Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

Vodafone has collaborated with Manna Air Delivery in Ireland, a company with six years of experience in urban drone deliveries, to remotely pilot a delivery drone over two kilometres using Vodafone’s mobile network

Manna, which has completed approximately 200,000 deliveries, recently worked with Vodafone to test how mobile technology can assist a pilot to operate a drone beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) to increase home deliveries to more places.

The project supports Vodafone’s wider research into how the mobile network can support communication between multiple commercial drones to enable them to fly safely. This is especially significant as the number of commercial drones in Europe is projected to nearly double to 395,000 by 2030, driven by advancements in drone technology and increasing consumer demand for rapid home delivery.

Mobile coverage maps for drones

During the proof-of-concept test with Manna, Vodafone used the 4G network to gather telemetry data from the drone to track its flight. Vodafone’s network APIs were used by the companies to securely access aerial mobile coverage maps, ensuring a safe and connected flight path for the drone at Manna’s test facility in Moorock, Ireland.

Alan Hicks, CTO of Manna Drone Delivery, said: “Combining Manna’s drone delivery expertise with Vodafone’s technology enables us to track and identify drones via the mobile network, even beyond visual line of sight. This enhances our secure systems for last mile delivery.”

Vodafone has experience in using its network to enhance drone safety and operational efficiency. It has conducted several trials, including the world’s first air traffic control drone tracking and safety system, and a test to show how mobile technology can be used to prevent drones from interfering with high-security areas.

Safer skies across Europe

Anthony Chen, Project Lead at Vodafone Business, added: “Our pan-European mobile network allows drones to safely fly longer distances beyond the controller’s vision. It can track drones for urban deliveries, healthcare logistics, or remote land surveys across multiple countries. In the future, we aim to combine low earth orbit satellites with our terrestrial network to monitor thousands of commercial drones safely, wherever they fly.”

Ultimately, Vodafone hopes to support a long-range air traffic management system to control the increase in BVLOS drones and other airspace users. This would enable two-way communication with drones using Vodafone’s network to limit collisions between multiple airspace users on a pan-European scale.

Also in the news:
US judge rules Huawei must face charges of fraud and racketeering
Optus ditches football rights to focus on telecoms
Nokia launches digital twin platform Enscryb to digitalise energy sector

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release 

A new European leadership structure and the integration of Smart Mobile Labs under the Boldyn banner reinforce Boldyn’s position as the leading neutral host and mobile private networks provider in the region

Boldyn Networks (Boldyn) is strengthening its European market leadership with a new strategic structure for its European operations, reinforcing its commitment to growth across the region. The changes include a strengthened leadership team, a newly formed continental Europe business, and the integration of Smart Mobile Labs (SML) under the Boldyn banner. These moves mark a major step in Boldyn’s ambition to become Europe’s most trusted partner in delivering advanced connectivity solutions across public and private sectors.

The new organisational structure sees Andrew McGrath appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the integrated Europe business, alongside his Group Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Hong Kong responsibilities. Antonino Ruggiero, CEO Italy, Klaus Nagora, CEO Germany, and Mikko Uusitalo, CEO Private Networks Europe, will lead their respective markets, reporting into McGrath. Andrew Conway has been appointed Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Europe, to drive Boldyn’s Mobile Private Networks (MPN) technology development.

“We are shaping an extraordinary business,” said Andrew McGrath, CEO Europe, Asia & Group Chief Commercial Officer. “Europe is a core part of our growth story, and this new organisational structure makes the best use of our skills, experience and knowledge of local markets to consistently deliver the best outcomes for our customers. Boldyn continues to be a dynamic force driving global economies towards a truly interconnected future.”

Coupled with the strategic reorganisation, Boldyn has completed the rebranding of SML, following the acquisition of the German mobile private networks leader in January 2025. The rebrand will see SML’s capabilities integrated into the wider Boldyn portfolio. This move reflects the company’s unified go-to-market approach and its aim to present a consistent, coherent brand to customers across Europe.

