Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Some of ISPreview’s readers (credits Jade and Mike) have spotted that mobile network operator Vodafone (VodafoneThree) appears to have quietly added a new ‘Speed Boost’ add-on (Extras), which promises that data usage will be “prioritised on our network giving you the fastest speeds available in busy areas like train stations, stadiums, and crowded places.”

The Speed Boost itself appears to be time based, thus you’ll pay £3 (one-off) for 1 day of boosting, £5 for 7 days, £10 for 30 days (you can optionally also take the £10 option as part of a reoccurring payment). The daily option seems rather pricey for a feature with no clear guarantee of performance increase, but the value does improve for longer periods. The feature seems to be available to both Pay Monthly and PAYG plan users.

Vodafone’s product summary doesn’t provide any technical explanation for what they’re actually doing or enabling with Speed Boost. But digging into the link to their T&Cs did reveal some extra detail: “Speed Boost gives you network priority in busy locations, like train stations or events. With a Xtra Global Roam plan, you’ll get prioritisation in the UK only, for up to 200GB per month; any data used beyond this won’t be prioritised until the next billing cycle. Speed caps still apply. Speed Boost is compatible with 5G devices only.”

Somewhat confusingly, Vodafone then buries some key details about Speed Boost right down at the very bottom of their ‘Extras’ page. Seriously, Vodafone, why can’t you just put these key details right where the product is actually displayed, instead of splitting it across three different locations?

Speed Boost

Xtras: Compatible with 5G devices only. Users are prioritised as:

up to 10GB for 1 day

50GB for 7 day

200GB for 30-day

This is subject to your plan’s max speeds. Pay monthly plan required.

The reference to “5G devices only” makes us think that Vodafone might be utilising Network Slicing technology to give customers a dedicated data link, although that’s more of a 5G Standalone (5GSA) feature, yet they don’t specifically mention that as being a requirement (i.e. you’d need a Smartphone that’s 5GSA capable, not merely 5G capable). We’ve shot off a request to Vodafone in order to hopefully gain some clarification.

One other question mark is over whether customers with the operator’s Xtra Global Roam plan get Speed Boost included by default, since the T&C’s could be open to interpretation. According to one of Vodafone’s customers, Jade, they still had to add the boost to their plan. This thus also needs some clarification.

Otherwise, it sounds like an interesting feature, although we’d like to think that customers wouldn’t need it. Ideally, the operator should already be doing enough to ensure that there’s plenty of data bandwidth available for all of its customers in busy areas to receive a good service.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

Grid Telecom, a wholesale telecommunications provider and subsidiary of IPTO, has announced the construction of ARTEMIS, an ultra-high-capacity subsea optical fiber cable system that will link Crete with mainland Greece.

As a new strategic digital corridor in the Eastern Mediterranean, ARTEMIS is set to strengthen decisively regional connectivity, enhance Greece’s geopolitical footprint, and accelerate the country’s ongoing digital transformation.

The ARTEMIS system will be equipped with subsea repeaters and will span approximately 280 kilometres, including its terrestrial segments linking the cable landing stations. Ιt will interconnect all landing stations and data centers in Crete and Attica region, enabling data transmission rates of up to 30 Tbps per fiber-pair. With a minimum of 24 fiber-pairs, ARTEMIS will deliver an overall design capacity of at least 720 Tbps, more than meeting all medium‑ and long‑term digital infrastructure needs.

Engineered to support the next generation of cutting‑edge technologies, ARTEMIS will take full advantage of the relatively short transmission distance and the capability to expand the optical spectrum. As a result, the system is poised to become the first petabit-class subsea cable in Greece and the Mediterranean, with a potential total capacity exceeding 1 petabit per second, pushing well beyond the performance limits of today’s subsea optical fiber systems, setting a new benchmark for regional and international digital connectivity.

Grid Telecom continues to invest in state‑of‑the‑art infrastructure with the goal of transforming Crete into a strategic digital hub, delivering network reliability, flexibility and diversity. Grid Telecom will leverage the synergies between the new ARTEMIS system and its existing Minoas East‑West and Apollo East‑West systems, which already connect the island to mainland Greece through four independent routes and a total of 96 fiber-pairs. The Minoas East‑West system links Chania to the Peloponnese, providing a low‑latency alternative route, while the Apollo East‑West system provides a direct connection between Heraklion and Attica, with no intermediate cable landing stations, adding another critical alternative path.

