Home » UK ISP News Archive » ISP News (17503 Posts)

Latest ISP News

Virgin Media UK Release New Movies from Universal, Online

20th Mar, 2020 (0 Comments)

Broadband ISP Virgin Media has joined Sky (Sky Broadband, Sky TV) in reaching a new agreement with Universal Pictures, which means that NBCUniversal titles that are currently in theatrical release will also be available on-demand to customers via Virgin’s Store from today.

COVID-19 – YouTube Cuts Video Stream Quality to Standard Def

20th Mar, 2020 (9 Comments)

Internet video streaming giant YouTube has today announced that it will follow Netflix (here) by reducing the quality of their streams across the EU in order to help broadband ISPs deal with rising levels of network use. But unlike Netflix they’ve “temporarily” switched “all traffic in the EU to standard definition by default.”

COVID-19 – ISP BT (EE) UK Offers Extra Support to Customers

20th Mar, 2020 (4 Comments)

BT (EE) has today become the latest broadband ISP and mobile operator to offer some free extras and support to their customers, which among other things includes changes to help the most vulnerable and ensuring that all of their users can access “unlimited” home broadband (no data caps).

COVID-19 – UK ISPs Being Urged to Offer Free Broadband

20th Mar, 2020 (11 Comments)

The Government is understood to be in “very early talks” with UK internet access providers over how they could better support people during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis, which has resulted in many people and families needing to work from and stay at home. One option could be to offer free broadband.

Netflix Lowers Video Quality to Aid Broadband ISP Congestion

19th Mar, 2020 (43 Comments)

In a somewhat unusual development Netflix, the global internet video streaming giant, has responded to some concerns about broadband congestion in other European countries by agreeing with the EU to lower the quality (bitrate) of its videos for the next 30 days (i.e. easing the strain on fixed line ISPs and mobile operators).

COVID-19 – Everyone on Jersey to Get 1Gbps Broadband Speed

19th Mar, 2020 (4 Comments)

The Government of Jersey (English Channel Island) and Digital Jersey, an economic development agency and industry association, has reached an agreement with local telecoms operators (JT, Sure and Homenet) that will see all “full fibre” broadband lines on the island being speed boosted to symmetrical 1Gbps “at no extra cost.”

10Mbps UK Broadband Universal Service Obligation to Go Live UPDATE3

19th Mar, 2020 (98 Comments)

The UK Government’s new legally-binding Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband – supplied by ISPs BT and KCOM – will tomorrow go live. The aim is to ensure that anybody living in a digitally disadvantaged area can request a “minimum” download speed of at least 10Mbps (1Mbps upload), but there are caveats.

Virgin Media Confirm 1Gbps Broadband Live in West Midlands

19th Mar, 2020 (5 Comments)

Cable and full fibre ISP Virgin Media UK has today officially confirmed that their new 1Gbps+ (52Mbps upload) broadband network upgrade – via the roll-out of DOCSIS 3.1 technology – has finally gone live for more than 1 million homes across Birmingham, Coventry and surrounding areas in the West Midlands (England).

Ofcom’s Plan to Measure the 4G UK Mobile Coverage Obligation

18th Mar, 2020 (4 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today revealed some more details about the new £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN), which aims to extend UK geographic 4G mobile coverage to 95% by the end of 2025, and explained how they will assess the compliance of O2, Vodafone, Three UK and EE (BT) with those commitments.

WightFibre FTTH Broadband Rollout Reaches 15,000 Homes

18th Mar, 2020 (1 Comment)

Broadband ISP WightFibre, which is currently investing £35m to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network on the Isle of Wight (South Coast of Hampshire), has now passed a total of 20,000 premises (15,000 of those are live) in their on-going build programme.

COVID-19 – Virgin Mobile UK Give Customers Free Allowances

18th Mar, 2020 (6 Comments)

Customers of Virgin Mobile UK (Virgin Media) – specifically their Pay Monthly subscribers – are being given unlimited minutes to landlines and other mobile numbers, plus a 10GB data boost (Mobile Broadband), at no extra cost, for a month, in order to help them with the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation.

O2 Refresh Ads Banned by ASA UK for Misleading Comparisons

18th Mar, 2020 (2 Comments)

A website and YouTube advert for O2 UK’s custom plans (refresh campaign – the ability to upgrade your phone at any time) have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following complaints from rivals Three UK and Virgin Media, which said that some of their comparisons were “misleading.”

ASA UK Ban BT Adverts for Misleading Guaranteed WiFi Claims

18th Mar, 2020 (7 Comments)

Complaints from UK broadband ISPs Virgin Media, Vodafone and 11 people have resulted in several adverts for BT’s Complete WiFi (mesh system) service add-on being banned for misleadingly claiming that “only we guarantee wi-fi in every room” and “we guarantee a strong signal in every room.”

Early Feedback from Openreach’s G.INP ECI Hybrid Fibre Trial

18th Mar, 2020 (16 Comments)

Some early feedback from Openreach’s (BT) latest trial of ReTransmission (ReTx / G.INP) technology on Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) based broadband ISP lines, specifically those using the operator’s UK estate of ECI street cabinets, has shown improvements in service speed and latency times (ping).

COVID-19 – Sky UK Offers Free Mobile, TV and Phone Extras

17th Mar, 2020 (36 Comments)

Customers of UK ISP Sky Broadband (inc. Sky Talk), Sky Mobile and Sky TV are set to be given a number of free extras in order to help them through the current period of self-isolation, which is gradually being implemented across the United Kingdom in order to help tackle the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

Mobile Network Operators Suffer Calling Fault on UK Networks

17th Mar, 2020 (2 Comments)

Customers of O2, EE, Vodafone and Three UK – as well as various virtual (MVNO) mobile providers – are today reporting sporadic connectivity problems with making calls, which began at just after 10am today. Some reports have claimed that this issue allegedly stems from an interconnect fault on O2’s network.

Sky UK to Release New Movies at Home and Cinema on Same Day

17th Mar, 2020 (37 Comments)

A decision by Universal Pictures (NBCUniversal) means that, as part of their response to the new Coronavirus (COVID-19), Sky UK (ISP Sky Broadband) will join Comcast in the USA, and a “variety of on-demand services,” to release new films at the same time as they become available in the cinema.