Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The fine is the largest ever imposed by South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Committee (PIPC)

This week, South Korea’s privacy regulator has announced it will fine SK Telecom 134.8 billion won (~$97 million) in response to a data breach the company revealed in April.

The fine is the largest in the PIPC’s history to date. Prior to this, the committee’s largest fines were those levied against Google and Meta in 2022 for collecting consumer data without consent. The tech giants were fined 69.2 billion won (~$50 million) and 30.8 billion won (~$22 million), respectively.

The cyberattack in question took place on June 15, 2022, but was not reported to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) by SKT until April 22 this year, suggesting that installed malware remained undetected for three years.

Reports suggest that 23 of SKT’s servers were impacted, which collectively held four different types of USIM data, including International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) numbers. These unique numbers are used to identify individual customers.

In total, 9.32 gigabytes of USIM-related data, including 26.9 million IMSI numbers, were compromised in the attack and may have been leaked.

In response to the breach, SKT pledged to bolster its cybersecurity, as well as offering free USIM card replacements to all affected subscribers. The company also paused its acquisition of new subscribers, only restarting the process in June.

In its announcement, the PIPC described SKT’s internal cybersecurity system as having been in a “very weak condition”, saying the company had failed to properly manage access rights to customer data and did not encrypt USIM authentication keys. It also accused the company of delaying notifying affected customers.

As such, alongside the punitive fine, the PIPC has also approved corrective measures from SKT, which include a system audit, additional security measures, and a review of the company’s data governance policies.

“We hope this incident serves as a reminder for companies that process large volumes of personal data to view the personal information protection budgets as an essential investment,” said PIPC Chairperson Ko Hak-soo in a press conference. “We also expect it will raise awareness of the role and importance of CPOs (Chief Privacy Officers) and dedicated privacy teams in corporate management.”

SKT responded to the announcement by saying that it took the decision “with a deep sense of responsibility”, but said it was “regrettable” that the company’s “customer protection measures and explanations were not reflected in the outcome”.

SKT announced in July that it will invest 700 billion won (~$500,000) in a new information security plan and 500 billion won (~$360,000) in a customer protection plan over the next five years.

It is unclear whether the operator will appeal the regulator’s decision.

Also in the news:
US judge rules Huawei must face charges of fraud and racketeering
Optus ditches football rights to focus on telecoms
Nokia launches digital twin platform Enscryb to digitalise energy sector

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile operator and broadband ISP Vodafone UK (VodafoneThree) has today confirmed that they’ve now gone live on CommunityFibre’s alternative Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based fixed line network in London. The provider says this means that 550,000 “additional” homes across all 32 boroughs can now access their broadband plans at speeds of “up to” 2.2Gbps.

Until now it’s generally only been possible to take Vodafone’s home broadband packages via Openreach or CityFibre’s national full fibre networks. But in London this tends to be restricted to just Openreach’s network, which is due to the fact that CityFibre’s often faster and cheaper network hasn’t deployed any FTTP across the UK’s capital.

However, back in June 2025 the newly merged VodafoneThree revealed that they also planned to onboard with CommunityFibre’s alternative FTTP network (here), which currently reaches around 1.5 million homes and businesses across London. Since then, we’ve been patiently waiting for the new network to officially become available to Vodafone’s customers, which is what today’s announcement is all about.

At the time of writing it’s not completely clear why Vodafone has only stated this for 550k additional homes, but we can speculate that it’s likely to be at least partly because they may just be counting the areas where only CommunityFibre’s network is present (i.e. no Openreach overlap). In any case, Vodafone states that the combination of Openreach, CityFibre and CommunityFibre means their “total full fibre footprint [is now available] to more than 21.5 million homes nationwide“.

The pricing for their new CommunityFibre based plans appear to be roughly similar to those of CityFibre’s. Residents can expect to pay from £23 per month for symmetric speeds of 150Mbps and that goes up to £60 for their top 2.2Gbps package (take note that monthly prices increase by £3 in April each year). This includes a wireless router and free installation.

Existing mobile customers are currently also being offered a £75 bill credit when they take the service. You can also upgrade to a WiFi 7 capable router, WiFi mesh system, 4G backup, better internet security and improved support for a few pounds per month extra (Pro 3 add-on).

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Rome/Helsinki, 28 August 2025

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, announces the opening of a new Point of Presence (PoP) in Helsinki, Finland, to expand its footprint and guarantee further redundancy and diversification of international connectivity for the Northern European market.

