Broadband News: Broadband news direct to your desktop

Cabinet Office warns that internet may have dropouts during Olympics - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:06:10 +0000
The internet and congestion on networks is something that is attracting attention with the Olympics a few months away, but Cabinet Office appears to be using scare tactics to make companies embrace backup scenarios.

Number of BT Wi-Fi hotspots passes 3.5 million mark - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:03:18 +0000
The combined total of BT hotspots and Fon hotspots accessible by BT Total customers is over 3.5 million.

Better broadband - helping high tech workers work from home - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:16:01 +0000
How we all work is changing with more and more people working from, due to a variety reasons from people simply wanting to spend less time commuting, through to it allowing them to work for the few hours each day once their children are at school or nursery.

Pipex UK Ltd customers transferred to Global 4 Communications - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:17:39 +0000
Old Bulldog and Pipex customers are moving yet again, they were bought by Pipex some years ago, and as of January 2012 they have been acquired by Global 4 Communications Ltd.

Wales extends Broadband Support Scheme - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:39:54 +0000
The Welsh Government is extending its Broadband Support Scheme that offers a £1000 subsidy to those who need broadband in a not-spot and do not want to wait for the Next Generation Broadband for Wales to start delivering.

RiPWiRE a wireless and Digital Region reseller ceases trading - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:02:02 +0000
RiPWiRE who are based in South Yorkshire appears to have ceased trading, with customers who are on the Digital Region FTTC network posting a copy of an email.

Ofcom notifies EU of new Openreach charge controls - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:53:04 +0000
With the significant market power that Openreach has, Ofcom operates a charge control system, a change in the notification process means that the EU is now notified after the UK.

Virgin Media 100 Mbps service passes ten million homes - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:51:25 +0000
The UK should be moving up the speed takes based on what is actually available to consumers, as Virgin Media has announced passing the ten million home mark for its 100 Mbps service roll-out.

BT FTTP does it overshadow the groups Q3 results? - Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:01:14 +0000
To announce such a large charge to product speeds at the same as a firms financial results is not unusual, so we take a look at the broadband related figures from the BT Groups Q3 results.

FTTP on Demand for those who want it - Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:31:25 +0000
BT has issued its full press release on Fibre Overlay, and it shows that areas with FTTC are to have an on-demand option for FTTP for consumers and small businesses.

BT Group to trial new fibre overlay technology - Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:44:41 +0000
It seems BT has found a way that it believes is viable for deploying fibre to the premises that will allow it to open its whole network to the technology.

Traffic management update at Plusnet creates retro experience - Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:05:25 +0000
An update to the Plusnet traffic management platform resulted in lots of customers being assigned a slow default profile.

Openreach prices up voice services over fibre to the premises - Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:12:00 +0000
Openreach has launched its Fibre Voice Access product, that will utilise the two telephone sockets on the Openreach Optical Network Termination in homes with FTTP.

Ofcom publishes broadband ranking for UK local authorities - Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:32:00 +0000
Ofcom has published what is one of the closest things to a baseline on which the various BDUK projects can be judged, with a local authority speed and availability map of the United Kingdom.

Ofcom speed report indicates that UK average has risen to 7.6 Mbps - Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:35:36 +0000
The average speed in the UK for broadband has risen some 0.8 Mbps to 7.6 Mbps at the end of November 2011 according to Ofcom research.

Three introduces Web Cube to provide broadband in a box experience - Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:18:56 +0000
Three is expanding its range of mobile broadband devices, with a new HSPA+ enabled device that should provide plug and play broadband.

North Tyneside hits back at DCMS comments - Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:51:07 +0000
A way of words is erupting over the claim last week by the Department for Culture Media and Sport that North Tyneside was a local authority set to miss the deadline for BDUK funding.

WiBE 3G Broadband Router to gain option of 10 hour battery pack - Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:12:25 +0000
The WiBE 3G mobile broadband router is bigger than your average mobile router, but it is designed this way to ensure a much better 3G coverage.

BT Retail gets hand slapped over Home Hub 3 adverts - Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:04:42 +0000
An advert claiming the Home Hub 3 that stated 'That’s why it’s the UK’s most reliable wireless connection...' has been investigated by the ASA.

Miramax added to BT Vision on-demand library - Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:10:36 +0000
BT Vision is expanding its library of films by securing a deal with Miramax.

Scotland publishes Infrastructure Action Plan - Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:34:07 +0000
Scotland has published its detailed plan, setting out how the broadband infrastructure of the nation will be improved to offer superfast services to as many people as possible.

Sky to launch 40 Mbps fibre service for £20 a month - Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:45:30 +0000
As part of its Q2 results Sky has announced its fibre service will launch in April 2012, offering up to 40 Mbps.

Broadband for all in Cambridgeshire to cost up to £100m - Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:52:43 +0000
Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council has placed a service contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Hints that IP linear TV is on its way to Openreach FTTC product - Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:29:19 +0000
A pilot from Openreach that will reveal more line data to providers to help them judge whether a line is good enough for IPTV looks set to improve the information providers have on the state of a FTTC line.

Sky Anytime+ expanding to all broadband providers - Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:46:07 +0000
The on-demand video service Sky Anytime+ has been restricted to Sky LLU customers, but from Easter 2012.

