Eutelsat, Mediatek, and Airbus successfully trial 5G NTN over LEO satellites
News The trial is a step towards integrating satellite and terrestrial networks, making satellite broadband more accessible for 5G devices worldwide Eutelsat Group, MediaTek, and Airbus Defence and Space have completed the first successful 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) trial using the Eutelsat OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite system. The test used Eutelsat OneWeb satellites, MediaTek’s NTN test chipset, and a test gNB from ITRI, following 3GPP Release 17 standards. Sharp and Rhode...
EU approves €227 million for Austrian semiconductor plant
News The project is part of the EU’s plan to strengthen Europe’s semiconductor industry and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers The European Commission has approved €227 million in funding to help Austrian semiconductor manufacturer ams Osram build a manufacturing plant in Premstätten, Austria. The new facility will produce wafers used in various industries, including automotive, consumer electronics, and healthcare. It will integrate advanced technologies to improve chip performance and...
Quickline See Project Gigabit Broadband Progress in Lincolnshire and the East Yorkshire
UK ISP Quickline has today given a progress update on their £118.9m state aid backed contracts under the Government’s Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme for Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire (Lot 23), which will see their 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) network being expanded to cover 72,000 premises in hard to reach rural areas. The contract, which was officially announced back in late July 2024 (here), has already seen Quickline deliver gigabit-capable broadband speeds to...
KCOM and Nokia to Deploy 10Gbps Capable FTTP Broadband by Late 2025
Hull-based broadband ISP KCOM, which has spent the past few years deploying a new full fibre (FTTP) network across 305,000 premises in parts of East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (England), has today revealed that they’re working with Nokia to deploy their 10Gbps XGS-PON technology across the network and 25G PON in the future. At present, much of KCOM’s existing full fibre network is still using older GPON technology, which places constraints on how much capacity can actually be delivered to each...
NET CHECK Study Names Vodafone UK as London’s Best Mobile Network
Mobile operator Vodafone UK has come top in a new network benchmarking study of 4G and 5G (broadband and calls) performance across London, which was conducted by the Berlin-based NET CHECK organisation and saw them score the highest number of ranking points (932.83 out of a possible 1,000 points). The study, which involved a mix of driving tests that were performed by NET CHECK’s team between 30th of October and 7th of November 2024, was carried out across all 32 London boroughs and the City...
BDUK Close Gigabit Broadband Vouchers for Newcastle and North Tyneside
The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has made a change this week that closes their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) for Newcastle and North Tyneside (Tyne and Wear), which means that local homes and businesses in poorly served rural areas can no longer apply for big grants to help get a much faster broadband ISP network installed. Just to recap. The GBVS usually offers grants worth up to £4,500 to help rural premises get a gigabit-capable broadband (1Gbps) ISP service...
Vodafone UK Trial Simultaneous Use of Multiple 5G Standalone Network Slices
Mobile operator Vodafone has announced that they’ve completed a new trial that showcased their ability to deliver multiple 5G Standalone (SA) network slices simultaneously for different use cases. This included one that delivered a seamless live video stream and another that was required to ensure guaranteed upload speeds for a photography agency at the same site. At present, most existing 5G networks in the UK are Non-Standalone (NSA) based, which means they’re still partly reliant on older...
Hiya Finds 32 Percent of Unknown UK Calls are SPAM in Q4 2024
The Q4 2024 Global Call Threat Report from Hiya, which works with broadband ISPs and mobile operators (BT, EE, O2, Virgin Media etc.) to help tackle SPAM and fraud calls, has revealed that UK residents received 4 spam calls per person each month (unchanged from Q3) and the percentage of unknown calls that are spam hit 32% (up from 28%). Overall, the latest report found that 3% of all UK calls were classified as “fraud calls” (unchanged), while 29% were “nuisance calls” (up from 25%) and the...
London Ranks Bottom in MedUX Test of UK and EU 5G Mobile Performance
Network testing and benchmarking firm MedUX has today previewed a new study, which examined the performance and quality of 5G (mobile broadband) networks from EE, O2, Vodafone and Three UK across London. Sadly the results, which also tested 14 other major European cities, put the UK’s capital at the very bottom of the table. The measurement campaign is said to have consisted of drive tests that were conducted during Q2 and Q4 2024 in 15 major cities across Europe, covering more than 5,500km...
Wireless Broadband Provider Dyfed Telecom Hit by Winding Up Petition
Kidwelly-based wireless broadband provider and supplier Dyfed Telecom Limited, which over the past few years has helped to connect various premises in rural Wales to broadband using a mix of mobile (EE powered 4G/5G), satellite (Starlink) and WiFi based solutions, has suffered a blow after HMRC filed a winding-up petition against the business. For those who may be unfamiliar with this process, a Winding Up Petition (WUP) is a legal action that is usually taken by a creditor or creditors, which...