Furthermore, Boldyn Networks was recently recognised as a ‘Major Player’ in the IDC MarketScape: European Enterprise Private 5G Solutions 2025 Vendor Assessment (doc # EUR253555324, June 2025).

Over the past five years, Boldyn has expanded its global footprint, entering new geographies and expanding into the market for Mobile Private Networks solutions. It has also extended its expertise in designing and delivering cutting-edge connectivity solutions for customers across transport, military, stadia and venues, energy, healthcare and higher education sectors. In aligning its European operations, Boldyn is setting a clear vision for Europe, accelerating market momentum and unlocking new opportunities for its customers today.

Also in the news:
US judge rules Huawei must face charges of fraud and racketeering
Optus ditches football rights to focus on telecoms
Nokia launches digital twin platform Enscryb to digitalise energy sector

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Customers of mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) might like to know that they’ve today launched a “first-of-its-kind phone case“, which has been designed to “visually indicate the sun’s harmful UV rays and remind holidaymakers to stay safe“. The case reflects a collaborated with Researcher and Creative Technologist, Marc Teyssier.

Backed by The British Skin Foundation, the ‘Skincase’ is said to have been “skilfully crafted” by Teyssier using “synthetic skin“, enabling it to “dramatically change colour” and ‘burn’ when exposed to Ultraviolet (UV) rays, “mirroring the damaging effects of the sun on human skin“.

The case blends “advanced fabrication with meticulous handcrafting, combining 3D printing with flexible filament and silicone casting with manual sculpting techniques from the special effects industry“, said O2. The “skin-like surface” is pigmented with specialised composites that react to UV light. This is said to create a “lifelike simulation of sun exposure“, making the invisible effects of UV radiation both tangible and visually striking.

Naturally, O2 is also using this as a way to promote their position as the “only major provider” to offer inclusive EU roaming to all customers as standard (up to 25GB for data usage), although it also happens to be quite a clever product idea.

Christian Hindennach, Chief Commercial Officer at VMO2, said:

“Holidays should be about creating unmissable moments, bringing home souvenirs and making memories – not about roaming bills and sunburn. With mobiles being such an essential part of everyday life, especially on holiday according to our new research, we’ve created the Skincase to demonstrate in real time just how severe the effects of sunburn can be while also promoting sun safety among holidaymakers.

O2 is committed to supporting its customers’ well-being, both physically and financially, and with our inclusive EU roaming perk, our customers can travel in Europe freely, without fear of getting burnt by unwanted roaming fees.”

On the other hand, we’re not entirely sure how many people would want the case itself to look like human skin, which seems to be going a little too deeply in the direction of a David Cronenberg film. But then again, the announcement doesn’t actually say how much the case might cost to buy or even where you can buy it. Not to mention the issue of device compatibility. Instead, O2 seems to be running a Price Draw for the Skincase, which is a bit disappointing.

Finally, we should add that – contrary to what VMO2 may suggest above – the idea of a phone case that can adopt UV-induced colour changing has in fact been done before (albeit without the ‘skin-like’ surface). For example, a company in Taiwan called UNIU did one for the iPhone 15 series (EÜV Pro Color Changing Case), which costs around £20.

UPDATE 12:27pm

VMO2 has informed ISPreview that, at present, they only have a small number of samples (the idea is still a “prototype” intended to help promote safety in the sun). “If there is significant demand for the Skincase from consumers then we’ll look to make a larger number available in the future,” said a Spokesperson for the operator.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative broadband ISP Brsk (Netomnia) has been fined £14,000 by Ofcom over its roll-out of hundreds of new 9 metre high telecoms poles in the city of Birmingham, which were installed to support the roll-out of a new full fibre (FTTP) network. But they were today found to have breached two conditions under the Electronic Communications Code (ECC).

