Ofcom UK Propose to Cut Mobile Licence Fees for 900MHz and 1800MHz by GBP40m
The UK telecoms regulator has today proposed, following evidence submitted by BT (EE), to reduce the total amount paid by the mobile network operators to use the 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz radio spectrum bands – used to support 2G, 3G and 4G mobile (mobile broadband) services – by around £40m per year. The cost of Annual Licence Fees (ALF) is often a highly divisive subject for the likes of EE, Vodafone, Three UK and O2. Mobile operators often complain that hikes in this area can mean price...
Hyperoptic Fined £50k in London for Unsafe Fibre Broadband Build
Gigabit broadband ISP Hyperoptic, which has built a full fibre broadband (FTTP / B) network to cover “more than” 1.73 million UK homes in parts of 64 towns and cities (mostly MDUs), has been fined £50,000 by the Westminster Magistrates Court in London after they were found to have carried out unsafe street works. The successful prosecution was actually pursued by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which occurred after the Council’s Street Works Compliance Inspector witnessed (Jan...
Streetwave Make Maps of UK Mobile Coverage and Performance Available
Network analyst firm Streetwave, which is currently conducting various UK surveys to study the coverage and speed of 4G and 5G mobile (broadband) networks across the UK using bin lorries and private vehicles, appears to have responded to some of ISPreview’s suggestions by making interactive visual maps of their findings available for free to the public. Over the past year Streetwave have been harnessing waste (bin / refuse) collection lorries to map mobile network / broadband coverage and...
Zen Internet UK Finally Launch 1.6Gbps FTTP Broadband via Openreach
Rochdale-based UK ISP Zen Internet appears to have finally started to make their new Openreach powered 1.6Gbps broadband package available to retail customers, which follows some months after they made the new tier available at wholesale to other partners (here). But there’s still no sign of any 2Gbps packages on the CityFibre side of their network. The new top tier package costs £65 per month (plus a one-off £15 set-up charge) for estimated downloads of 1,600Mbps (115Mbps upload) on an...
Alncom Teach Kids in Northumberland How to Build FTTP Broadband
Rural broadband ISP Alncom has today informed ISPreview that they’ve completed the roll-out of a new FTTP broadband network to the rural villages of Craster and Embleton (inc. surrounding areas) in Northumberland (England), covering 1,057 properties. But as part of that they’ve also been teaching local school children how to build the network. The network project, which has also connected the local village halls with free connections and public WiFi, was part-funded by BDUK’s Gigabit Broadband...
ISP Zen Internet Warn UK Businesses Unprepared for Phone Switch-off
A new survey conducted by broadband ISP Zen Internet claims to have revealed that UK businesses are still “alarmingly unprepared” for the transition to IP-based digital phone (VoIP etc.) services. This is occurring with the phased shutdown of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). Just to recap. The big switch-off was recently delayed to 31st January 2027 in order to give broadband ISPs, phone providers, telecare operators and consumers...
Major Yayzi Network Migration Triggers Super Slow UK Broadband
Internet provider Yayzi Broadband has been causing a spot of bother for quite a few of their customers this week after their plan to roll-out an “incredible network upgrade” resulted in a protracted period of service disruption as users were migrated, which saw broadband speeds plummet to single digits (Mbps), as well as other connectivity problems. The migration, which was announced a month ago (here), had been aiming to “deliver lower latency, improved peering, and a smoother overall...
Scotland Tenders for £40.7m Gigabit Broadband Rollout in Orkney and Shetland
ISPreview has spotted that the Scottish Government (SG) yesterday issued a contract notice for the Orkney & Shetland (Lot 6 – Scotland) deployment under the UK’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out scheme, which is expected to expand full fibre (FTTP) connectivity to an estimated 13,550 premises in hard-to-reach (rural) parts of the remote Northern Isles. Firstly, it’s important to point out that the SG is already working to expand FTTP coverage on the islands as part of their existing...
Virgin Media and Nexfibre Expand FTTP to 5,000 Homes in Whitby
Broadband operator nexfibre, which shares some of their parentage with retail UK ISP partner Virgin Media (O2), has today confirmed that they’ve made their 2Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband network available to more than 5,000 additional homes in Whitby (North Yorkshire, England). The town previously only had a small amount of coverage from Virgin Media’s own gigabit broadband network, although the nexfibre build means they’re now able to reach a sizeable majority of...
CityFibre’s Project Gigabit Broadband Network in Suffolk UK Goes Live
CityFibre has today announced that the first customers have gone live on their new full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network in Suffolk (England), which is being built as part of their £100m state aid supported Project Gigabit contract (Lot 2) – this aims to reach more than 79,500 extra homes and businesses across hard-to-reach rural areas of the county. The operator, which is supported by ISPs like Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen Internet and many more (Sky Broadband to follow in 2025), already covers...