News

A new alternative broadband network provider and ISP called Shire Fibre has today surfaced with a tentative plan to build their new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across poorly served parts of Shropshire (England), starting with the small market town of Craven Arms (population of 2,300) and surrounding areas. In order to do this, they’re first seeking Code Powers from Ofcom, which are typically sought to help speed-up deployments of new fibre networks and cut costs, not least by reducing...

Telecoms giant BT has today “urged” providers of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) to “move off” the “outdated copper network” as it is becoming “increasingly unstable“. BT claims its own data shows that 60% of CNI customers in the UK currently have no plan in place to start migrating off the legacy analogue network. Just for some context. Sites or networks designated as CNI are those facilities, systems, sites, information, people, networks and processes, necessary for a country to...

News  A court ruling has upheld a previous decision ordering the Italian government to pay TIM €1 billion in relation to an illegal licence fee collected in 1998  An Italian appeals court has rejected the Italian government’s request to suspend a €1 billion payment that it owes Telecom Italia (TIM) after a long license fee dispute, the Italian incumbent has announced.  The Italian telecoms sector was liberalised in 1997 and, the next year, TIM was forced to pay a license fee of around €500...

News  The news brings Google’s total investment in the AI specialist to $3 billion and builds on their existing 10% ownership share  Google has ramped up its financial support for OpenAI rival Anthropic, investing a further $1 billion in the company looking to take on ChatGPT.  Anthropic, the developer behind the AI chatbot Claude, says it will leverage this new funding to accelerate the development of its latest Claude model and additional AI tools and solutions..   Among its plans are the...

Press Release Economic research shows Openreach’s digital upgrade could generate £4bn for Scottish economy and help reverse depopulation Half of Scottish homes and businesses can now get connected to ultrafast, reliable broadband –thanks to Openreach investment in the nation’s new digital network. The company has spent more than £435 million1 on full fibre links for Scotland so far, with 1.45 million properties now able to upgrade and take-up at 38 per cent, ahead of the UK average. Around 30...

Some customers of mobile operator Three UK are this afternoon being impacted by a partial network outage, which is preventing them from making outgoing calls (this often returns a “call failed” message). But 999 (emergency) calls and data (mobile broadband) connectivity, including related IP based calls (e.g. WhatsApp), continue to function. A spokesperson for Three UK said on social media: “We’re aware of an issue affecting a small percentage of voice services, our team are working hard to...

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today confirmed our report from last month (here) and revealed that they will withdraw, from new sale (provision), the once popular 40Mbps (2Mbps) upload tier for their Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) based broadband ISP lines – effective from 24th April 2025. As we said last month, Openreach does occasionally withdraw legacy tiers, usually due to a lack of demand by Communication Providers (inc. end-customers) or just to help simplify their...

News A new chairman has taken the helm at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and learn about Trump’s new nominee to fill the vacancy left by former FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. Plus, see how data centers are driving demand and controversy in recent headlines. Trump designates Brendan Carr as FCC chairman Brendan Carr has been designated as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) following an order signed by President Donald Trump yesterday. Trump nominates...

A number of network operators, such as Openreach (BT), have put out notifications to warn partners and customers about the expected impact of Storm Éowyn tomorrow morning. The named storm is expected to be particularly vicious when it strikes Ireland, which is why it’s generating some headlines online, although its impact upon the UK will still be nasty. The storm itself is the result of explosive cyclogenesis (aka – a weather bomb), which reflects a low-pressure system whose central pressure...

News The partnership includes SIM management, IoT, and analytics solutions to help improve the customer experience and efficiency of electric taxi rides This week, Indonesian mobile operator Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison has announced a new partnership with Vietnamese electric taxi company Xanh SM. The partnership will see Indosat Business support Xanh SM’s operations in Indonesia by providing a range of IT, IoT, and analytics technology, aimed at boosting operational efficiency. The deal will...