Openreach upgrades line checkers to reflect faster FTTC product - Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:52:33 +0000
This weekend has seen Openreach updating the information on estimated line speeds for its fibre to the cabinet products.

Lifespan of Openreach FTTC installs may be 20 years - Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:10:52 +0000
An application for the locating of an Openreach cabinet with its active electronics for VDSL2 reveals that the cabinet is likely to be in place for some 20 years.

BT to replace faulty Openreach FTTC modems due to overheating - Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:56:19 +0000
BT have revealed the reason being replacing Openreach FTTC modems which were installed prior to August 2011 as being due to an overheating chip.

Lancashire partners with BT for superfast broadband - Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:38:55 +0000
Lancashire County Council is one of the first local authorities to announce who is to be its commercial partner in rolling out superfast broadband and ensuring 2 Mbps is available for everyone in the area.

Openreach expands fibre to apartments pilot - Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:16:43 +0000
The Openreach trial to install fibre to flats on the Isle of Dogs is being expanded, with the provider looking for 1,000 buildings to participate in a much wider pilot.

Four more councils broadband plans approved - Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:21:24 +0000
In addition to the maps showing progress of the BDUK plans there is the good news that four areas have had their previously submitted plans approved.

Topping up the superfast broadband pot - Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:08:31 +0000
The European Regional Development Fund looks set to be the source for the latest bit of money to be spread around the UK to try and improve the odds of people and businesses getting a superfast broadband service.

Three councils unlikely to reach BDUK funding deadline - Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:43:42 +0000
Three councils are unlikely to reach the BDUK funding deadline for their proposals to bring broadband to their area.

Arqiva warns of serious risk that broadband for all may fail - Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:46:58 +0000
A key part of the BDUK process was to promote a competitive environment while ensuring 2 Mbps for all in the UK, and a baseline of 90% having access to superfast broadband. If BT continues to be the sole bidder this may have implications on the quality of broadband in the final 10%.

Plusnet announces extension to full fibre trials - Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:09:37 +0000
Plusnet has announced an expansion to its fibre trials, with new pricing.

4G trial in Cornwall extended to June 2012 - Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:02:37 +0000
The 4G trial underway in Cornwall as part of the SuperFast Cornwall project is set to continue to June this year after granted an extension.

O2 shares your mobile phone number with every website you visit - Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:44:45 +0000
If you're reading this news article using your O2 mobile phone, you'll be pleased to know that O2 have already sent us your mobile phone number within the HTTP headers which normally contain information about how content can be displayed on your device.

Wales proposes areas for next generation intervention - Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:49:00 +0000
While Wales appears to only have a single bidder, the project to ensure UK Government and Welsh Government targets are met continues with a market review to ensure that money is not spent where no intervention is needed to ensure superfast broadband is available.

Virgin Media has carried out evaluation of 4G broadband - Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:29:25 +0000
It seems Virgin Media has been looking at 4G broadband so it can gather data, and evaluate whether investing in the technology will be worthwhile.

Ofcom proposals may result in wider 4G coverage - Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:20:32 +0000
Ofcom is proposing that 4G coverage for auction winners include a clause to provide indoor 4G coverage to at least 98 percent of the population.

Herefordshire Council looking at committing £6m on broadband - Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:09:48 +0000
Herefordshire is set to discuss allocating £6 million from the County Council's budget to match fund the money from the BDUK.

Fujitsu pulls out of Wales - Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:37:29 +0000
Wales joins the Highlands and Islands with BT being the sole bidder for BDUK projects, with Fujitsu pulling out voluntarily due to the levels of risk.

Karoo launches its Lightstream fibre products - Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:19:37 +0000
For people in the Hull and East Yorkshire area, Karoo has now launched its fibre based products that start at £35 per month.

Is the Megaupload closure an opportunity lost? - Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:18:49 +0000
Megaupload was just one of a number of web based file sharing websites, but it is the latest casualty in the way being waged to protect perceived loses by the media industry.

Deadline looming for local authorities broadband plans - Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:25:12 +0000
Local authorities around the UK that have not submitted their broadband plan for access to BDUK funds have just six weeks to get their paperwork in order and the plan lodged with the BDUK.

Bedford Borough Council has access to over £1m for broadband improvements - Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:59:27 +0000
Bedford Borough Council has come up with local match funding from the Bedford Borough Partnership Board to ensure the Borough can go ahead with superfast broadband projects.

The Best in Europe Scorecard that Ed Vaizey is confident about - Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:59:03 +0000
Most coverage questioning whether the UK will be the best in Europe with respect to broadband uses the simple metric of where the UK stands in various speed league tables, but the measurement system the UK will us is more complex.

Campaign for better broadband in St Helena - Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:49:39 +0000
A campaign has been launched to connect the remote island of St Helena to bring it into the modern broadband world.

Virgin Media suffer three hour outage to broadband platform - Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:49:06 +0000
Virgin Media suffered a three hour outage to their broadband platform that also affected leased lines and some Virgin websites and phone systems.

Leicestershire has £7m to spend on its final third - Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:49:18 +0000
Leicestershire is one of the latest counties to outline the size of its pot for improving broadband coverage in the county.

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