Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Clevedon-based broadband ISP Glide Group has today announced a new multi-year contract extension with the University of Exeter in Devon (England), which will deliver a “major upgrade” to their wired and wireless internet connectivity – focused upon the educational establishment’s student accommodation estate.

The announcement, which follows after last year’s funding boost from banking giant NatWest (here), will see Glide provide fully managed connectivity services to 5,346 student bedrooms and shared spaces – both indoors and outdoors (“high-performance Wi-Fi and wired connectivity“), making it one of the provider’s largest single university accommodation deployments to date.

The deployment will introduce Glide’s latest managed connectivity architecture, Glide Home, which will give students a “secure, private network that follows them across their accommodation, allowing all their devices to connect easily, reliably and securely wherever they live and study“.

In addition, Glide plan to upgrade their dedicated fibre connectivity to the University, increasing core capacity to 100Gbit/s to help keep up with modern data demands. The solution will also incorporate various network protection and wellbeing services, including “content filtering and crisis intervention capabilities“, supporting the University’s safeguarding and duty of care commitments.

Tim Pilcher, CEO at Glide, said:

“The University of Exeter is a highly respected Russell Group institution, and we’re proud to deliver this major connectivity upgrade. This contract reflects the strength of our long-standing partnership and our ability to design and operate networks that scale, perform and evolve alongside student expectations.”

Delivery of the upgraded network will begin in early 2026, with phased implementation designed to minimise disruption during the academic year.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative rural internet provider Voneus, which has deployed a mix of full fibre (FTTP) and wireless (FWA) broadband networks over some of Wales and England’s remote communities, has announced that they will make Netgem TV‘s new IPTV set-top-box and streaming service – PLEIO – available via new TV service bundles. The new kit features support for Freely‘s live UK V streaming service.

Netgem TV has already announced that a number of altnet providers would be carrying PLEIO (here), although admittedly Voneus wasn’t on their initial list. Sadly, today’s announcement doesn’t reveal anything about how Voneus intends to price the service on their TV bundles, and we struggled to find many details on their website (it’s unclear whether this is already live or planned for the future).

Alternatively, anybody can buy PLEIO at retail via Amazon, (includes a 12-month subscription to their optional premium channels and cloud gaming service), although the price for this was recently increased from £99 to £119.88 (possibly a reflection of the high demand for their new kit).

Ilan Scorah, Chief Commercial Officer at Voneus, said:

“Partnering with Netgem enhances the value of our broadband services by offering customers a flexible, easy-to-use entertainment solution that reflects how people watch and play today. PLEIO supports our mission to deliver fast, reliable connectivity and high-quality digital experiences to the communities we serve, with simple access to live TV via Freely and expanded family entertainment through cloud gaming.”

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The completed deployment would take the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit to almost 20,000

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the launch and operation of 7,500 next-generation (Gen2) Starlink satellites by SpaceX.

The decision doubles the number of Gen2 satellites previously approved, bringing the total to 15,000.

SpaceX currently has around 9,400 satellites in orbit, roughly 6,200 of which are Gen2. These new satellites, equipped with upgraded communications technology, should deliver greater coverage and service quality for customers.

“This FCC authorization is a game-changer for enabling next-generation services,” said FCC chairman Brendan Carr. “By authorizing 15,000 new and advanced satellites, the FCC has given SpaceX the green light to deliver unprecedented satellite broadband capabilities, strengthen competition, and help ensure that no community is left behind.”

The approval, published Friday 9, was in fact only partial, with SpaceX having initially applied to deploy 22,000 Gen2 satellites in total.

“We defer authorization of the remaining 14,988 proposed Gen2 Starlink satellites, including satellites proposed for operations above 600 km,” explained Carr in the FCC’s ruling.

In addition to approving new satellite launches, the FCC also agreed to allow most of the new satellites to operate in slightly lower obits than their predecessors, between 340km and 485km above the planet’s surface. This, SpaceX claims, should allow for improved coverage and lower latency compared to existing Starlink devices, which orbit at around 500km.

Perhaps more importantly, it will also reduce orbital congestion. The 500–600km range is one of the busier regions of orbital space, occupied by a multitude of active satellites (with many more planned) and debris from previous projects. Orbital collisions at this height could theoretically cause a chain reaction, leaving a wasteland of debris that takes years fall back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.

The possibility of this so-called ‘Kessler Syndrome’ was thrown into sharp relief late last year, when one of Starlink’s satellites suffered a ‘kinetic accident’, seemingly caused by an internal error, which caused its partial breakup and pushed it 4km out of its planned orbit. Starlink says this defunct satellite will harmlessly burn up in the atmosphere by the end of the month.

