Nokia and Microsoft expand data centre partnership
News The partnership will expand Nokia’s reach to over 30 countries and strengthen its role in Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure Nokia has extended its agreement with Microsoft for another five years to supply routers and switches for Azure data centres. The collaboration builds on Nokia’s work with open-source SONiC software, including advancements for high-capacity data centre networks, said the companies in a press release. As part of the deal, Nokia will provide its 7250 IXR-10e platform...
Broadband ISP LilaConnect Adds £100 Voucher for New Customers
UK ISP LilaConnect, which following the VXFIBER merger is now part of Freedom Fibre‘s new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network (here), has launched a special Black Friday promotion that will give new customers on their 1Gbps package in Stoke-on-Trent, Leek, Crewe and Uttoxeter a £100 voucher upon account activation. In order to access the deal, which will be available until 23:59 on Friday (29th Nov), new customers should sign up to LilaConnect’s 1 Gigabit LilaFibre package (£34.98...
Top 10 Fastest and Slowest Streets for UK Broadband in 2024
New research from Broadband Genie has analysed 207,711 internet speed tests in order to identify the top slowest and fastest ten UK streets for broadband. The slowest street was found to be Greenfields Road in Bishop Auckland (average downloads of 0.35Mbps), while the fastest was Tynemouth Street in London (921.76Mbps). But this isn’t the full story. According to Thinkbroadband’s latest data, some 85.5% of UK premises are currently within reach of a gigabit-capable fixed broadband network...
Openreach’s full fibre rollout to boost economy by £73bn in next decade – report
News The report, commissioned by Openreach, is summary of the ‘spatial, employment and social impacts’ of the company’s full fibre rollout A new report commissioned by Openreach and produced by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has outlined the value of ultrafast connectivity could deliver to the UK economy by 2034. The report forecasts that the rollout of full fibre could add £66 billion a year to the UK economy by 2029, rising to £73 billion by 2034. It attributes...
TOTSCo Celebrate 200,000 Completed UK Broadband and Phone Switches
The industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which operates the central messaging platform that helps UK ISPs to implement Ofcom’s new One Touch Switching (OTS) process, has today announced that they’ve completed 200,000 switches of broadband and phone services since going live on 12th Sept 2024 (up by 20,000 this week). In case anybody has forgotten, OTS aims to make it both quicker and easier for consumers to switch between broadband and phone providers, even when those ISPs are on...
London Gigabit Broadband ISP G.Network Cuts Price to £17 for Black Friday
Alternative broadband network and UK ISP G.Network, which has deployed a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across 361,000 “connectable” premises in parts of London (here), has today become the latest internet provider to launch early Black Friday discounts across their 24-month term packages. In short. the provider has cut the price of their top 1Gbps (900Mbps average) package to just £17 per month for the first 6 months of service, which then rises to £30 for the remaining 18 months (£35...
FCC launches first review of submarine cable rules since 2001
News The Federal Communications Commission has voted to launch a major review of licensing rules surrounding submarine cable rules. A new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will begin a review of the regulations surrounding submarine cables. The rulemaking notice, approved Nov. 21 by the FCC, will now seek public comment regarding how the commission can streamline the rules around submarine cables to ensure efficient deployment. According to...
Openreach Claim Full Fibre Broadband to Boost UK Economy by £66bn
New research from network access provider Openreach (BT), which was pieced together by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and Stantec, has claimed that the operator’s ongoing roll-out of a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network could contribute up to £66bn (GVA – Gross Value Added) to the UK economy in 2029. Openreach are currently investing up to £15bn to expand the coverage of this new full fibre network to reach 25 million UK premises by December 2026...
Vodafone UK Launch Black Friday SIM Only Mobile Discounts
New customers looking to join UK mobile operator Vodafone should note that they’ve today launched a range of new Black Friday discounts across their regular Pay Monthly SIM Only plans and their Basics SIM Only plans, which reflects a varied combination of price cuts and extra data allowances. The discounts and changes are too numerous to fully list, but they range from a sharp price decrease on the operator’s ‘Unlimited Max Xtra Global Roam Plan‘ (from £46 to £33 per month on a 24-month term)...
Ofcom Prep Proposals to Authorise Using Satellites to Deliver UK Mobile
The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has revealed that they’re moving ahead with plans to consult on specific proposals that would authorise Direct to Device (D2D) satellite services to work in UK mobile bands (inc. MMS – Mobile-Satellite Services), which could be used to help improve mobile (4G and 5G) coverage. The proposals are planned to surface during “early 2025“. At present a number of satellite-based broadband and communication networks are developing services that can directly connect to...