In line with its commitment to advancing next‑generation telecommunications services, Grid Telecom is proceeding with the immediate construction of new cable landing stations in Chania and Attica. These facilities will serve both as landing points for the ARTEMIS cable system and as critical gateways for international subsea fiber cables traversing the Eastern Mediterranean, linking Greece with the Middle East and Western Europe. ARTEMIS will incorporate Open Cable Interface Equipment (OCIE), enabling seamless integration with all international cable systems, eliminating the need for additional transmission terminal equipment and providing direct, cost‑efficient backhaul access to all data centers.

With these infrastructures in place, Grid Telecom as the premier neutral provider of wholesale telecom services in Greece, will deliver secure, open‑access landings and highly resilient connectivity through diversified fiber routes to both existing and emerging data centers in Crete, mainland Greece, and neighbouring countries. By fully leveraging its integrated terrestrial and subsea network assets, the company will ensure robust, scalable, and carrier‑grade connectivity across the region and provide comprehensive technical support and maintenance services at both infrastructure and operational levels.

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The post Grid Telecom to build Artemis subsea cable connecting Crete to mainland Greece appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The deal transfers more than 4 million customer locations and an estimated more than 1 million fiber subscribers into AT&T’s footprint.

Edited by Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

AT&T has completed its acquisition of Lumen Technologies’ Mass Markets fiber business for $5.75 billion in cash, the company announced Monday.

The deal transfers more than 4 million customer locations and an estimated more than 1 million fiber subscribers into AT&T’s footprint across 11 states, expanding the telecom giant’s fiber network and customer base.

AT&T said the purchase will accelerate its plans to expand fiber coverage, including a target to reach more than 60 million total fiber locations by the end of 2030.

“AT&T Fiber, America’s best and top-rated technology for getting on the internet, will be available to millions more people as we expand the service in 32 states,” AT&T CEO John Stankey said in the statement.

He added the acquisition will create jobs, “boost U.S. connectivity” and give more consumers the option to purchase both fiber broadband and AT&T’s 5G wireless services from a single provider.

AT&T also linked the transaction to its broader commercial strategy, saying that combined fiber and wireless offerings can increase customer retention and generate higher returns from converged relationships.

The announcement contained the customary caveat that forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ. AT&T said it will integrate the acquired assets and expects to grow fiber penetration in the new footprint over time, positioning the company to strengthen its competitive standing in the U.S. broadband market.

Some AI tools were used in the crafting of this report.

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The post AT&T completes acquisition of Lumen Mass Markets’ fiber biz appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

Experts warn that the hacker group linked to the Chinese state may remain active in US networks

Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell said on Tuesday that both AT&T and Verizon had refused to hand over key security documents related to the Salt Typhoon cyberattack in 2024.

In a letter to Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, Cantwell said the telecoms giants are not being transparent about the security of their networks and called on their CEOs to attend a Committee hearing.

“For months, I have sought specific documentation from AT&T and Verizon that would purportedly corroborate their claims that their networks are now secure from this attack,” wrote Cantwell. “Unfortunately, both AT&T and Verizon have chosen not to cooperate, which raises serious questions about the extent to which Americans who use these networks remain exposed to unacceptable risk.”

The documents in question relate to the highly publicised cybersecurity breach of numerous telecoms companies by China-linked hacking group Salt Typhoon in 2024.

The attack compromised the metadata of calls and text messages from millions of customers, notably including those of politicians such as Donald Trump and JD Vance. It also gave the hackers access to company-run law enforcement wiretapping systems.

By December 2024, AT&T said it had “no activity by nation-state actors in our networks”, while Verizon said it had “contained the activities associated with this particular incident”.

In June 2025, however, Cantwell wrote to AT&T and Verizon to demand answers, saying that experts feared Salt Typhoon was still operating within the companies’ networks.

“Current and former government experts continue to indicate that Salt Typhoon may remain active in U.S. networks,” she wrote in a letter to AT&T CEO John Stankey and Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg (replaced by Dan Schulman in October 2025).

This claim was reiterated in her letter to Cruz this week.

“Expert witnesses warned this Committee about the ongoing security risks posed by Salt Typhoon, while reports indicate that Salt Typhoon hackers are likely still inside U.S. telecommunications networks and may have even breached email accounts used by congressional staff,” she wrote.

Reviews of the Salt Typhoon breach for both AT&T and Verizon were carried out by Google-owned cybersecurity business Mandiant. Now, Cantwell says Mandiant is refusing to share their findings, following orders from the mobile operators.

