to Boost FTTH Broadband on Isle of Wight

20th May, 2020 (11 Comments)

Broadband ISP WightFibre, which is already investing £35m to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network on the Isle of Wight (South Coast of Hampshire, UK), has now extended their full fibre coverage to nearly 20,000 live premises and secured additional investment of £50m to complete their project.

COVID-19 – ISP TalkTalk See 50% Increase in UK Landline Calls

20th May, 2020 (5 Comments)

Budget broadband ISP TalkTalk has reported that calls made via landline phones in the UK on their service have increased by 50% during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) lockdown as British people turned to more “traditional methods of communication” to stay in touch with family and friends (not to mention working from home).

Last Call for UK Municipalities to Win EU Funds for FREE WiFi

20th May, 2020 (0 Comments)

The European Commission’s €120m WiFi4EU initiative, which provides vouchers worth up to €15K (£13.42K) to help municipalities install FREE public WiFi wireless broadband hotspots, has announced that it will open up for a fourth and final call for applications between 3rd and 4th of June 2020.

Nokia Claims “World Record” Live 5G Mobile Speed of 4.7Gbps

20th May, 2020 (1 Comment)

Finnish networking firm Nokia claims to have achieved a “world record” 5G based mobile broadband speed of 4.7Gbps (Gigabits per second) via their live Over-the-Air (OTA) network in the USA (Dallas, Texas), which used the company’s existing commercial software and hardware solutions. Interestingly 4G helped to give it a boost.

UK ISP Voneus Appoints Mike Quinn to Head of Fibre Delivery

19th May, 2020 (0 Comments)

Fixed wireless and fibre optic broadband ISP Voneus has appointed industry veteran Mike Quinn to lead the development of their new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) roll-out across parts of the United Kingdom, which is being fuelled by last year’s injection (here) of up to £30m from Macquarie Capital.

infrastructure broadband transport mobile uk

NIC Nudges UK Government for More Action on Broadband

19th May, 2020 (10 Comments)

The Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, Sir John Armitt, has written to the UK Chancellor in order to encourage the Government to “bring forward” their roll-out of “gigabit broadband” – particularly for towns and cities outside the South East of England – and to support this via a new National Infrastructure Bank.

Vodafone Attract the Most Broadband ISP Complaints – Q4 2019

19th May, 2020 (12 Comments)

Ofcom has published their latest Q4 2019 consumer complaints data, which reveals that UK ISP Vodafone attracted the most gripes for broadband, while Plusnet were the worst for landline phone and Virgin Media sat on the naughty step for Pay TV. On the flip side Sky (Sky Broadband, Sky TV) attracted the fewest moans from consumers.

BDUK Project – UK Superfast Broadband Take-up to H2 2019

19th May, 2020 (25 Comments)

The Government’s £1.8bn Building Digital UK scheme has now helped to extend “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) ISP networks to 5,230,474 extra premises since 2012 (up by 32,038 over the past 6 months) – about 370,000 of these are FTTP – and the latest take-up data to Dec 2019 shows rising demand, averaging 62% (Phase 1).

COVID-19 – Mobile and Broadband ISPs Agree Extra NHS Support

18th May, 2020 (5 Comments)

Last month saw most of the United Kingdom’s largest broadband and mobile providers agree to a set of new commitments (free data / calls, prioritised upgrades etc.) with the Government to help NHS workers during their fight against COVID-19 (here). Today more providers have joined and the support has been expanded.

COVID-19 – Openreach Begin Phased Return to In-Home Installs UPDATE

18th May, 2020 (29 Comments)

Some good news for those waiting to get a new UK broadband or phone line installed. Openreach’s (BT) engineers are today beginning a “phased return” to conducting work in-home, such as repairs and provisions (installations) of new ISP products (e.g. FTTP, G.fast, Phone Lines etc.).

Code Powers Request to Support Virgin Media’s EV Car Cabinets UPDATE

18th May, 2020 (9 Comments)

Last year saw Liberty Global and sibling broadband ISP Virgin Media announce a new plan to harness some of their existing cable ducts and street cabinets to help support the UK rollout of 1,200 new EV car charging sockets on residential streets. Today we have a small update on that project.

ISP Sky Broadband UK Could Launch Ultrafast FTTP in June

18th May, 2020 (68 Comments)

Credible sources have indicated that UK ISP Sky Broadband are currently gearing up to launch their first Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based “ultrafast broadband” packages (via Openreach’s platform) from next month, possibly as soon as Monday 1st June 2020, which follows an earlier delay due to COVID-19.

North Yorkshire UK Full Fibre Rollout Project Extended to Filey

16th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

The North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) and Nynet have confirmed that their on-going £15.1m project to roll-out a new “gigabit-capable” fibre broadband network (here), which aims to connect 370 public sector sites, has been extended to include the small town of Filey.

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

BT Scoops Plymouth and South West Devon Full Fibre Contract

15th May, 2020 (16 Comments)

The Plymouth City Council (PCC) has announced that BT have been awarded the contract to install a new gigabit-capable “fibre broadband” network across Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon, which will use £2.2m of public funding to help connect 131 public sector sites (e.g. hospitals, schools, libraries and council buildings).

New 2Africa Subsea Fibre Optic Cable to Link UK with Africa UPDATE

15th May, 2020 (26 Comments)

A new project – 2Africa – supported by China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC has been announced that will build a 45,000km long subsea (submarine) fibre optic cable between the United Kingdom and most of coastal Africa by around the end of 2023.

Red Road Closed road sign in a UK city street.

New UK Specification for Micro Trenching to Help Broadband

15th May, 2020 (4 Comments)

The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has today published the 4th Edition of their ‘Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways‘ (SROH), which might not sound particularly sexy but if you’re a civil engineer deploying “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband then the new specification for Micro Trenching will be of interest.