Just to recap. Brsk and Netomnia are in the process of merging and have so far deployed their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 2.5 million UK homes (inc. 325,000 customers), which is expected to reach 3 million premises by the end of 2025 and then 5 million by the end of 2027. The use of poles to deploy their new fibre forms a big part of this process.

The deployment of wood poles to run overhead fibre is a common practice across the UK. This is because poles are quick and cost-effective to build (several times cheaper than trenching), can be deployed in areas where there may be no space or access agreement to safely put new underground cables, are less disruptive (avoiding the noise, access restrictions and damage to pavements of street works) and can be built under Permitted Development (PD) rights.

However, network operators do still have to follow a Code of Practice for this process, which forms part of the ECC Regulations. But last year saw Birmingham City’s Local Planning Authority (LPA) raise a complaint with Ofcom over Brsk’s approach (here), which accused the operator of failing to consult planning authorities about the installations, and failing to provide 28 days’ notice in writing to the planning authority in an area where the provider has not previously installed such equipment.

Ofcom Statement

On 4 July 2025, Ofcom issued its Final Decision to BRSK in respect of BRSK’s compliance with the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003/2533 (as amended) (‘the Regulations’).

Ofcom has determined that there are reasonable grounds for believing BRSK has contravened its obligations under the following Regulations, when installing electronic communications apparatus in the Birmingham City area:

• Regulation 3(1)(b), which states that “a code operator shall consult – planning authorities in relation to the installation of electronic communications apparatus…” and
• Regulation 5(1)(a), which states that “a code operator must give 28 days’ notice in writing, to the planning authority for the area in question where the code operator has not previously installed electronic communications apparatus in the area and (subject to paragraph 1A) is intending to install such apparatus in the area.”

In light of this finding, Ofcom is imposing a penalty of £7,000 for each contravention, totalling £14,000, on BRSK. This penalty was set having regard to the statutory limit of £10,000 per contravention, as well as our Penalty Guidelines. The final penalty amount reflects a 30% discount on the penalty Ofcom would otherwise have imposed following BRSK’s full admission of liability and agreement to settle this case.

The penalty amount reflects several factors, including that Ofcom considers these breaches represent a serious failure to follow important Regulations which intend to provide safeguards to local communities.  In this case, hundreds of pieces of electronic communications apparatus were installed without the knowledge of the local authority and, therefore, without a proper understanding of how BRSK’s deployment might potentially impact local considerations.  Ofcom also considered the need to deter BRSK and other Code Operators from future contraventions of these important Regulations in future.

The obligation to engage with planning authorities prior to installing network infrastructure is an important part of the Regulations. Through this engagement, planning authorities can draw relevant local considerations to the provider’s attention – such as possible hazards or visual amenity concerns – and set appropriate non-binding conditions for the provider.

Suffice to say that, at the time, Brsk was already facing some local opposition to their deployments, which helped to fuel the original complaint. The mistake itself seems, however, unlikely to cause too much of a financial headache (Ofcom has limited enforcement powers in this area), although it may still have a greater reputational impact.

The full decision document further reveals, on the second contravention, that Brsk failed to give Birmingham City’s Local Planning Authority 28 days’ written notice prior to installing a total of 672 poles and 21 street cabinets in the Birmingham City area from July 2023 until 3rd April 2024. Ofcom added that “there is no evidence that the breach occurred deliberately“.

During the investigation, Brsk acknowledged to Ofcom that “there was a failure with [our] internal processes to ensure the necessary consultation took place with the Local Planning Authority prior to the installation of its Apparatus.” The operator also shared the steps it had taken to rectify this in the area:

Brsk’s Steps to Resolution

(a) Providing [Birmingham City’s Local Planning Authority] with retrospective consultation and notices in respect of all pole and cabinet apparatus installed.

(b) BRSK will make an upfront commitment to [Birmingham City’s Local Planning Authority] that they will meet any objections raised by the Local Planning Authority function.