Located at Digita Data Center, a state-of-the-art and fast-growing internet hub, the new PoP in Helsinki follows in the region the one in Stockholm and will address the strong demand for IP Transit services from the Nordic and Baltic countries with a 400GBE-enabled router.

Besides increasing the company’s presence in Northern Europe, the new node is fully integrated with Sparkle’s Tier 1 global IP backbone Seabone and allows network operators, ISPs, OTTs, content delivery networks, and content and application providers to benefit from reliable, low-latency IP transit services with throughput in the range of Terabits per second. Additionally, customers have access to a comprehensive suite of IP solutions, including DDoS Protection, which safeguards networks against cyberattacks, and Virtual NAP, providing virtual access to leading Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) without the need for proprietary infrastructure development.

With 89 PoPs in Europe and a comprehensive portfolio of ICT and telco services – including SD-WAN, colocation, IoT connectivity, messaging, roaming and voice solutions -, Sparkle confirms its role as a leading enabler of digital transformation across the continent, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and beyond.

About Sparkle

Sparkle is TIM Group’s Global Operator, first international service provider in Italy and among the top worldwide, offering a full range of infrastructure and global connectivity services – capacity, IP, SD-WAN, colocation, IoT connectivity, roaming and voice – to national and international Carriers, OTTs, ISPs, Media/Content Providers, and multinational enterprises. A major player in the submarine cable industry, Sparkle owns and manages a network of more than 600,000 km of fiber spanning from Europe to Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and Asia. Its sales force is active worldwide and distributed over 32 countries.

Find out more about Sparkle following its X and LinkedIn profiles or visiting the website tisparkle.com

Media Contacts:

sparkle.communication@tisparkle.com

X: @TISparkle

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Broadband and network access provider Openreach, which remains a distinct “legally separate” company away from BT, has today appointed a new independent non-executive member (NED) and expert in corporate strategy to its Board in the shape of Michael Jary.

At present Openreach are primarily still focused on delivering their c.£15bn project to deploy a new multi-gigabit capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network to 25 million UK premises by December 2026, which is expected to be followed by “up to” 30 million come 2030. On top of that the operator is also having to contend with Ofcom’s latest Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR), which is expected to influence their approach for the next 5 years.

Suffice to say that the network access provider may be starting to think about how they will implement Ofcom’s decisions and what comes after that, which is an area that may benefit from some additional expertise in corporate strategy. This may help to explain why the operator has picked Michael Jary to be a NED.

Michael co-founded OC&C Strategy Consultants in 1987 and has served as their Global Managing Partner, helping grow the firm to 15 offices around the world, and is now a Senior Adviser at OC&C. He is also a NED at Barclays Bank UK plc and Chair of Kensington Mortgages, as well as being the Chair of Itad, a data and insight company in international development, among other things. His prior roles include Lead NED of HM Government, chair of The Fairtrade Foundation, and Non-Executive Director of the Nationwide Building Society.

Mike McTighe, Chair of Openreach, said:

“Openreach is powering ahead with our ambition to build full fibre to 25 million UK premises by the end of 2026. As we near completion of this milestone and look to the future of Openreach beyond building full fibre to almost every part of the UK, Michael‘s insight and experience will be an invaluable addition to the Board. I am delighted to welcome Michael at this critical stage of our journey.”

The Openreach Board has a majority of independent members, with an independent Chair and up to four other independent Non-Executive Directors. There are two executive Openreach members: the CEO and an executive appointed by the Board. Openreach’s parent company, BT, also nominates an executive to serve on the Board.

·         Mike McTighe, Openreach Chair

·         Edward Astle, NED

·         Andrew Barron, NED

·         Natalie Ceeney, NED

·         Michael Jary, NED – joins 26 August 2025

·         Clive Selley, Openreach Chief Executive

·         Matt Davies, Openreach Chief Finance Officer

·         Simon Lowth, BT Group Finance Director (BT nominated Director)

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Managing Director of Regulation at UK broadband operator Openreach (BT), Mark Shurmer, has called on Ofcom to ensure that they soften market regulation on them in areas of the UK deemed to be competitive due to the presence of either Virgin Media’s fixed broadband network or those where there are three or more full fibre (FTTP) network providers present.

At present Openreach is already deemed by Ofcom to hold Significant Market Power (SMP) in a number of the UK’s markets and thus faces a variety of rules to address the competition concerns that arise as a result. This includes various price controls, the need to ensure fair access for rivals to run new fibre via their existing cable ducts / poles (PIA), Dark Fibre Access (DFA), restrictions on broadband discounts and Quality of Service (QoS) standards etc.

