Which? Name ISP Virgin Media as Worst UK Telecoms Provider for 2024
Consumer magazine Which? have today named the winners of their annual Shoddy Awards 2024, which lists the companies that have done poorly through the year. Suffice to say that broadband provider Virgin Media picked up the award for “Worst Telecoms Company” for the second year running, due to “poor customer service and mid-contract price hikes“. In order to be nominated for a “Shoddy“, companies had to fall short on one of the following criteria: failing an industry standard, potentially...
Telstra joins UNESCO’s Business Council to promote ethical AI
Press Release Telstra has joined a select group of global organisations to champion and advance the ethical development and application of AI Telstra is the first Australian organisation, and the sixth globally, to join the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s Business Council to promote the implementation of its Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. The UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence advocates for AI...
Lift-off for AALTO’s Zephyr inches closer with DOA certification
News The approval puts the solar-powered High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) one step closer to commercial launch, currently targeted for 2026 Today, US-based HAPS specialist AALTO has announced that it has received Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from the UK Civil Aviation Authority for its solar-powered HAPS, Zephyr. The approval confirms that “AALTO is an organisation with capabilities to design aircraft to the highest standards”. The announcement notably makes AALTO the first HAPS...
CityFibre Make UK Broadband Engineers Available on Saturdays
Good news. Customers taking a residential or business broadband package from an ISP on CityFibre’s growing national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network will now also be able to benefit from Saturday appointments for service repairs too, which will be handled just like the usual Monday to Friday (workday) slots. A CityFibre spokesperson told ISPreview this morning: “Our engineers are now available for appointments on a Saturday, meaning customers have greater choice and flexibility about when...
New UK govt boosts tech security ties with India
News The UK–India Technology Security Initiative will focus on everything from telecoms equipment to the quantum computing This week, the UK government is deepening it strategic relationship with India, introducing a new initiative aimed enhancing the security of existing and emerging technologies. The UK–India Technology Security Initiative, devised and agreed by the National Security Advisors of both countries, will focus on technical collaboration, fostering bilateral investment, and...
NOW Broadband Tops Ofcom Q1 2024 Table for UK Consumer Complaints
Ofcom has published their latest quarterly (Q1 2024) study of UK consumer complaints, which saw NOW Broadband (NOW TV) being labelled as the worst provider for attracting the most gripes about broadband and landline phone, while Virgin Media did the same for pay TV services and O2 were the worst for Mobile. Take note that the regulator’s report only covers complaints that Ofcom itself has received and not those sent directly to an ISP, the ISPA or an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)...
CityFibre’s Eastbourne FTTP Broadband Build Tops 30,000 Premises
Network operator CityFibre, which has so far extended their 2.5Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 3.6 million UK premises (3.3m RFS), has revealed that their £26m deployment in the coastal East Sussex town of Eastbourne has now reached 30,000 premises. But a firm completion date remains unclear. The deployment in Eastbourne, which began all the way back in late 2020 (here), has had its fair share of contractor woes (example) and changes, although CityFibre...
Quickline Win Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Gigabit Broadband Rollout Contracts
The UK government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme has today awarded two new contracts – worth a combined £190m – to ISP Quickline, which will see them extend their 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) network to almost 108,000 extra premises in hard to reach rural areas across Lincolnshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. The development reflects another significant win for Quickline, which has previously also secured the Project Gigabit deployment contracts for...
BT Group Extend FTTP Broadband Cover to 15 Million UK Premises
Telecoms giant BT Group have today posted a brief trading update to the end of June 2024, which reveals that Openreach added another 1 million premises (unchanged on the previous quarter) to the coverage of their full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network – delivering total coverage to 15 million. Take-up also held at a steady 34%. Take note that, since 2023, the BT Group now only publishes a short trading update in calendar Q1 and Q3 (roughly in line with most FTSE 100 companies), thus we only...
Vodafone Tops 1.43 Million UK Broadband and 18.57M Mobile Customers
Mobile network operator and UK ISP Vodafone has today published their Q1 FY25 financial results, which reveals that their fixed broadband base grew again to total 1.427 million customers (up by 44k in Q1 vs 52k in the Q4 FY24) and their mobile base fell a bit to total 18.567 million (down by -71k in Q1 vs +66k in Q4 FY24). In terms of their UK fixed broadband services, the operator has continued to report strong growth, with a quarterly addition of 44,000 customers – thanks in part to being...