Broadband Operators Warned to Brace for Storm Eowyn on Friday
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...
Indosat to kit out Xanh SM’s electric vehicle fleet with monitoring tech
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...
CityFibre Improves Testing of UK Full Fibre Network with EXFO Exchange
Network operator CityFibre has today become the latest broadband infrastructure builder to adopt EXFO‘s Exchange solution, which is a solution that will improve the company’s ability to conduct field-testing of their full fibre network (covering. 4 million premises across the UK) and so also save them time, as well as money. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a number of broadband operators adopting EXFO’s various solutions (e.g. Openreach, Hyperoptic and Gigaclear). In this case, CityFibre...
Anger After CityFibre Builds UK Broadband Cabinet on Private Garden
CityFibre has been criticised by a homeowner in Southend-on-Sea (Essex, England) after the operator accidentally built one of their new full fibre broadband ISP street cabinets, without permission, on a private garden. But then, after attempting to rectify their mistake, “left the garden in ruins – an unsafe and hazardous mess“. Just to recap. The operator, which has already extended their FTTP network to cover 4 million premises across the United Kingdom, officially announced the completion...
Virgin Media O2 and Ontix Expand 4G Mobile Small Cells in Birmingham
Mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) has continued with their effort to boost 4G mobile (mobile broadband) capacity across the UK, which today sees them working with Ontix to expand their roll-out of small cells into new areas of Birmingham – primarily around Soho Road and Handsworth. Small cells are akin to mini shoebox sized mobile (radio) base stations, which have been designed to deliver limited coverage (usually up to around 100 metres) and thus tend to be more focused on busy urban...
FarrPoint Find UK Councils Prioritise Gigabit Broadband, Ignore Data Centres
Consultancy firm FarrPoint has today published their third annual (2025) survey of digital leaders at councils across England, Scotland and Wales. The results reveal that expanding the coverage of gigabit broadband remains the top priority for most local authorities. But on the flip side, only 4% of surveyed councils are developing a dedicated data centre strategy. The report – FarrPoint Digital Connectivity Survey 2025 (PDF) – found that most respondents chose gigabit broadband (1000Mbps+) as...
O2 UK Reveals First Insights from AI Granny Created to Waste Scammers Time
Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) launched a “human-like” AI (Artificial Intelligence) ‘Granny’ called Daisy in November last year (here), which was designed to answer calls in real-time from fraudsters and keep them busy (away from customers) for as long as possible. Since then, the bot has chatted with over 1,000 scam callers, and it’s learnt a few things. Fraudsters will often robotically call masses of mobile and home phone numbers, but they usually only commit any actual human resources...
LONAP Internet Exchange Cuts UK Pricing of Port Fees
The London Access Point (LONAP), which is a not-for-profit Layer 2 Internet Exchange Point (IXP) based in London that was first established in 1997 and works with various different members (broadband ISPs, CDNs, mobile operators etc.), appears to have responded to recent price cuts at LINX (here) by refreshing some of its own fees. In a brief notification to members, LONAP said they were “pleased to announce a reduction in port fees”, which would be effective from 1st April 2025. The...
Nigerian regulator approves pumping up mobile tariffs up by 50%
News The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has not yet confirmed when the changes will take effect The NCC has this week authorised a 50% hike in telecom tariffs, impacting call rates, internet bundles, and SMS costs across all mobile networks in the country. The decision has been taken “in response to prevailing market conditions,” the commission said. “These adjustments will support the ability of operators to continue investing in infrastructure and innovation, ultimately...
OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX partner for $500bn AI ‘Stargate Project’
News The joint venture will reportedly invest $100 billion “immediately” to deploy AI date centre infrastructure This week, OpenAI has announced the ‘Stargate Project’, a new joint venture set to invest $500 billion into AI infrastructure over the next five years. The new joint venture is a partnership between OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX, in which SoftBank will reportedly have financial responsibility, while OpenAI will have operational responsibility. Masayoshi Son, billionaire founder...