(c) Regarding issues raised by local residents and business owners relating to BRSK’s pole and cabinet apparatus, BRSK undertakes to work closely with them to address any concerns.

The wider public frustrations around the building of poles are of course quite well known. The industry did recently introduce new ‘Best Practice Guidance for Poles’ to help tackle this area, which generally requires network operators to have greater engagement with and respect for community wishes. So far, it remains rare for network operators to break the rules that exist in this area (or at least to be found to have broken them), and hopefully it won’t happen again.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The One Touch Switching Company, which is the industry-led organisation responsible for helping to implement Ofcom’s solution (One Touch Switching) for easier UK consumer switching between broadband providers, has begun the ISP onboarding process for its complementary business switching solution.

The OTS system is a Gaining Provider Led (GPL) process that is focused on consumer services, where the customer contacts their new (“gaining“) ISP to start and manage the process on their behalf. But this process is, technically, only a requirement for residential customers and business connections have tended to be treated differently.

The UK telecoms regulator has previously stated that this is because “business and residential customers can sometimes have different needs when switching and that there is diversity among business which means it may not be appropriate to specify certain rules that would apply to all business customers in the same way as to residential customers.”

Despite the above statement, business providers are still required to follow most of the same OTS rules (i.e. Ofcom simply have not specified what the process should be for such ISPs) and so, in practice, TOTSCo recognises that many business ISPs may see a benefit in using a modified version of their platform to deliver a biz switching solution. But there is no requirement for business providers to use TOTSCo’s forthcoming solution (business switching is a competitive market, so there may be alternatives).

The development of TOTSCo’s business switching solution, which is occurring alongside the separate Gaining Provider Led Business (GPLB) Switching Industry Process, has been underway for a while and this week began the onboarding process (i.e. inviting ISPs to sign-up for and help test the new service). But the business switching service itself isn’t currently expected to go fully live until “early 2026“.

Paul Bradbury, CEO of TOTSCo, said:

“I’m delighted to announce that we are opening the onboarding process for business switching. Thanks to all involved across industry and at TOTSCo and our technical partner, Tech Mahindra for the hard work involved in getting us to this stage.

From [today], we’ll be sharing the Business Switching User Guide to support you through each step. Whether you’re a Communications Provider connecting directly or if you choose to connect via a Managed Access Provider (MAP), the guide will walk you through what to do to onboard your brand and prepare for testing.

So, keep an eye out for the bulletin [today] — it will include everything you need to get started.”

Just to be clear, TOTSCo said business switching is operating in a separate environment to ensure the consumer-focused OTS service “remains protected and unaffected“. Speaking of consumer switching, TOTSCo noted how nearly 1.3 million successful broadband switches have been completed since the service first went live in September 2024.

In related news, TOTSCo recently proposed to continue with its current charging structure (here).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile network provider giffgaff, which is owned by Telefónica and uses O2’s associated virtual operator (MVNO) platform, has recently started connecting the first customers to their new trial of a 500Mbps home broadband product – using nexfibre and Virgin Media’s 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP / XGS-PON) networks.

Just to recap. The trial was first confirmed back in mid-April 2025 (here), which meant that giffgaff would become the first retail provider after Virgin Media to fully harness nexfibre’s new wholesale FTTP network – currently available to over 2 million UK premises. Admittedly, this wasn’t all that surprising, not least because Telefónica is also one of the co-parents behind Virgin Media and nexfibre.

Since then, there have of course been some big developments that impacted nexfibre’s FTTP build strategy (here and here), but this has not stopped giffgaff’s trial. The trial itself is now in the process of connecting “up to 500 trialists” to the new service (not counting the tiny number of closed trialists that came before), which will run for 12-months at a temporarily discounted (heavily) price of £10 per month for a speed of 500Mbps.

According to feedback from the first customers to be connected to this wider open access trial (ISPr forum examples), the package they’ve received appears to assign a proper IP (not CGNAT address sharing), delivers symmetric speeds and some of the exterior kit (pictured – top) appears to retain Virgin Media’s branding. But there’s no IPv6 yet (no big surprise for Virgin) and the peering/routing arrangements seem to follow Virgin Media’s existing approach.