“AT&T and Verizon apparently intervened to block Mandiant from cooperating with my requests,” said Cantwell in her letter.

Verizon, AT&T, nor Mandiant have publicly commented on the allegations.

Cantwell is now urging the Senate Committee to convene a hearing in which the AT&T and Verizon CEOs can testify about the incident publicly.

“The American public deserves transparency and certainty that our nation’s major telecommunications networks are not currently exposed to unacceptable risks,” Cantwell wrote. “This oversight hearing would be an opportunity to provide precisely that.”

Salt Typhoon remains a major threat to Western companies worldwide. Last year, an FBI report said that the hacker group had targeted over 600 organisations in over 80 countries.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news with the Total Telecom newsletter

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The post Verizon and AT&T refuse to release documents on Salt Typhoon attack appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Customers of broadband provider Virgin Media (O2), specifically those who also take their Pay TV services via their TV 360 or Stream (Flex) platforms, may like to know that the ISP has today added support for three new Rakuten TV based FAST channels to their TV service “at no extra cost” – Rakuten TV Drama (Ch 462), Comedy (Ch 463) and Sci Fi (Ch 464).

VMO2’s David Bouchier, Chief TV and Entertainment Officer, said: “We know that amazing content and value are a priority for our customers, and the launch of these exciting new streaming channels provides exactly that – unmissable entertainment, including great Hollywood blockbusters, at no extra cost. From drama to comedy and everything in between, our line-up of streaming channels offers something for everyone, and these exciting additions will provide our customers with everything available from Rakuten TV, all in one place”

As usual, all the new channels will be visible using Virgin Media’s TV guide and searchable via voice control. Virgin TV customers can also access hundreds of related TV episodes and movies on demand via the Rakuten TV app, which is accessible via the Virgin TV app store. The platform now carries a total of 40 FAST channels.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A new OnePoll survey of 1,000 small and medium-sized UK businesses (leaders and decision makers), which was commissioned by broadband and mobile provider Sky Business, has claimed that 66% of them have “run out of mobile data in the last two years“, resulting in missed sales and lost productivity until resolved (i.e. an estimated average revenue loss of £3,462 a year).

The survey also found that 73% experience a “Fear of Running Out” (FORO) of mobile data, rising to more than 8 in 10 among millennial-led businesses. At the same time, some 56% of SMEs that have run out of mobile broadband data say they have lost business to the tune of £3,462 on average a year in missed sales, bookings and opportunities.

Similarly, 45% said running out of mobile data would be worse than running out of stock, while more than a third report being unable to process payments when data runs out. The disruption is so severe that 49% say losing mobile data would be worse for their business than losing Wi-Fi for an entire day.

On the flip side, businesses were said to spend an average of £477 a month on mobile data, yet 33% of that data is said to go unused – equivalent to nearly £1,900 per business each year. Mayuresh Thavapalan, Commercial and Marketing Director for Sky Business, said: “UK businesses are effectively paying twice – once for data sat unused across their team, and again if someone unexpectedly runs out. Mobile connectivity should flex around how a business actually operates.”

Suffice to say that Sky Business has a vested interest in all of this as their new SIM-Only mobile service, which launched last year (details), has partly been designed to tackle this sort of problem. So, take with the usual pinch of salt.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile network benchmarking firm RootMetrics (Ookla) has today published their H2 2025 study of UK mobile networks (calls, texts etc.) and mobile broadband (4G, 5G) speeds. The results once again name EE as the best mobile operator after they scooped up the highest scores and fastest data speeds across most categories, while O2 languished at the bottom but has improved.

The study itself is based on the results of over 619,000 tests (some 786 indoor locations were tested and 22,800 miles driven on roads), conducted by a team of testers using off-the-shelf Smartphones between July and December 2025 (drive and walk tests), to measure the real-world performance of mobile operators in the United Kingdom. However, this study is focused on the results from 16 of the UK’s largest metropolitan markets, which isn’t much good at reflecting the impact of slower connectivity in rural areas.

The results shown below are typically split into several categories (network reliability, speed, data, call and text quality etc.) and each is assigned a score out of 100 (higher numbers = better). In terms of the UK-wide results, EE came top in every single category, with Three UK supplanting Vodafone as the runner-up (ironic perhaps, given their merger). By comparison, O2 echoed their results in other studies by coming bottom of almost everything.

