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Vodafone UK Users Get Hands Free Mobile Calls via Amazon Echo

12th Jun, 2019 (5 Comments)

Customers of mobile operator Vodafone UK have just become some of the first in the world to be able to make and receive calls via Amazon Echo (Alexa) smart speaker devices from any of their contacts via their existing mobile phone plan, which is thanks to their new OneNumber feature (free for all Red pay monthly customers).

Gov to Simplify 5G Planning Process and Put £40m into New UK Trials

12th Jun, 2019 (1 Comment)

The UK Government has today committed a further £40m from their 5G Testbeds and Trials (5GTT) programme to support another round of projects, which will help to show how the ultrafast mobile broadband tech could support work in the “logistics and manufacturing sectors.” They also want to simplify the planning process to help rollouts.

Mobile Operator EE Coughs to Being Late with 118 Price Cap

12th Jun, 2019 (8 Comments)

BT, the owner of EE, has provided information to Ofcom that suggests it failed to apply the regulator’s new price cap on UK calls to 118 numbers (Directory Enquiries) until mid-April 2019, which may have resulted in a tiny number of customers being incorrectly charged.

Fears of Unlawful Bulk Internet Surveillance Data Retention by MI5

12th Jun, 2019 (6 Comments)

A legal challenged brought by Liberty in the UK High Court has pointed to the “undoubtedly unlawful” bulk retention of largely innocent peoples communications data (telecoms and internet) by MI5, which stems from an apparent failure to adhere to the safeguards set out in the Government’s 2016 Investigatory Powers Act (IPAct).

Ofcom Looks to Defragment 3.4-3.8GHz Bands to Boost 5G Mobile

11th Jun, 2019 (1 Comment)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has proposed to defragment (no.. not their computer hard disks) the 3.4-3.8GHz radio spectrum bands after next year’s auction, which could enable mobile network operators to get the best performance and save money on their new 5G ultrafast mobile broadband networks.

ISP BT Prep UK Beta Trial of Broadband Based Digital Voice Service

11th Jun, 2019 (34 Comments)

UK ISP BT appears to have begun a beta trial of their future Digital Voice service, which will eventually replace the PSTN analogue phone / voice services of today (expected to be completely retired by 2025) in favour of modern Voice-over-IP (VoIP) style alternatives that harness your broadband connection.

UK Ranks 5th in 2019 EU Broadband Connectivity Progress Study

11th Jun, 2019 (7 Comments)

The European Commission has published their 2019 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which uses data from 2018 to reveal how the UK’s fixed line broadband and mobile networks compare with the rest of the EU. This year we jumped in overall rank from 6th to 5th out of 28 countries but are only 10th for connectivity.

Rural Stormontfield Campaign Results in Faster Wireless Broadband

11th Jun, 2019 (2 Comments)

Some 40 properties in the rural village of Stormontfield (Perth and Kinros, Scotland) can finally access a “superfast broadband” ISP connection, which comes after a local campaign resulted in Broadway Partners deploying a new hybrid fibre optic and fixed wireless network across the community.

B4RN Supporters and BT Director Scoop Queen’s Birthday Honours

11th Jun, 2019 (7 Comments)

The annual Queen’s Birthday Honours (2019) was recently published and we’re pleased to report that a number of figures within the United Kingdom’s broadband and telecoms sector scooped up an Order of the British Empire, including among them supporters of B4RN’s rural FTTH broadband network and a BT Director.

BigBlu Broadband Blunders in Billing, Debt Collection and Support

11th Jun, 2019 (3 Comments)

Broadband ISP Bigblu, which supplies various Satellite and Fixed Wireless Access services to consumers across the UK, has apologised after a growing number of their customers began reporting wrongful debt collection demands, billing errors and problems contacting customer support.

Vodafone UK to Switch-Off 3G Mobile Network Within 2-3 Years

10th Jun, 2019 (46 Comments)

Vodafone has quietly become the first UK provider to confirm that it will be “switching off 3G” services within the “next two to three years,” although we fully expect that EE, O2 and Three UK will eventually do something similar as they convert 3G spectrum to 4G or 5G. But 2G voice will remain as a useful low-power fall back.

INCA Awards Broadband Quality Mark to First UK Wireless ISP

10th Jun, 2019 (0 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) has today awarded their first fixed wireless broadband ISP – Secure Web Services (SWS) – with a “Gold Standard Quality Mark“, which aims to highlight alternative network providers that adopt the best practices in performance, design and operations.

Openreach Deploy Ground Penetrating Radar to Help UK FTTP Rollout

10th Jun, 2019 (16 Comments)

Openreach’s (BT) effort to cover the whole of Salisbury (Wiltshire) with their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based ultrafast broadband ISP network (here) has been given a boost by a new Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology, which reduces costs and disruption by precisely mapping where to dig new cables.

BT Ponder TV Funding for UK Netflix Rival Britbox with BBC and ITV

10th Jun, 2019 (8 Comments)

Telecoms and broadband ISP BT is reportedly involved in talks that could see them provide millions of extra funding to support the UK launch of a new internet video streaming service, Britbox, which is backed by the BBC and ITV (broadcasters); this is currently only available to consumers in the USA and Canada.

Three UK to Launch 2x Faster 5G Broadband for 25 Cities in August

10th Jun, 2019 (29 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK has announced that the £2bn commercial rollout of their new ultrafast 5G mobile network will begin in August 2019, reaching 25 towns and cities across the UK by the end of 2019. The provider is also pledging “at least 2x faster” broadband speeds thanks to their initial spectrum advantage.

Customers of UK ISP Plusnet Wrongfully Marked as Being in Arrears

8th Jun, 2019 (25 Comments)

Broadband provider Plusnet has blamed a “system error” after a switch of payment providers resulted in the ISP failing to collect the January 2019 payments from a small number of their mobile customers. The issue was corrected but some of those hit discovered that their credit files had been given a negative mark.

Scotland’s R100 Broadband Contract Delayed Until End of 2019

7th Jun, 2019 (15 Comments)

The Scottish Government’s Minister for Connectivity, Paul Wheelhouse, has confirmed that contracts for the £600m Reaching 100% (R100) superfast broadband project won’t now be signed until the “end of the year,” which suggests that the rollout may be unable to complete by the end of 2021 (March 2022 financial) as planned.