In terms of the internal kit, most customers seem to be receiving an Optical Network Terminal (ONT / ONU) from Arcadyan Technology (PB6802B-LG) and one of Amazon’s Eero 6+ routers (UI features giffgaff’s branding). But there have been some mixed messages on whether giffgaff will allow customers to use a third-party router, although it looks like it may be possible.

Finally, the initial service speeds appear to be delivering better than the headline rate of 500Mbps, but that’s hardly surprising for an early trial and Virgin Media has a long history of setting faster profile than advertised rates. Naturally, faster packages and different pricing will surface for the commercial launch, but we don’t yet know when that will occur or what those packages will look like.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Today we’d like to pose a simple question, is the following direct mail envelope from a broadband ISP an appropriate way of advertising the service? The boundary between ethics and advertising is often a difficult tightrope to traverse, with many pros and cons to consider. But we are increasingly seeing the competitive market produce promotions that dip deeper into a grey zone.

On the one hand, there is often plenty of merit in being a bit controversial and bending – sometimes even breaking – the rules in order to get attention, particularly if the greater publicity is ultimately more productive than not (we’ve unavoidably played our part in this today by highlighting it). The fact that the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is typically fairly slow and soft in its response, such as when breaches do occur, certainly doesn’t provide much of a disincentive to this.

On the other hand, it’s sometimes still possible to dive too far into unethical territory and that could have an overly negative impact. But figuring out where to draw the line can be difficult. Advertising that thus subscribes to the old P.T. Barnum saying – “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” – thus still runs the risk of attracting reputational harm, boycotts, and financial losses etc.

The focus today is, however, specifically directed toward Direct Mail adverts that come to your door. Getting advertising to work and be effective at this end of the market is a particularly difficult nut to crack, not least because the consumer subconscious has long since adapted to instinctively recognise routine junk mail and flyers. This is usually followed by the similarly subconscious act of automatically grabbing said flyers and sticking them into the recycle bin.

Suffice to say that advertisers have responded to this by getting a bit more.. creative. Over the past few years’ we’ve thus seen various questionable examples of promotions that appear to straddle the line. The latest one isn’t even particularly exceptional, but it is just one example of a tactic that we’ve seen used by a number of companies in recent times.

Example of the Direct Mail Envelope

The chances are fairly good that, upon scooping up such a generically designed brown envelope from your letter box – one that appears to be expressing some importance and thus urgency for your attention, your first thoughts might well turn to worrying about its content containing one of the usual bugbears (e.g. unexpected parking fines, speeding tickets, HMRC tax warnings or perhaps a doctor’s letter with that result you’ve been dreading).

The structure of how the envelope is presented does evoke the sort of approach typically used by various government agencies, but by this point, our readers will already know from the context of this article that it doesn’t in fact contain anything worrying. Similarly, you can judge for yourselves whether the letter itself really does contain “IMPORTANT INFORMATION“, which may be somewhat subjective to each individual (or maybe not).

The Letter (Personal Details Redacted)

So “IMPORTANT” was this information advert that the recipient informed us of how they promptly placed it in a bin of similar importance. Just to be clear, this is from a previously unfamiliar ISP, one that is merely harnessing CityFibre’s network (i.e. CF has nothing to do with the letter itself – that “Powered by CityFibre” wording merely references the underlying FTTP network they use).

Naturally, somebody receiving such a letter is clearly going to be more inclined to open and pay attention to it, but we’ll leave it up to our readers to decide which side of the line this sort of promotion should fall on. Is all fair in love and war advertising, or is this a bad approach to take. Each to their own. Readers are of course free to share with us any other examples of contentious Direct Mailings they’ve had.