To mitigate further riks, Starlink says it will also reduce the orbits of around half of its existing devices (around 4,400 satellites), in additon to the newly launched satellites. This will both to lower the possibility of collisions and to reduce the time orbital debris takes to clear from years to weeks.

SpaceX has also received approval to operate its devices in the Ku-, Ka-, V-, E-, and W-band frequencies, supporting both Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) and Mobile Satellite Service (MSS), and an Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) waiver, which allows signals to be delivered at higher intensity. Combined, this should allow Starlink to deliver gigabit-speed services more consistently. These measures will also serve as a key enabler for Starlink’s next wave of direct-to-device (D2D) capabilities, including voice and data services.

As part of the approval process, SpaceX has pledged to launch and make operational 50% of the total Gen2 satellites by December 1, 2028, with the remainder launched by December 2031.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news with the Total Telecom newsletter

Also in the news
World Communication Award Winners 2025
Ofcom clears the way for satellite-to-smartphone services
LG Uplus’s AI voice call app glitch leaks user data

The post Starlink gets FCC clearance for 7,500 Gen2 satellites appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A whitepaper from the Digital Connectivity Forum (DCF), an industry think-tank, has attempted to highlight how AI (Artificial Intelligence) technologies can help the UK telecoms (broadband, mobile etc.) industry reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience, and meet increasingly demanding regulatory and investor expectations.

The somewhat basic high level overview – ‘AI for Sustainability: Accelerating Net Zero in the UK Telecoms Sector‘ (PDF) – seems unlikely to hold too many surprises for network operators, many of which have already begun adopting so-called AI technologies to help cut energy consumption (e.g. all the major UK mobile operators are doing things in this area – examples here, here and here), get more out of their infrastructure and improve data processing to aid customer support.

The new report identifies six domains that could benefit from AI, including energy optimisation, customer carbon reporting, upskilling for sustainability literacy, Scope 3 & Supply Chain improvements, sustainability focused decision-making and climate resilience & adaptation. But it also makes several recommendations to help deliver AI results.

Recommendations

• Governance for Sustainable AI: Establishing cross functional oversight and ethical standards.
• Developing the right data and technology foundations: Building scalable, trustworthy, and efficient data platforms.
• Embedding ‘sustainable by design’ within AI development: Embedding ESG principles into AI design and prioritising energy-efficient models.
• Assessing AI’s environmental impact: Using tools and methodologies to assess and report AI’s footprint.
• Mitigating AI’s environmental impact: Optimising models, hardware, and infrastructure to reduce energy and carbon intensity.
• Educating employees on Sustainable AI: Upskilling teams across roles and lifecycle stages to embed sustainability into AI.

Alex Mather, Head of the DCF, said: “AI has a critical role to play in helping the telecoms sector deliver Net Zero, improve resilience and unlock long-term value. This paper makes clear that success depends on a dual approach – using AI to drive sustainability outcomes while ensuring AI itself is deployed responsibly and sustainably. We hope this report provides a practical roadmap for industry leaders and policymakers alike.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Carlisle-based broadband internet provider Grain, which last year secured a £225m funding boost (here) and has so far built their point-to-point full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 270,000 UK premises (aiming to reach 600,000 in the future), has revealed that they’ve begun to deploy their network across the Warwickshire (England) town of Nuneaton; home to around 88,000 people.

The town itself is already well covered by gigabit-capable broadband from both Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre) and Openreach’s respective full fibre networks. A number of alternative networks have also conducted small deployments in parts of the town, including OFNL (FibreNest), Glide and Hyperoptic. Suffice to say that there may be just enough space in the market for a serious push by another altnet.

As usual, Grain hasn’t revealed precisely how many premises they intend to cover in the town or when the build will complete, although they do confirm that the roll-out began last month and the first connections are due to go live during Spring 2026.

Recent data from local street works indicates that Grain will be focusing their initial roll-out around the suburb of Stockingford. However, we also noted that another altnet, LightSpeed Broadband, appears to be starting a similarly modest deployment in the north and eastern sides of the town.

Richard Cameron, Grain’s CEO, said: “We’re excited to offer Nuneaton residents an internet service that can keep up with their digital lives.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A couple of homes in a remote rural area near the village of Llanelidan in Denbighshire (Wales) have been left without access to broadband and internet-connected TV services for six long weeks. The situation began after some nearby overhead lines (poles) were damaged in an unspecified event on 6th December 2025.