In terms of the overall results, all but one mobile operator managed to improve their scores over the previous biannual study, with the biggest improvement being recorded by O2. By comparison, Vodafone was the only operator to see a fall in their score, although it wasn’t a huge fall. Otherwise, EE delivered the fastest median mobile broadband download speed of 114.1Mbps (up from 110.8Mbps), followed by Three UK on 53.8Mbps (up from 45.7Mbps), Vodafone on 47.7Mbps (down from 48.4Mbps) and O2 on 44.1Mbps (up sharply from 36.2Mbps).

Overall Scores for H2 2025 (vs H1 2025)
1. EE – 94.1 (93.2)
2. Three UK – 85.2 (84.2)
3. Vodafone – 84.2 (85.8)
4. O2 – 82.7 (80.1)

The below results summary also includes a performance split between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The study also provided some results when looking at 5G-only mobile connections, which saw EE deliver the fastest median average download speeds of 236.7Mbps, followed by Three UK on 189.3Mbps, then Vodafone on 144.3Mbps and finally O2 on 111Mbps.

Mobile operators also continued to expand 5G availability for users across the UK. At the UK-wide level, both EE and O2 recorded a little over 75% 5G availability in 2H 2025, while Three UK followed at 66.1% and Vodafone trailed at 57.0%.

Looking back one year for greater context, UK-wide 5G availability among the operators ranged from 48.3% to 66.8% in 2H 2024, compared with 57% to 76.1% in 2H 2025, highlighting the continued expansion of 5G across the country.

However, Ookla’s RootMetrics report only provides bits and pieces of selected information, while we would have preferred to see a bit more detail (e.g. upload performance and latency) and a reflection of performance in rural areas too. But that is often the caveat with this type of scientific, albeit very manual, testing – there’s simply not enough data to give a complete picture of the UK.

One final point to make is that the results for Vodafone and Three UK are likely to go through some big changes over the coming year(s) as the two continue their post-merger network integration.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has announced that they’re working with Zinkworks to deploy AI-driven automation technology to “minimise downtime” across their 4G and 5G mobile network. The move is said build on “proven results” with their fixed broadband network, where similar automation has already had a big impact.

The expansion to the mobile side of their network means that the new Artificial Intelligence (AI) based monitoring tools will be used to predict and prevent network issues. This is said to work by “identifying patterns and behaviours, detecting and resolving issues faster, and anticipating faults before they escalate into service issues.”

The system will be particularly useful during periods of high demand, allowing operational decisions to be made “before customers are even impacted“. By comparison, the same sort of solution on their fixed broadband network is said to have reduced repair times by more than a third and cut the need for engineer visits by 12%.

The new technology is set to be deployed across key parts of O2’s mobile network, including radio access, core systems and network operations. “By combining real-time network data with intelligent automation, the network can continuously monitor itself, anticipate potential problems, and take corrective action, with engineers retaining complete oversight,” said the announcement.

Jeanie York, CTO of VMO2, said:

“At Virgin Media O2, we are investing every single day to improve our mobile network and provide a more reliable experience for our customers. Greater automation will help us predict and prevent issues and allow us to better spot and fix problems when they arise, reducing downtime and ensuring customers can trust us to deliver the dependable mobile experience they rely on.”

The initiative, which is leveraging the core Google Cloud platform and features such as Gemini and Vertex AI to deliver autonomous network capabilities, sounds as if it could be one of the better examples of how such technologies can be used to enhance existing broadband and mobile networks. The announcement doesn’t mention it, but we suspect there may also be a cost-cutting angle too.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Customers of Sky UK’s (Sky Broadband, Comcast etc.) internet, phone and TV products are being informed about the provider’s latest round of annual price hikes, which will once again be introduced from 1st April 2026. For example, broadband customers will face a flat hike of £3 to their monthly bills, which is the same as or lower than most of their largest rivals.

As for Sky’s Pay TV services, Cinema will be subject to a £1 increase per month when taken with a TV product, and Triple Play packages will see a £3 increase per month (as per the Broadband price rise). The move is different from last year, when Sky imposed a percentage based average annual price increase of 6.2% (Ofcom banned that approach), which at least had the benefit of being able to scale across lower cost and more expensive packages.

