First Hints of New UK Gov Measures to Tackle Broadband Pole Complaints
The UK Government will shortly attempt to deliver on their pledge to “end the deployment of unnecessary telegraph poles” (here) by publishing an updated Code of Practice for broadband operators to follow, which will set out new guidance on the divisive issue. We now have a good idea of what that new code will include. Just to recap. The deployment of poles (usually made of wood or metal) to run overhead fibre is a common practice (over 4 million have already been built). This is because...
Confusion on the Falkland Islands Over Status of Starlink’s Broadband
Good news, SpaceX’s global Starlink broadband network is currently listed as finally coming to the poorly served Falkland Islands, which is a British Overseas Territory, sometime in 2025. Bad news, the service is already being used by hundreds of local customers and the company has just started to cut them off. At present there are about 3,700 people living and working on the largely self-governing and self-sufficient Falkland Islands, where all of the fixed line (phone, broadband) services...
TalkTalk Become First Major UK Broadband ISP to Harness Kraken Platform
Internet service provider TalkTalk has today become the first major UK ISP to sign a deal that will see them adopting the cloud-based Kraken platform (part of Octopus Energy Group). The move is said to be part of the provider’s “ambition to become the most recommended Wi-Fi provider in the UK” (they obviously really mean broadband provider). Kraken is a kind of overall management platform, which uses machine learning and the cloud to help utilities firms both run their business and interact...
Iliad once again eying Italian consolidation with TIM
News The French telecoms group has informed the Italian government that it is once again exploring a potential tie-up, according to reports Iliad Italia is once again looking for potential tie-ups with Italy’s incumbent operator TIM, according to reports by local Italian news agencies Corriere della Sera and La Stampa. The reports say that Iliad has this week informed the Italian government of its intentions to pursue dealmaking with TIM. The Italian government has likely been informed due to...
UK invests £16m for satellite communications advancements
News The UK Space Agency has pledged up to £160 million to drive innovation in the satellite mega-constellation market The investment, which is part of the UK Space Agency’s Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme, will support technological advancements over the next four years to bolster the UK’s position in the global space industry. As part of this broader commitment, £16 million has already been allocated to two key projects aimed at advancing satellite communications. This...
Eutelsat connects one million Sub-Saharan Africans to satellite
News The company’s Konnect Wi-Fi hotspot solution is playing a major role in shrinking the digital divide in Africa Eutelsat has announced that it has successfully delivered on its Partner2Connect Digital Coalition commitment to provide one million people in Sub-Saharan Africa with affordable, high-speed internet via satellite, two years ahead of schedule. The Partner2Connect Digital Coalition aims to accelerate global digital inclusion, particularly in regions where traditional broadband...
Netflix Hikes Prices for UK Customers of its Video Streaming Service
As expected, Netflix, the popular broadband-based Movie and TV video streaming service, this week updated their website to hike the monthly prices across all three of their plans for customers again. New customers will see the change immediately, while the timing for existing customers will depend upon your billing date (it usually follows 30 days’ after notification). In short, ‘Standard with Ads‘ will go from £4.99 to £5.99 per month, while ‘Standard‘ jumps from £10.99 to £12.999 and...
AT&T’s latest caller ID tech displays the reason for business calls
News The service will allow businesses to display short messages to customers to explain the nature of their call. Back in 2024, AT&T struck a partnership with TransUnion to launch the latter’s Branded Call Display service. This service allows opted-in businesses to have their brand name and logo displayed on customer handsets when receiving calls, thereby helping customers to identify scam callers posing as legitimate businesses. Now, the service is going one step further, with the latest...
New Map Shows Project Gigabit Broadband Status in England and Wales
A new interactive map has today been published by Thinkbroadband that rather handily provides a visual overview of the government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out across England and Wales, which drills down to premises level by factoring in a total of 30 million Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRN). As part of this programme, the Government’s executive Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency conducts regular Open Market Reviews (OMR), which is used to identify areas that can already...
Broadband ISP Gigabit IQ Joins F&W Network’s UK Full Fibre Service
Internet access and online security provider Gigabit IQ has today announced that they’ve become the latest ISP to join F&W Networks‘ (Fibre and Wireless) new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, which mostly covers parts of the South East of England. F&WN has so far managed to extend their full fibre broadband infrastructure to cover 410,000 UK premises (RFS) across various towns in London, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and...