One of the residents, Howard (78), has heart issues and remains concerned that he might be unable to contact the emergency services in the event of a heart attack. The local area does receive a 4G mobile signal, although it’s described as being of a poor quality.

However, most of the complaints have been reserved for Openreach, which Howard’s neighbour, Christine Conway, said had failed to provide much information and “just keep saying ‘oh, it’ll be next week’ … It would be helpful if they could keep in touch with us, and say exactly what they’re planning on doing – and when.”

In fairness, Openreach are the underlying network provider, but it’s actually the retail broadband ISP that holds responsibility for keeping customers informed. Sadly, the article on the BBC News makes no mention of which ISPs are involved. The catch is that ISPs sometimes also complain that Openreach doesn’t always provide them with enough information, either.

A spokesperson for Openreach said:

“Part of our overhead network is damaged. However, because of the pole’s location, it requires some extra work. This was delayed while we got permission from the landowner to carry this out. We understand how disruptive it is not having access to broadband, and we’re doing all we can to get people reconnected as soon as possible.”

Openreach has previously informed ISPreview that it can take around 20 days to fix damaged poles, such as after a major storm (it’s unclear if this incident was caused by a storm). But over the years we’ve seen examples where, in rare cases of extreme damage, rural areas have been left to wait for several months before repairs (here, here and here). In urban areas, such issues are more likely to be resolved within hours, rather than days, weeks or even months.

Such long waits can stem from a variety of issues, such as with the need to seek prior permission for tedious traffic management, land access (as above), safety considerations, police investigations, the possible involvement of a power supply company and limited local resources etc. But provided the local homeowners are with a retail ISP that supports Ofcom’s Automatic Compensation scheme, then they could now be in line for a significant payout (full summary); although ISPs sometimes need to be nudged about this.

In the meantime, Openreach said they intend to carry out the repairs tomorrow (14th Jan 2026).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile infrastructure company Cornerstone (CTIL), which was originally established as part of a UK network sharing agreement between O2 (Virgin Media) and Vodafone (Vantage Towers), has awarded construction company United Infrastructure the contract to maintain their national network of 16,000 telecoms (mast) sites.

The agreement means that United Infrastructure, specifically its ‘Connected’ business, will become the “sole provider” of planned preventative maintenance and reactive repairs across CTIL’s telecoms sites nationwide, including Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

As part of the framework, United Infrastructure said they will also work closely with Cornerstone to deliver “greater operational efficiency, enhancing visibility, streamlining reporting and refining milestone tracking” across the network, while not sacrificing any existing standards for health, safety and secure site access across. The company will further aim to create new apprenticeship roles across both field and office-based functions.

Andy Train, Chief Network Officer at Cornerstone, said:

“Safety, resilience, quality and assurance were central to our decision-making. United Infrastructure demonstrated clear alignment with our safety-first culture and the operational discipline required to maintain the UK’s largest passive infrastructure network, enable 5G rollout and enhance future connectivity ambitions.

This framework cements a foundational part of our strategy to maintain and enhance the UK’s critical national infrastructure and is central to how we protect our people, our customers, our partners, our landlords and the communities our sites serve, every day.”

Scott MacGregor, MD of Connected at United Infrastructure, said:

“We are extremely proud to have been selected by Cornerstone as their sole partner for this UK-wide maintenance programme. This framework reflects the strength of our business and our shared commitment to ensuring the reliability, resilience and future-readiness of the nation’s digital infrastructure.

We look forward to working collaboratively with Cornerstone to enhance their network through smarter reporting, streamlined delivery and a focus on sustainable, long-term asset performance.”

The framework for this is currently set to begin in May 2026.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The move would value the company at around €7 billion

The joint owners of Dutch telco Odido, Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus, are reportedly looking to take the company public, according to reports.

Sources say the move would value the business at around €7 billion, with the initial public offering (IPO) potentially raising €1.1 billion through the share sale.

The launch would come almost a year after the telco’s owners shelved a previous plan for an IPO.

Odido has around 8 million mobile subscribers. It also has around 1 million fixed broadband customers, which it serves via wholesale deals with Open Dutch Fiber, Delta Fiber, Glaspoort, and KPN.

Apax and Warburg were reportedly exploring launching an IPO for Odido in January 2025, having hired Barclays Plc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley to lead the process. However, this plan ultimately fell through due to market chaos related to US president Donald Trump’s tariff implementation.

Now, the global economic environment has somewhat settled, leading Apax and Warburg to reconsider the IPO, which could be initiated as early as this month.

However, anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter speaking to Bloomberg emphasise that no decision has yet been made and the IPO may not proceed.

Odido (then T-Mobile Netherlands) was acquired by investment firms Apax and Warburg for €5.1 billion in 2021. The company was rebranded as Odido in 2023.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news with the Total Telecom newsletter

Also in the news
World Communication Award Winners 2025
Ofcom clears the way for satellite-to-smartphone services
LG Uplus’s AI voice call app glitch leaks user data

Image source: Odido

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network operator Dragon WiFi, which typically delivers a variety of broadband connectivity solutions across rural parts of South Wales and South West England, has informed the local authorities in Cornwall (England) that they’re willing to help set up temporary wireless internet solutions in areas that may remain disconnected following Storm Goretti.

The offer of assistance came after the local Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, Andrew George, reported to the commons that he is aware of some areas that remain without working internet access. In response, Dragon WiFi has contacted the local authority in the hope of being able to identify precisely which areas remain offline and then deploying a temporary connectivity solution accordingly.

The proposed short-term solution is a Starlink (satellite backhaul) fed public WiFi Hotspot, which could be deployed from local cafe’s, pubs, village halls or shops – among other places – to help keep people connected until the main service has been restored.

So, while Dragon WiFi would prefer to work alongside the local authority, if anybody else knows of impacted areas within Cornwall, then they’d like to hear from you. “Storm Goretti has been quite destructive down here, but I think that some of the national news may have missed quite how much damage it’s caused,” said Aaron Coward, Dragon WiFi’s South West Business Lead, to ISPreview.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

European satellite operator Eutelsat has announced that they’ve ordered a further 340 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellites for their global OneWeb network from Airbus Defence and Space. This is on top of the planned 100 satellite extension that was previously procured in Dec 2024 (due to for delivery in late 2026); representing a total network expansion of 440 satellites.

OneWeb, which readers may recall was originally rescued from bankruptcy by the UK government and Bharti Global before later becoming a part of Eutelsat – with concessions (here), currently has 654 small (c.150kg) first generation (GEN1) LEO platforms in space – orbiting at an altitude of 1,200km (c.600 of them for coverage and the rest for redundancy). Plans also exist to “extend the constellation by a further 100 satellites by 2026” (here).

The news that Eutelsat has now awarded the contract for a further 340 OneWeb satellites to Airbus Defence and Space is not a surprise, since Eutelsat indicated that they intended to add further spacecraft to the constellation in July 2025. But at the time the company hadn’t yet finalised the contract or confirmed who would build them (Airbus is a logical choice given their past involvement with OneWeb).

Crucially, the focus above is on “replacing early batches” of OneWeb’s satellites, which after several years are now said to be “coming to [the] end of operational life“. The availability of the new satellites will thus “assure full operational continuity for customers of the constellation” (LEOs are smaller satellites and only designed to function for a few years before being de-orbited).

However, the new satellites will “integrate technology upgrades“, including advanced digital channelizers, enabling enhanced onboard processing capabilities as well as greater efficiency and flexibility. They will also incorporate optimized architecture designed to maximize long-term operational performance. In addition, Eutelsat intend to use the new batch of satellites to evaluate “opportunities for new business cases, notably through embarkation capabilities for hosted payloads“.

Jean-François Fallacher, Eutelsat CEO, said:

“We are pleased to rely on our long-standing partner, Airbus, for the procurement of these latest satellites. They ensure service continuity for the growing number of our customers and distribution partners benefiting from the unparalleled performance of our ubiquitous, low latency LEO capacity, and enable us to pursue our growth path, building on the 80% topline expansion delivered in 2025.”

OneWeb has previously talked about future GEN2 satellites as including more data capacity (faster broadband speeds), 5G mobile support and, possibly, also the introduction of enhanced navigation and positioning features (GNSS). But it’s currently unclear whether the additions mentioned above will deliver on this, or if they’re more of a mild mid-life upgrade to the existing GEN1 capabilities. Similarly, we don’t yet know if they’ll be placed into a different orbital altitude, which could impact their coverage and performance.

However, the mention of “hosted payloads” above is interesting, particularly since this usually reflects third-party instruments or modules that can “piggyback” on the new satellites (i.e. sharing its bus, power, and data systems). This could enable commercial partners to request the addition of specific features ahead of launch, such as 5G or GNSS etc.

Just as a reminder. The UK government last year agreed to commit a further £140m (€163.3) of public investment to help Eutelsat grow and expand this constellation, which gives them a 10.89% share in the business.