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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.

BT Could Sell Openreach Stake to Fund £12bn UK Fibre Rollout

15th May, 2020 (49 Comments)

Reports claim that BT could be looking to sell a significant stake in Openreach to investors as part of a strategy to help fund their £12bn roll-out of 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology, which has set an ambition (here) to cover 20 million UK premises by the “mid – to late-2020s.“

How Big Broadband ISPs Handle COVID-19 Non-Payment of Bills

15th May, 2020 (4 Comments)

As the impact of the national COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis and lockdown begins to bite then more and more customers of UK broadband ISPs may start to run into financial difficulties, which can make it harder to pay their bills. We take a look at how the market’s largest providers are handling such situations.

Openreach Selects ADTRAN as 3rd Strategic UK FTTP Supplier

14th May, 2020 (12 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today announced that they’ve selected ADTRAN’s Software-Defined Fibre Access Platform to help support the roll-out of their new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network, which means they’ll become the operator’s third strategic supplier after Nokia and Huawei (plus some old ECI kit).

Opensignal Compares UK 5G and 4G Mobile with 100 Countries

14th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

The latest 2020 State of Mobile Networks report from Opensignal has ranked the United Kingdom 36th out of 100 countries for its average mobile broadband download speed (22.9Mbps) and 31st for 4G network availability (89.2%). Meanwhile, one year after deployments first began, the impact of 5G remains small.

Government’s UK Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme Ends Today

14th May, 2020 (21 Comments)

As predicted the UK Government’s (DCMS) £68.5m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which offered up to £2,500 to help businesses and some homes gain access to a “gigabit-capable” ISP connection, will today close to new applications at 1pm after having exhausted all of its remaining funds.

O2 UK Trial Gives Away Old Smartphones to Vulnerable People

14th May, 2020 (14 Comments)

Mobile operator O2 has launched a new “Community Calling” trial alongside Hubbub, which invites people to donate their old phones so that they can then be refurbished and distributed to “digitally excluded” people in other parts of the country (particularly those left disadvantaged by the COVID-19 crisis).

Cityfibre Deal Brings FTTP Broadband to Derby’s Social Housing UPDATE

13th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

Some 13,000 council house tenants in the UK city of Derby (Derbyshire) will soon be able to access Cityfibre’s new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband ISP network, which is thanks to a new partnership with Derby City Council and Derby Homes.

Openreach to Stop Selling Copper Phone in 118 Areas – Go FTTP

13th May, 2020 (62 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today announced that they’re accelerating plans to move away from their old analogue phone (PSTN / WLR) services and on to a new all-IP network, which will see more than 118 UK exchange locations receiving over 75% coverage via their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology by June 2021.

Ofcom – Full Fibre Broadband Grows to 3.5Million UK Premises

13th May, 2020 (25 Comments)

Ofcom has published their Spring 2020 update for UK broadband and mobile networks, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage has risen to 12% (up from 10% in September 2019) and the number of premises unable to get 10Mbps+ remains at 2% (608,000 premises). Geographic 4G coverage is now 67% (up from 66%).

Ofcom 2020 Study – Average UK Broadband ISP Speeds Hit 64Mb

13th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual report into fixed line home broadband speeds, which finds that the average download rate has risen from 54.2Mbps last year to 64Mbps now (uploads from 7.2Mbps to 14Mbps). It also examines the performance and latency of big ISPs including BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and others.

The Impact from Full to Capacity FTTC Broadband Cabinets – 2020

13th May, 2020 (35 Comments)

The latest independent data has predicted that 1.8% of UK premises could be affected by full to capacity FTTC (VDSL2) based “fibre broadband” street cabinets on Openreach’s (BT) network (down from 3.8% in April 2019), which might in some cases stop you from being able to order a new service.

KCOM Signs £3m Fibre Broadband Supply Deal with Hexatronic

13th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

Telecoms provider KCOM has announced that they’ve signed a new £3m “strategic supply agreement” with Hexatronic to help provide the necessary passive fibre optic solutions for the on-going expansion of their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network, which is focused on East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

ASA Bans Sky UK Advert for “Lowest Priced” Broadband Claim

13th May, 2020 (9 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a TV advert for ISP Sky Broadband after it was found to have misleadingly claimed to offer “the UK’s lowest priced superfast broadband” service, which was not substantiated by the limited comparison.

KCOM Owner Macquarie to Break Up Business – Focus on Core

12th May, 2020 (0 Comments)

Last year’s £627m takeover of Hull’s incumbent telecoms and broadband ISP, KCOM, by Macquarie Infrastructure (here) has taken another twist. Reports claim that the new owners may now look to carve up the business in order to focus on its core network and expansion across East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

EU Publish Handbook to Help New Rural Broadband Networks

12th May, 2020 (10 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has published a “dedicated handbook” for rural policy makers and broadband project managers who plan to roll-out new ISP networks into remote areas, which uses examples from the UK (e.g. B4RN etc.) and other EU countries to show how the job can be done both “effectively and efficiently.”

Virgin Media Broadband Covers 150000 Extra N.Ireland Premises

12th May, 2020 (3 Comments)

Good news. Cable operator Virgin Media UK has today effectively completed the target they set in 2017 (here) by growing the reach of their “gigabit-capable” broadband ISP and TV network to a further 150,000 premises in Northern Ireland (total of 375,000). As a result half of all premises in the country can now access their service.