Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Mobile Broadband (2679 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Mobile Broadband

University of Edinburgh Opens Private 5G Internet Network for Fringe Festival

5th August, 2026 (1 Comment)

The Networked Systems Group at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics has announced that their private 5G mobile test network (Campus5G) has been opened up for anyone to try during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with free eSIM access and 5G-backed public Wi-Fi available across a big area.

Starlink-V3-Broadband-Satellite-on-Black-Background

SpaceX Updates on Starlink’s V3 Broadband and V2 Mobile Satellite Plans

5th August, 2026 (1 Comment)

The top two bosses of SpaceX, Elon Musk and Gwynne Shotwell, yesterday issued some useful updates to investors on the progress of their third generation (V3) ultrafast broadband satellites and their second generation (V2) mobile satellites, which confirmed their current launch plans and some other details on future capabilities.

RootMetrics Awards EE as the BEST UK Mobile Operator in H1 2026 Study

4th August, 2026 (2 Comments)

Mobile benchmarking firm RootMetrics (Ookla) has this morning published their H1 2026 study of UK mobile networks (calls, texts etc.) and mobile broadband (4G, 5G) speeds. The results once again name EE as the best mobile operator after they scooped up the highest scores and fastest data speeds across most categories.

Thomas Cook Harness Travel eSIM to Give Every Customer 1GB of Free Mobile Data

3rd August, 2026 (7 Comments)

Online travel agency Thomas Cook has become the latest UK company to do a deal with travel eSIM (embedded SIM) provider Kolet, which will enable them to give every package holiday customer 1GB (GigaByte) of complimentary mobile broadband data when they travel overseas – “helping them get online as soon as they land without relying on airport Wi-Fi or local SIM cards”.

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Giffgaff Disconnect Some Prepaid Mobile Users for Extended Roaming Outside UK

1st August, 2026 (5 Comments)

Some pre-paid customers of mobile operator giffgaff, which is controlled by Telefónica UK (part of the VMO2 Group) and uses O2’s virtual network platform, have complained to ISPreview after the provider suddenly informed them that their service was to be disconnected over “extended or permanent use outside the UK“. The provider also declined to refund unused credit.

AST Space Mobile Satellites Over UK and Europe with Vodafone

Vodafone UK Says Space 5G Mobile Service Still on Track for Early 2027 Beta

30th July, 2026 (3 Comments)

The CEO of Vodafone Group, Margherita Della Valle, has stated that their joint plan with AST SpaceMobile (aka – Satellite Connect Europe) to launch a space-based 4G and 5G mobile (mobile broadband) service to connect regular Smartphones is still expected to enter its “beta” testing phase “at the beginning of 2027“. Despite suffering an earlier launch failure.

Fenton Street Lancaster Derelict Telephone House Building

Vodafone UK Aim to Improve Mobile Signals in Lancaster After Vandal Attacks

30th July, 2026 (4 Comments)

Repeated attacks of vandalism by gangs of youths recently caused Vodafone (VodafoneThree) to remove a key mobile mast site in central Lancaster (Lancashire, England), which was shared with mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media). The situation resulted in significant 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) coverage problems for users in the area, but a temporary solution is now imminent.

Derbyshire Firefighters Use O2 Satellite Service to Help Tackle Wildfire

29th July, 2026 (1 Comment)

Firefighters in Derbyshire (England) recently provided a good unintentional demonstration of why services like the new O2 Satellite add-on are so useful. The teams, who were responding to the wildfire near Tintwistle, were able to use the UK service to maintain mobile connectivity in an area with no traditional 4G or 5G mobile network coverage.

Utility Warehouse UK Mobile Ad Banned for Lack of Clarity on Unlimited Data Limits

29th July, 2026 (6 Comments)

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an advert on the website of energy and communications provider Utility Warehouse (UW – Telecom Plus), which promoted an “Unlimited data” mobile plan, after it was found to have failed to make the Fair Usage Policy (FUP) restrictions for data (mobile broadband) usage “sufficiently clear“.

Giffgaff Grows to 4.26 Million UK Mobile Customers as 671 Take Broadband

28th July, 2026 (2 Comments)

Mobile operator giffgaff, which is owned by Telefónica UK (part of the VMO2 Group) and uses O2’s virtual operator platform (mvno), recently published their annual accounts to the end of 2025 and revealed that their mobile base grew by 142,000 members (up from 100k in 2024) to total 4,260,368. The operator also had 671 full fibre broadband customers.

Channel Islands 2023 Map - Guernsey and Jersey

Guernsey Exempts Travel eSIM Mobile Providers from Needing a Licence

28th July, 2026 (2 Comments)

The Guernsey Competition & Regulatory Authority (GCRA) has decided to exempt most travel eSIM providers from needing a licence. “The GCRA’s view is that most travel eSIM services bought by Guernsey consumers for use overseas are unlikely to require a Guernsey telecommunications licence,” said the regulator. But there is a limitation.

Amazon Leo Prep New Constellation of 5,105 Satellites for Global 5G Mobile

27th July, 2026 (2 Comments)

The Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) service, which is building a new mega constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for the UK and globally, has revealed plans to launch a “new constellation” of up to 5,105 satellites to connect compatible 4G and 5G mobile devices on the ground directly from space (Direct-to-Device).

Virgin Media O2 UK Suffers Broadband Customer Decline as FTTP Footprint Hits 9M Premises

24th July, 2026 (14 Comments)

The latest Q2 2026 results from network operators Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have today reported a fall in consumer broadband customers of -28,200 to total 5,417,900 (vs -5.3k in Q1), while their mobile base declined slightly to total 46.428m (down from 46.44m) and outdoor 5G+ (5GSA) population coverage remains at 86%.

BT Update – Openreach Lose 192K UK Broadband Lines as FTTP Covers 23.4M

23rd July, 2026 (27 Comments)

Telecoms giant BT Group just published a short trading update to the end June 2026, which reveals that Openreach lost a total of 192,000 broadband lines to rivals over the past quarter (improved from -203k last quarter). But their “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage grew to 23.4 million premises (up from 22.92m) and EE’s 5G+ mobile coverage reached 77% of the UK population.

London Big Ben Over Thames by MJackson - IMG20250111113401

Government Responsibility for UK Broadband and Mobile Returns to DCMS

23rd July, 2026 (1 Comment)

After a few days of conflicting messaging, the Government in Westminster did yesterday confirm that responsibility for all things broadband and mobile related – this includes programmes covered by the Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency and related aspects – has been shifted back to a re-named Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). But now the ‘D’ stands for Digital (I guess.. DDCMS?).

Streetwave Northern Ireland Mobile Coverage Map

Streetwave UK Tests Accuracy of Ofcom’s Mobile Coverage Data

23rd July, 2026 (3 Comments)

A new study from UK network analyst firm Streetwave, which recently used bin lorries to map the coverage and performance of 4G and 5G mobile (broadband) networks across Northern Ireland, has questioned the accuracy of Ofcom’s mobile coverage data after finding a big difference between the regulator’s figures and those of their own research.

Freshwave Brings Indoor 4G Mobile to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

21st July, 2026 (2 Comments)

Wireless infrastructure provider Freshwave has deployed their 4G Distributed Antenna System (DAS) across the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, which can be used by any mobile network operator (EE, O2, or Vodafone / Three UK) to help staff, patients and visitors connect to a good mobile (mobile broadband) signal.