The regulator recognises that some areas are more competitive than others, and so scales their rules by geography. For example, areas where competition is deemed to be sufficiently well-established or effective (Area 1) will benefit Openreach through the removal of regulation (the regulator did not to identify any such areas at their last review), while partially competitive areas (Area 2 – 70% of the UK) see softer regulation and uncompetitive areas (Area 3 – 30%) – where only Openreach is present – see the toughest rules.

However, earlier this year Ofcom began their Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR), which is a wide-ranging market study – conducted every 5-years – that is looking to make changes that “promote competition and investment” in gigabit broadband and business connectivity. But such things are always easier said than done, with vested interests frequently clashing between different players.

One of the issues to arise from this surround the debate over how Ofcom defines competition between different areas. Once again the new review, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, chose not to define any areas “where competition is sufficiently well-established or effective” (Area 1). But it did propose to redefine Area 2 to reflect 90% of the UK (up from 70%) and Area 3 to reflect 10% (down from 30%).

The changes reflect today’s fluid market, where in many areas Openreach now faces competition from more than just Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre), including a wide mix of alternative networks (Summary of UK Full Fibre Builds). But the likes of CityFibre, Netomnia, CommunityFibre, Hyperoptic, FullFibre and Gigaclear have had some of the biggest impacts. On the flip side, many altnets are today suffering a slowdown or even stall due to the strained economic climate (i.e. high interest rates, rising build costs and competition etc.).

Despite this, Openreach’s Mark Shurmer told the FT (paywall) that restrictions on them should be loosened by Ofcom in areas where there were three alternative providers, or in places where Virgin Media was present. Ofcom said in March 2025 that competition in the sector would “take time to become sustainable”, but Shurmer disagrees. “You’re talking about Virgin Media O2, a well-established operator, or CityFibre, funded by [Abu Dhabi] sovereign wealth fund [Mubadala] and Goldman Sachs,” he said.

The pain points fuelling Shurmer’s position are easy to see. As noted in our H1 2025 Broadband Coverage report, altnets were found to have covered 42.26% of the UK with FTTP broadband by the end of H1 2025 (up from 39.38% in H2 2024). At the same time, Openreach’s most recent quarterly results noted that broadband line losses to rivals had hit 169k (albeit down from 243k in the prior quarter). The caveat here is that most of their line losses come from areas where they’ve yet to deploy FTTP, thus any suggestion of scaling back their roll-out may carry other risks.

Shurmer thus warns that Openreach may struggle to meet its provisional target of covering 30 million homes with full fibre broadband by 2030 if Ofcom sticks with existing measures. On the flip side, altnets argue that competition is still in the process of being established, and some are also unhappy about the revised definitions for Area 2 and 3.

For example, Gigaclear recently warned Ofcom that Area 3 is now “far too small” (here) and highlighted how “just because an altnet has built it, doesn’t immediately make it commercially viable for two operators“. As usual, everybody is fighting from their own corners of vested interest and the regulator has the difficult task of finding a balance.

In the end, both sides make valid points, but excluding Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre), competition in the UK’s full fibre market is still a patchwork of smaller players that is in the slow process of consolidating itself toward a hopefully more cohesive and effective structure for the future.

The problem with any transitional market is that we can’t yet see for certain exactly where it will end up, which does at least suggest that Ofcom must be very careful not to upset the apple cart too much this time around (bigger changes may have to wait until 2031). The regulator is due to set out their final proposals for TAR 2026 in the very near future.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

SpaceX’s Starlink service, which sells ultrafast broadband to the UK and globally via a mega constellation using thousands of compact satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), has revealed the development of a new “mini laser” that will enable their satellites to connect with “third party satellites and space stations“.

Starlink currently has around 8,190 satellites in orbit (c.4,500 are v2 / V2 Mini) – mostly at altitudes of c.500-600km – and they’ll add thousands more by the end of 2027. Residential customers in the UK usually pay from £75 a month ($120 in the USA), plus £299 for hardware (currently free for most areas) on the ‘Standard’ unlimited data plan (kit price may vary due to different offers), which promises UK latency times of 28-36ms, downloads of 103-258Mbps and uploads of 15-26Mbps. Cheaper and more restrictive options also exist for roaming users.

According to the company’s VP of Engineering, Michael Nicolls, Starlink has also developed an additional “mini laser” that will be used to “connect third party satellites and space stations into the Starlink constellation“. Take note that existing platforms already include three lasers, but these are only designed to link between Starlink’s own satellites (ISL), which run at speeds of up to 200Gbps (distance unclear).