By comparison, a fixed price increase like the new one for 2026 tends to hit those on cheaper packages the hardest. The good news, if you can call it that, is Sky will give their broadband and talk (phone) customers who are unwilling to accept this hike some 31 days from the point of being notified to terminate their contract early without penalty (not applicable to their TV customers, unless bundled with broadband).

Consumer who are hit by mid-contract hikes like this could alternatively try haggling for a lower price when the notification drops (Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill), which Sky does usually entertain. Meanwhile, those on benefits (Universal Credit etc.) also have the option of taking a cheaper Social Tariff – see our Quick Guide to UK Social Tariffs (Sky have these too and they’re not impacted by today’s hike).

However, it’s worth remembering that broadband, phone and TV providers are NOT immune to cost increases. Providers, much like consumers, are also suffering under the burden of rising supplier (e.g. wholesale) and lease costs, high inflation, high energy prices, the cost of adding all sorts of new services (e.g. FTTP) and catering for new regulations etc.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Several weeks have now passed since ISPreview revealed that one of the UK’s largest alternative full fibre broadband networks, Netomnia (Substantial Group), had decided to merge their two retail broadband ISPs – Brsk and YouFibre – into a single brand (here). Brsk have now begun to notify customers that they’re adopting YouFibre’s name.

Netomnia (YouFibre) and Brsk originally operated as separate companies – both with their own full fibre networks and vertically integrated retail ISPs. But this changed in June 2024 after the two operators, which shared a connected investor in the shape of Advencap, announced their intention to merge and create one of the market’s largest altnets (here).

Since then there’s long been somewhat of an expectation that the two retail brands might be merged, particularly since they’ve been gradually coming closer together over the past year. Brsk’s recent data breach may well have encouraged that process a bit too (here).

As previously reported on these pages, the business will continue to be led by Group CEO, Jeremy Chelot, and joint Managing Directors, Ryan Battle (Marketing and Sales) and Giorgio Iovino (Customer Experience and Field Services).

In addition, the previous update noted that there would be “no immediate changes” to Brsk customers’ contracts, plans or pricing, points of contact, or day-to-day operations. A phased transition to the unified brand will take place over H1 2026 (our sources said it would begin from 1st March), ensuring a “smooth and considered experience for Brsk customers“.

The main development this week is that Brsk have begun informing their customers of this change, although the new letter doesn’t add much to what we already reported and doesn’t clarify whether YouFibre plans to adopt Brsk’s Netgem based pay TV solution. Credits to marcusnaw and Shaukat for the tip.

Brsk’s Customer Email

What’s pink is becoming green – still the fastest on the scene.

Hi XXXXXXXXXXXXXX,

We burst onto the broadband scene in 2021 and since then have grown quickly, bringing better broadband to over 160,000 happy customers, all whilst keeping up an Excellent Trustpilot rating. I am so proud of what we have achieved.

We’re now at the next stage of our journey, and to strengthen our impact in the UK and our service to you, we are joining forces with another provider who has had similar success to Brsk.

I am excited to announce that soon Brsk is becoming YouFibre.

What does this mean for you?

Don’t worry, your broadband stays on. Your price stays the same. Nothing is switching off or slowing down, and your contract terms continue.

For now, you do not need to do anything, we just wanted to let you know about the change, because you will soon start to see YouFibre in the area, selling to new customers.

We’ll share more details soon, including what to expect and when. In the meantime, please rest assured that you’ll continue to receive the same reliable service from the same teams you know and trust.

Who is YouFibre?

YouFibre is a fast-growing full fibre provider, delivering fast, fair broadband to over 280,000 customers in nearly 100 towns across the UK. Recently, they were crowned Uswitch Regional Provider of the Year 2025.

We’ve been working alongside YouFibre since we announced a merger in 2024, so you will be in safe hands. This change will now bring us together under the single YouFibre brand, strengthening our UK-wide presence.

YouFibre offer everything you’re used to with Brsk, plus a few extras:

➤ A fixed price promise: No surprise price rises mid-contract.

➤ Rewarding your loyalty with great deals when it’s time to renew.

➤ Excellent Trustpilot score.

➤ Brilliant support from boffins, not bots.

➤ YouFibre App including a range of features like checking your broadband status, making a payment and App Chat.

What happens next?

This is the first step to let you know what is coming, we will keep you informed every step of the way, whilst pink becomes green.

Thank you for being a valued customer and for coming on this journey with us. We look forward to creating an even bigger story together, with you at the centre.

Giorgio Iovino
CEO

(For more FAQs, visit this link)