Back in June, Patrick Drahi, the billionaire owner of Altice Group, announced that he had formed Altice UK, with the new company taking a 12.1% stake in BT for £2 billion.
At the time, this move caused a wave of uncertainty for BT’s leadership, who feared that Drahi would launch a takeover bid for the company, something that Drahi himself denied interest in…
Rural Broadband ISP Truespeed Start Glastonbury FTTP Rollout
Rural UK ISP Truespeed, which is fuelled by £75m from Aviva Investors and are building their own 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across Somerset, has today announced that they’re deploying across the festival town of Glastonbury. The neighbouring areas of Shepton Mallet and Street will also benefit. The provider, which has already extended their […]
Parliamentary Committee Sets Out Plan for UK Internet Regulation
The Joint Committee on the controversial Draft Online Safety Bill (OSB), which was setup to help establish the regulatory framework to help Ofcom tackle “harmful” content online (e.g. hate speech, bullying, terrorism, conspiracy theories etc.), has today published its report. But the tougher rules and tighter offences may not all be workable. Much of the […]
Deutsche Glasfaser secures €5.75 billion in new financing
German fibre operator, Deutsche Glasfaser, has announced this week that it has received fresh investment to the tune of €5.75 billion from a consortium of banks and pension funds.
The deal comprises a €3 billion loan, a capex facility of €2.5 billion, and a revolving credit facility worth €250 million. As part of the agreement, Glasfaser can later expand the line of credit by a further &euro…
EE Comes Top Again of Umlauts 2021 UK Mobile Network Test
Mobile operator EE (BT) has once again come top in umlaut‘s latest annual 2021 UK Mobile Network Test, which used a range of different benchmarks to test 4G (voice and data / broadband) and 5G service performance across 19 cities, 46 towns and along 10,000km of major roads. But Vodafone weren’t far behind. Both of […]
BT Takeover Fears Mount as Altice UK Boost Stake to 18 Percent
Broadband giant BT, which has recently been busy boosting their defences against a possible takeover attempt by Patrick Drahi’s Altice UK, has today reported that the investor has raised their 12.1% stake in the operator (worth c.£2bn) to a total of 18%. The end of last week has fast become an important date in BT’s […]
Audit Office Casts Doubt Over Value of N.Ireland Broadband Contract
The Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) has today raised concerns over the number of properties that will be covered by the £165m state aid supported Project Stratum rollout in Northern Ireland, which highlights that some premises may have been “commercially viable” for FTTP broadband delivery without subsidy. Under the contract, which was awarded last year, […]
Quickline Appoint New COO and CTO Ahead of UK Fibre Rollout
UK ISP Quickline, which aims to invest £500m on a major rollout of “ultrafast and gigabit-capable broadband” across rural parts of North England and beyond, has today announced that two industry veterans – Lee Allison and Ian Smith – will be appointed as their new Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The […]
Ofcom’s new spectrum licence fees draw the ire of MNOs
The story of 2,100 MHz spectrum in the UK dates back to 2000, when the spectrum was originally auctioned by Ofcom to help operators roll out 3G services. The auction raised an enormous £22.5 billion, with terms for the licences initially set to last for 20 years.
However, just one year later, the government directed Ofcom to alter these licences…
Airspan, Padtec and Trópico partner for 5G Open RAN Public and Private Networks
Airspan Networks Inc., a subsidiary of Airspan Networks Holdings Inc. (NYSE American: MIMO), Padtec S/A, a subsidiary of Padtec Holding (B3: PDTC3), and Trópico have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to offer 5G network solutions. The agreement is part of Padtec’s and Trópico’s strategy which focuses on entering the 5G market…