The new mini laser is designed to achieve link speeds of 25Gbps (Gigabits per second) at distances up to 4,000km and has recently been successfully tested in orbit on a satellite launched on the Starlink G10-20 mission earlier this month. You can get a little taste of this laser in a new video that depicts the company’s satellite production process (here).

In theory, this could open up a new market for Starlink by serving third-party satellites with additional connectivity and redundancy options, although the distance does limit its use to platforms in low and medium earth orbits.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Infracapital-backed UK ISP Fibrus today confirmed the completion of their £200m (state aid) Project Stratum contract in Northern Ireland, which helped to spread their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to 81,000 addition premises in poorly served rural areas “on time and within budget.”

At present around 97% of premises across Northern Ireland can already access a full fibre broadband network (here), which makes it by far the best-connected region within the United Kingdom and that would not have been possible without the combined efforts of Virgin Media, Openreach and Fibrus (plus some smaller deployments by Netomnia).

A few years ago Fibrus also secured the state aid backed Project Stratum contract, which after a coverage extension previously aimed to reach 85,000 additional premises with FTTP connectivity. But such contracts often adapt as they progress due to unexpected changes, such as any obstacles to build or a higher level of commercial coverage than originally forecast, which is why it ended up on 81,000.

The contract is said to have represented the “largest telecoms infrastructure project ever seen in Northern Ireland“, which Fibrus delivered “on time and within budget, changing the lives of those in rural communities and offering them the same opportunities as their urban counterparts“. The venture was also backed by the Department for the Economy, Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the UK Government.

Dr. Caoimhe Archibald, N.I Economy Minister, said: 

“High quality internet access is vital for our economy and wider society. Supported by over £200m investment from both the public and private sector, Project Statum has made gigabit services available to 81,000 premises across the north, particularly in rural areas. It has improved our broadband coverage across the north, supporting our businesses, our people and our communities, enabling our daily activities from how we shop, study and work, to how we access services.”

Dominic Kearns, Fibrus CEO, said:

“We’re extremely proud of the impact that Fibrus and Project Stratum has had on the homes and businesses that have received connections to our full fibre network to over the last 4 years of our roll out. Our team have travelled every road and lane to ensure this project got to the families and businesses that needed it most, on time and within budget.

Helping rural communities to thrive is at the heart of everything we do at Fibrus, and we are delighted to have been able to aid the Compass Advocacy Network’s digital transformation at Lislagan Farm. We wish the team and the charity all the best for the future and look forward to seeing them continue to expand their services.”

The UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme will now take on most of the responsibility for filling in any gaps in gigabit-capable broadband coverage that remain, which previously forecast that up to around 60,000 premises may still need help to access a gigabit network (here). A related tender for this, worth up to £81m, was submitted last year, but there has been little in the way of progress updates since then (here). A contract was due to be awarded this summer.

Customers of the service typically pay from £24.99 per month for an unlimited 159Mbps (34Mbps upload) package with an included router and free installation, which rises to just £34.99 per month for their top 982Mbps (310Mbps upload) tier on a 24-month contract term. Service discounts may vary between different parts of their build.

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Fixed wireless and broadband provider Connexin, which is in the process of being acquired by CityFibre (here), has today revealed that their existing Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) network has already connected 250,000 smart water meters across parts of the UK.

Fixed wireless LoRa networks harness only a small slice of lower frequency radio spectrum (usually in the sub-1GHz bands) in order to support relatively slow, but extremely low power, data connections. Such networks tend to run at sub-Megabit speeds (often under 0.05Mbps, but some variants can handle several Megabits), which makes them ideal for linking Internet of Things (IoT) style sensors.

Over the past year or two Connexin has secured major contracts with several leading UK water suppliers – including Northumbrian Water, Essex & Suffolk Water, Yorkshire Water, and Severn Trent Water – to deliver smart water metering using their wireless network.

The smart meters deliver near real-time data, enabling residents and businesses to track water usage, cut bills, and support initiatives to reduce leakage from the water network. Smart-sensor technology can also aid in flood prevention, minimise damage and emergency response costs, optimise maintenance to lower operational spending, and strengthen climate resilience and public safety with targeted infrastructure insights.

This technology can also enable use cases such as smarter waste management by optimising collection routes and reducing unnecessary trips, improve road safety in colder weather through intelligent gritting that ensures roads are treated where and when they need it, deliver energy savings with smart street lighting that adjusts brightness while maintaining safety and visibility, and support smart transport solutions that help reduce congestion and emissions across towns and cities.

