London Full Fibre Broadband ISP G.Network Cuts Jobs and Shifts Strategy
London focused UK broadband ISP G.Network, which has spent the past few years deploying a gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across parts of the city centre, has today announced a “strategic update” that will see some redundancies as the operator shifts their strategy and moves to “drive further commercialisation” (growing take-up). In case anybody has forgotten, G.Network only resumed their fibre roll-out in the city during February 2024, which occurred after a long build...
Pulse Fibre Offers 12 Months Free Broadband to Wain Homes
London-based broadband ISP Pulse Fibre, which over the next few years aspires to complete over 250,000 unique “full fibre” (FTTP) connections into new build homes and MDUs (here), has announced a collaboration with property developer Wain Homes to offer associated homeowners “free broadband for 12 months“. The promotion will initially be rolled out to three developments in the South West of England, reaching over 200 homeowners. Each resident will receive day one activation, a free WiFi 6...
From the new FCC chair to BEAD updates: The top 5 stories from Broadband Communities
News The picture of how a second term for President-elect Donald Trump will impact telecommunications is becoming clearer. With the nomination of Brendan Carr as chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a change of course at the FCC has been signaled. Plus, don’t miss the latest merger and acquisition updates from North America, including Charter’s deal to acquire Liberty Broadband. Trump picks Carr to serve as next FCC chair President-elect Donald Trump has picked Brendan Carr to...
O2 UK Boost 4G and 5G Network Capacity for 850 Wolverhampton Postcodes
Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has today announced that they’ve completed a project to improve their 4G and 5G based mobile (mobile broadband) network in the West Midlands city of Wolverhampton, which since the start of 2024 has seen network capacity upgraded in 850 postcodes across the area. The capacity boost should ensure that local residents, visitors and business can all benefit from having access to faster and more reliable mobile services when connected via O2’s mobile network in the...
Survey Warns Some UK ISPs Continue to Mislead by Advertising Copper Broadband as Fibre
A new YouGov survey conducted by network operator AllPoints Fibre, which is the UK wholesale division of Fern Trading’s recently consolidate alternative FTTP broadband ISP networks (Giganet, Jurassic Fibre, and Swish Fibre), claims to have found that the “vast majority of people” (72%) think it’s “misleading” to advertise part-copper broadband (e.g. FTTC) as ‘fibre’. In the past it was common for ISPs to use “fibre” terminology to describe a wide range of internet connection technologies,...
Pembrokeshire Celebrate Passing 60 Percent Gigabit Broadband Cover
The Pembrokeshire County Council (Cyngor Sir Penfro) in Wales has celebrated the news that 60% of local premises can now access gigabit-speed full fibre (FTTP) broadband (up from just 5% in 2019). But this is still well behind the UK’s current level of gigabit coverage, which stands at over 85%, due largely to the remote rural nature of the county. This achievement is said to be the “culmination of a concerted effort by various stakeholders“, including Alternative Networks (AltNets) like Ogi,...
Gov Reach New Deal with UK Phone Operators to Protect Vulnerable Users
The UK Government’s Telecoms Minister, Sir Chris Bryant, has today announced that he’s agreed a new ‘Telecare National Action Plan‘ with major UK broadband and phone providers (e.g. BT, Virgin Media, Vodafone and Sky Broadband), which requires them to do more to protect vulnerable telecare users when upgrading phone lines to new digital (IP based) networks. The vast majority of our readers should, hopefully, already be aware that BT, Openreach, KCOM and Virgin Media are all in the process of...
Struggling altnet Spring Fibre sold to Harmony Networks
News The altnet has collapsed under mounting debt pressure UK altnet Spring Fibre, has been sold to Harmony Networks for £1.5 million, the company has announced. The sale reflects the challenges smaller broadband providers face in scaling operations and competing with larger players in the UK’s full-fibre rollout. Founded in 2019 with the ambition of rolling out gigabit broadband to one million premises across the UK, Spring Fibre initially sought to position itself as a key player in the...
Reliance Jio makes last-ditch attempt to stop satellite spectrum allocation
News The mobile operator says that satellite constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink could pose a major competitive threat to terrestrial telecoms operators According to a report from Reuters, Reliance Jio has sent a letter to India’s telecoms regulator, asking it to review the potential reach of telecoms satellite constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper before awarding spectrum. The operator argues that the immense reach of these satellite players will put them in direct...
Trump names ‘free speech warrior’ Brendan Carr as FCC chair
News Carr will succeed current FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel in January President-elect Donald Trump has named Brendan Carr as the next Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), succeeding Jessica Rosenworcel. Republican Commissioner Carr was was appointed to the FCC by then-President Donald Trump in 2017, after serving as the agency’s general counsel since 2012. With a background in telecommunications law, Carr’s career has see him be a major advocate for rural broadband...