Openreach Brings FTTP Broadband Cover to 50 Percent of UK Premises
The latest independent data from Thinkbroadband has revealed that the footprint of Openreach’s (BT) national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which currently offers broadband speeds of up to 1.8Gbps to ISPs and their customers, has just passed the 50% of UK premises (16,328,469 ready for service) milestone. Openreach are currently investing up to £15bn to expand the coverage of their new full fibre network to reach 25 million UK premises by December 2026 (here), which includes around 6.2...
CityFibre Begin Project Gigabit Broadband Build in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes
Network operator CityFibre has today announced that they’ve begun the roll-out phase of their £51m state-aid supported Project Gigabit contract for the Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire & Milton Keynes (Lot 12) area. This will extend their 10Gbps capable FTTP broadband network to an additional 25,000 hard-to-reach rural premises in those regions. The LOT 12 contract for Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes was officially awarded to CityFibre by the Government’s Building Digital UK...
Talking the language of sustainability
Interview Ahead of the recent World Communication Awards, we spoke with Sandra Klackenborn, Head of Sustainability at Arelion, to discuss the growing energy challenge and how the industry must do more to tackle the issue collaboratively The growing energy challenge With networks spanning hundreds or even thousands of miles, it is no surprise that energy consumption has always been a key concern for telcos when it comes to sustainability. Operating these massive networks not only generates a...
Congress boosts funding for drive to replace Chinese equipment
News The U.S. House of Representatives has approved additional funding for a federal initiative to replace Chinese-made communications equipment By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities A budgetary shortfall for the federal government’s “rip and replace” initiative, aimed at replacing Chinese communications equipment, is one step closer to being wiped out. The drive to replace Chinese telecom equipment in the United States was first authorized by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks...
Reflections on the World Communication Awards
Reflections by Marc Anné, Chair of Judges at the World Communication Awards LastWednesday evening, all the shortlisted nominees as well as the Judges enjoyed the 26th anniversary of the World Communication Awards (WCA). This year, the Oscar grade gala event took place in The Marriott, Grosvenor Square, London. On behalf of the Judging Panel, I hereby congratulate all the winners and finalists of this year, as well as a big thank you to all the WCA award entrants for their participation and...
Broadband ISP Andrews and Arnold Trial UK 2.5Gbps Speeds via CityFibre
Internet provider Andrews & Arnold (AAISP) this month became the latest ISP to introduce symmetric broadband speeds capable of harnessing the top 2.5Gbps (2500Mbps) tier on CityFibre’s growing Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which is currently available to around 4 million premises across the UK. But for now it’s only a trial with limited availability. The ISP is currently somewhat limited by CityFibre’s own availability of their new XGS-PON based full fibre network (progress...
Ofcom Publish New Online UK Internet Safety Codes of Practice
Ofcom has today published the “first edition” of its new online UK safety codes of practice for “tech firms” (e.g. social media) and smaller websites under the government’s Online Safety Act (OSA). Providers now have 3 months to ensure they’re able to tackle “illegal harms” (content), such as terror, hate, fraud, child sexual abuse and assisting or encouraging suicide. On the surface, it all sounds sensible and well-intentioned. After all, it’s widely understood, and few could disagree, that...
Business ISP bOnline Launch New FTTP Broadband, VOIP and Unlimited Calls Plan
Business focused UK broadband ISP bOnline today claims to have launched a new “industry beating” full fibre broadband (FTTP), Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and unlimited calls package for small businesses that costs from just £29.95 ex. VAT a month (this is said to represent a 33% drop over its equivalent previous monthly pricing). The press release states that, after 6 months, the monthly charge will increase by £7 to £36.95 a month, although bOnline state that this still represents a 17.8% drop over...
Ofcom UK Set Timetable for 5G Mobile Auction of 26GHz and 40GHz
The UK telecoms regulator has today set out their expected timetable for the long-in-gestation plan to auction off a large chunk of millimetre wave (mmW) radio spectrum frequency in the 26GHz and 40GHz bands, which will be used by mobile operators to deliver faster 5G (mobile broadband) services. But you’ll have to wait until October 2025. At present EE (BT), O2 (Virgin Media), Vodafone and Three UK already have access to several 5G bands between 700MHz and 3.8GHz. Such frequencies reflect the...
Building Digital UK Reveals Gov’s Gigabit Broadband Build Progress
The Government’s Building Digital UK agency has published its annual performance report (accounts here), which provides breakdowns of how many premises in the United Kingdom have received gigabit-capable broadband coverage as a result of their public subsidy (i.e. funding provided under the prior “Superfast Broadband” programme and the current £5bn Project Gigabit scheme). The data itself doesn’t carry any particular surprises, but it does provide some additional context that we don’t normally...