Dan Preece, VP of Water & Utilities at Connexin, said:

“Water is a precious resource which needs to be protected. Smart city solutions are essential for updating our utilities to meet modern needs and to make them more sustainable – by connecting real-world systems to digital intelligence, we enable real-time, insight-driven decision-making and driving integrated regional transformation.”

Connexin’s LoRaWAN® IoT network now connects “almost” 250,000 meters across the country and they have a plan to connect the whole of the UK. Currently compulsory in water-stressed regions, smart metering is expected to become mandatory nationwide following recommendations from the Cunliffe Review, published in July 2025.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative network ISP CommunityFibre, which has so far built their 5Gbps speed full fibre broadband (FTTP) network to cover 1.342 million UK homes (plus c.200k businesses) – mostly in London, today claims to have become one of the first altnets to launch an international data roaming eSIM mobile service – available across over 160 countries.

The Community Fibre eSIM is essentially a prepaid 4G and 5G capable data plan with support for tethering and “no hidden fees, charges, or contracts“, which can also be topped up at any time, even when you’re offline. The flexible data roaming plans, which can be used alongside your existing physical SIM and number, allows users to choose the amount of data they need and the number of days they’ll need it for before travel.

The new service is also being supporting by a new Community Fibre eSIM App, which can be taken via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Overall, this is an interesting product for a provider like CommunityFibre to launch, although it doesn’t appear to be all that different from the many other data centric eSIM providers that have popped up over the past few years.

The announcement does however claim that customers can “save up to 96% with our prepaid data plans in over 160 countries“, although this claim lacks a clear base of substantiation for comparison. One other issue is that it doesn’t seem possible to bring up any pricing via the eSIM page on their website, which suggests that this may only be possible if you install their App first.

UPDATE 1:57pm

Digging deeper, we found a mention of that 96% saving in the FAQ sections of their website, which states the following: “Saving compared to UK mobile providers. 96% compares Community Fibre eSIM for 1 GB for 7 days in USA (£2.29) vs Vodafone’s daily roaming rate of £7.86 (if you bought your plan on or after 11 August 2021 and don’t have inclusive destinations in your data plan).”

We think this may not be the best comparison, since it’s not a true apples-to-apples comparison with a similar eSIM service. For example, Airalo will give you 1GB for 7 days at £3.50 and eSIM Choice will do the same for £3. But we’d need to compare across multiple countries and providers to find what sort of average savings may be possible, if any, although £2.29 is good.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile and broadband ISP EE (BT) has confirmed to ISPreview that the approach they currently take on their top 1.6Gbps speed Full Fibre (FTTP) package, which partly cuts BT Wholesale out of the equation, is set to be adopted across their slower tiers too (900Mbps and lower). But customers aren’t expected to notice any real difference.

In the past it used to be the case that BT and EE’s consumer focused broadband packages were based on BTW’s products, but this changed after Openreach launched their faster 1.2Gbps and 1.8Gbps tiers (usually advertised as average speeds of 1000Mbps and 1600Mbps, respectively). This is partly because BTW still doesn’t offer any consumer-focused FTTP products faster than 1Gbps (900Mbps) for UK ISPs.

Instead, EE’s fastest package largely took the 1.8Gbps (sold as 1.6Gbps) wholesale product directly from Openreach and seemed to then have deployed their own platform to support it (this still seems to involve some of BTW’s network, just not the 1.8Gbps wholesale product). But the technical specifics of exactly how this is all arranged remains a little bit subject to speculation (the ISP has not provided many official details when asked).

The latest development is that EE appear to now be planning to adopt the same approach they took for their 1.6Gbps package and spreading it out to their slower speed services. A spokesperson for the BT Group confirmed that they would be making such an internal change, although this is perhaps only interesting from a technical standpoint, since it’s not expected to have any impact on customers or their service (i.e. you won’t notice a difference).

The change is currently in trial and is expected to be rolled out in the very near future, although BT/EE hasn’t provided a detailed timescale. But we assume they wouldn’t be deploying it more widely if they didn’t see some advantages in cost or efficiency of service delivery, particularly as BTWholesale can already directly serve products with speeds up to 1Gbps (900Mbps average). In theory, putting all customers on the same approach could also solve some issues around internal package migrations and upgrades, which have occasionally cropped up due to the split of platforms.

ISPreview understands that the plan is for both existing and new customers to move seamlessly onto the new platform, with changes happening remotely.