Finally, there was a bit of a debate about whether or not to name the ISP who sent the promotion, not least because doing so might inadvertently give publicity to them and distract from the core message we’re trying to get out about advertising standards. The fact is that several providers are using a similar tactic, so what we might do is collect some more examples from our readers and then name a group of them, rather than just one.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Broadband ISP and mobile operator Vodafone UK has today revealed that they’ll have fully transitioned their car fleet to zero emissions Electric Vehicles (EV / BEVs) by 2026, which is a full year ahead of schedule. This forms part of the group’s commitment to achieving Net Zero across its operations by 2030 (i.e. removing as many emissions as they produce).

The vehicle leasing company, Arval UK, has been helping Vodafone to introduce battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) to their fleet since 2019. In 2020, just 16% of the company’s car fleet were BEVs, with PHEVs (plug-in hybrids) comprising 29%. Petrol and diesel cars were then removed from choice lists altogether in 2021, with PHEVs following in 2023.

So far, Vodafone UK has deployed around 300 EVs and the rollout will now complete in 2026, instead of the original target for 2027.

Craig Login, Property Contract Manager at Vodafone UK, said:

“We have been pursuing a determined electrification strategy for our car fleet, driven by both our overall corporate environmental objectives and demands from drivers for zero emissions options.

With the help of Arval UK, we adopted a very structured approach to electrification, looking at everything from detailed whole-life cost modelling through to regularly meeting with manufacturers to ensure the latest electric cars meeting our needs were available.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The current owners of internet provider Yayzi Broadband appear to be in the process of establishing a new provider called nufibre, which is due to launch in about a month and will be offering FTTP broadband packages via a selection of network operators (e.g. Openreach, Netomnia, Trooli, Freedom Fibre, MS3 and CityFibre).

The future situation around Yayzi has recently been open to a fair bit of speculation, which started earlier this year after a change in leadership and problems with their availability checker. For example, it’s not been possible for new customers in CityFibre areas to order a package for some time, and the checker’s results for other networks can also be a bit.. varied.

In addition, several of ISPreview’s readers recently spotted that Yayzi’s CEO, Martin Gardner, had also helped to setup another ISP called nufibre in May 2025 (company details), albeit this time registered in London rather than Blackpool (Lancashire), where Yayzi is registered.

According to Martin, nufibre has been setup as a completely separate entity with new partners to focus on selling layer 3 products (official announcement due soon), although there’s no escaping the fact that its website is currently promoting headline broadband packages and prices that appear almost identical to those of Yayzi. But Martin states that nufibre’s website is still a work in-progress and there are “lots of changes” due to be made to its packages (e.g. new routers), coverage etc. (i.e. agreements / commercials are still being finalised).

However, all of this has raised a few questions over the fate of Yayzi, although Martin states that they’re in the process of developing their own Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to help move beyond the existing system’s flaws. We’re told this means that Yayzi should be able to start accommodating new customers again sometime in the very near future, most likely this month (i.e. the original plan was to get it working again by the end of June, but it is taking a little longer).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Internet retail giant Amazon has confirmed that its modestly popular ad-supported Freevee service, which has been running for around 5 years and is described on app stores (Android/iOS) as being a “premium free streaming service“, is set to be completely shut down in August 2025.

Doubts began to be cast over the future of the service earlier last year, after Amazon somewhat controversially introduced an ad-supported tier for their paid ‘Prime’ video streaming service, which appeared to conflict with the focus of Freevee. The plan to close it was then confirmed in November 2024, albeit without a solid date being given.

Since then, a growing amount of Freevee’s content has been gradually returned to Prime (a lot of it first premiered on Prime before later being moved to Freevee) and that process will complete once the old service is finally discontinued next month.

People who use the Freevee app are now being presented with the following statement: “Prime Video is the new exclusive home for Freevee TV shows, movies and live TV. The Freevee app will be accessible until August 2025. Continue watching your favorite free originals and our library of hit movies, shows, and live TV on Prime Video for free, no subscription needed.”