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The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published the results of their initial assessment of AI’s impact on telecoms customers so far and how AI in the telecoms customer journey may evolve in future. Among other things this reveals that 53% of online UK adults use AI, with 8% using it to help manage their telecoms (broadband, mobile and phone) services. (more…)
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The government has today revealed that their £5bn Project Gigabit programme, which aims to help extend gigabit broadband (1000Mbps+) ISP networks to “nationwide” coverage (c.99% of UK premises) by 2032, has created “more than 3,000 jobs and apprenticeships” in England (e.g. engineers, support staff etc.). (more…)
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Internet provider Sky Broadband has today announced the launch of a new 1.6Gbps (1,600Mbps) speed home broadband package, which will harness Openreach’s rapidly growing Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network and use the same “Gigafast+ Hub” (SCER11BELUKS) Wi-Fi 7 router as their multi-gigabit packages on CityFibre’s network. (more…)
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Mobile travel-focused eSIM provider Keep On Roaming has informed ISPreview that their Sidekick plan, which is designed to act as a backup for your main UK mobile plan and gives you access to EE, O2, Vodafone and Three UK when your main mobile service isn’t available, has now added support for roaming across the EU, EEA and Switzerland “at no extra cost“. (more…)
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The debt-strained TalkTalk Group, which is still in the process of trying to sell both their consumer broadband ISP business and PXC (PlatformX Communications) wholesale business, has this morning issued a “Strategic Update” on the process that makes clear the effort is still live and will be concluded “imminently“. Details remain in short supply. (more…)
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Airspan Networks Holdings LLC announced yesterday that it has acquired several fixed wireless product lines from Cambium Networks, a move that comes as the wireless networking business enters insolvency following prolonged financial difficulties.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed but the acquisition transfers key point-to-point and point-to-multipoint portfolios to Airspan.
More than 135 Cambium employees across R&D, sales, and support—located in the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, the United Kingdom, and India—have joined Airspan as part of the deal, Airspan announced.
“Cambium’s point-to-point and point-to-multipoint products are a compelling addition to Airspan’s 4G and 5G wireless network solutions for service providers, defense, and critical communications,“ said Glenn Laxdal, CEO of Airspan. “We are fully committed to supporting the customers and partners who have invested in these products. Our successful integration of recent acquisitions, including Corning’s and Jabil’s wireless businesses, demonstrates our ability to effectively integrate acquired teams and products, and provide business continuity, operational excellence, and innovation to customers. We will bring the same focus to this acquisition.”
Prior to news that Cambium had become insolvent after months of financial struggle, Cambium’s financial struggles had been clear for some time, with the company’s stock price collapsing over the past four years from its peak in April 2021.
The company’s issues came to a head in March this year, when Cambium was delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange after delayed reporting and SEC filing compliance issues.
Even more recently, Cambium cut 260 jobs worldwide, representing around 54% of its workforce.
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Southern Water, which provides drinking water for millions of customers across the South of England, has announced a new partnership with Lightsonic, aiming to use the company’s sensing technology to help identify their leaking pipes.
The UK’s aging pipe network leaks roughly 2.6 billion litres of water every day but identifying the specific locations of these leaks is a major challenge.
Lightsonic’s solution works by adding acoustic sensing units to Openreach’s fibre network, which often runs parallel to subterranean pipelines. If a leak is present in a nearby pipe, the resulting vibrations shake the fibre cable, delivering a small but measurable impact to the optical signal within. By measuring these signals, Lightsonic can locate and prioritise repairs for the water company.
According to Lightsonic, the solution typically detects 1.2 million litres of water leaks per day per 100km of network covered annually.
An illustration of how Lightsonic’s technology senses leaks
“Ageing infrastructure, leaking networks and mounting climate pressure are converging, causing major water stress,” says Tommy Langnes, CEO Lightsonic. “By utilising existing fibre optic infrastructure, we have a solution that can be quickly and effectively scaled across the UK to help utility companies get a handle on leaks, secure supply and generate savings that can be reinvested to upgrade our aging network. The industry needs a quick and comprehensive response and that is what we offer.”
For Openreach, this deployment marks a deepening of their partnership with Lightsonic, with who they ran initial trials alongside Affinity Water in March this year.
“The results of our existing pilots with Lightsonic show that our new full fibre infrastructure can deliver value far beyond broadband – and could prove to be a real game changer in solving real-world challenges like water conservation,” said Trevor Linney, Director of Network Technology at Openreach. “Combining Lightsonic’s technology with the reach of Openreach’s Full Fibre network makes continuous utility monitoring genuinely scalable, without the cost and disruption of building a separate sensor network.”
The UK’s water supply is facing immense pressure. The country is currently experiencing the hottest summer on record, with hosepipe bans in place across much of the country. Plans for a new reservoir to alleviate water stress have this week been delayed by 5 years and, with more global temperature records predicted, the UK’s water security is more precarious than ever.
Turning the country’s fibre networks into passive sensing frameworks represents a cost-effective and efficient way to begin to tackle the nation’s water challenges.
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Shared Rural Network rollout extends to UK national parks with over 150 4G masts live
Vodafone touts latest attempt to bridge the UK’s digital divide
Virgin Media O2 cuts 5,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions
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Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today outlined the next stage of their closure preparation for the old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), which helps to confirm the plan and service pricing that will occur for consumers that fail to migrate to a modern IP-based digital line alternative by the early 2027 closure deadline. (more…)
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A new report claims that UK ISP Opus Broadband, which was previously reported to have been working with investment firm Alchemy Partners on a potential c.£250m bid for TalkTalk’s consumer business, before later walking away, has now allegedly tabled a cut price bid of around £100m for the debt-strained internet provider. (more…)
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France-based benchmarking firm nPerf has today published the results from a new study they conducted into 4G and 5G mobile (mobile broadband) coverage across the United Kingdom, which found that EE delivered the best reach for both network technologies. The results took account of both population and geographic network coverage. (more…)