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...
Sky UK Extends Agreement to Retain Amazon Prime Video
Customers of Sky (Sky TV, Sky Broadband etc.) may like to know that the media giant has today announced an extension of their long-term collaboration with Amazon, which will see ‘Prime Video’ apps and related content continue to be available on Sky devices (e.g. Sky Q, Sky Glass, Sky Stream etc.). Nick Herm, Sky’s Chief Business Officer, said: “At Sky, we want to provide people with the aggregation platform of choice that brings them with all their favourite apps and channels in one place....
Virgin Media O2 UK See Success of Digital Phone Switch and Telecare Trial
Broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2) has today released a progress update on their Digital Landline Switchover (DLS) programme (i.e. migrating old analogue landline phones to IP-based services). This revealed some positive results from their recent trial with the telecare advisory body, TSA, which provided enhanced support to telecare users. Just to recap. The United Kingdom is home to around 1.8 million people who use telecare devices / alarms in the UK (e.g. elderly, disabled, and vulnerable...
ISP Hey! Broadband Cuts UK 900Mbps Full Fibre Price to £21.50
UK ISP Hey! Broadband, which caters for homes covered by F&W Networks‘ (Fibre and Wireless) new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network – mostly across the South East of England, has today announced that new customers will be able to get 50% off the price of their 900Mbps full fibre packages during the Black Friday period. Customers of the service typically pay from £43 per month for their top 900Mbps (symmetric) package, which compares with £33 for 400Mbps and then £23 for 150Mbps on a...
Full Fibre UK Network Operator Telcom Rebrands to Elevate
The Telcom Group, which operates a mix of fixed wireless access (FWA) and gigabit-capable “full fibre” broadband and Ethernet networks across England via its various sub-brands (ClearFibre, WeFibre, HyperCity etc.), has this morning announced that they’re re-branding to Elevate following a year of growth, consolidation and integration. The group indicates that the change reflects the culmination of their 12-month plan to integrate Telcom Networks, its wholesale initiative GigaBritain and...
NASA and Microsoft partner to simplify access to Earth science data
News NASA has collaborated with Microsoft to develop ‘Earth Copilot’, an AI-powered tool designed to make data discovery more straightforward. Built using Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, the tool allows users to interact with NASA’s datasets through plain language queries. For example, instead of navigating technical systems, users can ask questions such as, “How did Hurricane Ian affect Sanibel Island?” and quickly receive relevant information. NASA’s Earth Science Data Systems Program...