Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A few years have passed since the South Western Railway (SWR) announced that it would deploy a new rail-side 5G mast network (here), which aimed to deliver “superfast” onboard WiFi for people travelling on a 70km long stretch of their Main Line into London (between Basingstoke and Earlsfield). But after some delays, the new network is now live.

The original announcement, which involved the roll-out of a “Rail-5G” solution (i.e. special track-side 5G mobile / radio pole masts that are used to supply data capacity for onboard WiFi), envisaged the new network – backed by FirstGroup’s rail division – as being completed during “early 2023“. But clearly it ended up taking a bit longer than that to deliver.

According to the latest update, customers can on that stretch of line can now enjoy “unprecedented internet speeds up to 20 times faster than the current average“, as it becomes the “first train operator in Europe to introduce rail-5G Wi-Fi” (we have seen other train operators using similar solutions before). But that reference to “20 times faster” should perhaps be taken in context of SWR’s previously quite flaky onboard WiFi (speaking from personal experience).

On the other hand, SWR did previously trial the solution on the Isle of Wight, which is said to have been able to “consistently deliver” broadband speeds (throughput) of 1Gbps to a moving train (i.e. shared capacity for commuters and the train operator). The new Rail-5G network is separately described as being a “multi-gigabit internet solution“.

Peter Williams, Customer and Commercial Director for SWR, said:

“We’re thrilled that our customers travelling between Earlsfield and Basingstoke are the first to benefit from this unprecedented superfast Wi-Fi.

Customers can now stream, download files, video call, and much more – without worrying about their connection.

Whether travelling for work or leisure, having access to a strong and reliable internet connection will make their time on board more productive and enjoyable.

We hope this will make travelling by train an even more attractive option, helping to get people out of cars and onto the rail network.”

SWR highlights how polling conducted by Ipsos found that 41% of UK adults would be more likely to consider taking the train over other modes of transport if train companies provided fast, reliable on-board Wi-Fi. The figure is even higher among younger people, rising to 64% of those aged 16-24 and 59% of those aged 25-34.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

London, UK – 19 May 2025 – Vyntelligence (Vyn®) today marks a historical milestone by unveiling Agentic Video Intelligence. This first of its kind technology is set to revolutionise field operations and customer experience with autonomous, intelligent workflows.

This comes at a time when the UK is preparing to invest £700 billion in infrastructure and assets. From the UK’s AMP8 regulatory cycle, Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, and continued investment in grid and mains upgrades, infrastructure remains the backbone of the UK’s Net Zero transition.

But with critical skill shortages and trillions in physical assets to deploy and maintain, legacy systems and processes are no longer fit for purpose. Paper trails, form-filling, and fragmented workflows slow down the very teams tasked with delivering the future of infrastructure. This demands smarter delivery – safer, faster, greener. Vyntelligence is rewriting the playbook.

Unveiled at Utility Week Live, Agentic Video Intelligence replaces outdated interfaces with the most natural one: video. Using video, frontline teams and even consumers can now “show and tell”. No more forms, no more friction. Problems are captured, connected and closed in real time, with Vyn® AI agents orchestrating work without delays.

Vyn® System of Video Agents include Vyn® Quality Agent, Vyn® Safety Agent, Vyn® Job Admin Agent, Vyn® Triage Agent, and Vyn® Collaboration Agent. These work together to ensure Right First Time delivery, boost safety through real-time awareness, eliminate admin, and speed up fault triage. They also connect teams across design, maintenance, and asset health – turning fragmented workflows into seamless action. Together, Vyn® AI Agents simplify and speed up the frontline work.

Already trusted by 90% of top UK utilities, telco and retail enterprises, Vyntelligence offers these intelligent workflows built on years of verticalised, ethically sourced, user-generated video data and rich context awareness that deliver dashboards and insights at the edge.

“We’re proud to partner with the world’s leading infrastructure providers and their ecosystem partners to build the data and asset intelligence backbone for a smarter, more resilient future,” said Kapil Singhal, co-founder and CEO of Vyntelligence. “With Agentic Video Intelligence, we’re transforming how work gets done in complex, underserved environments, making insight accessible where it’s needed most and where we have severe lack of expert resources. For the first time, frontline teams can simply show and tell with Vyn®. Vyn® enhances process efficiency by acting as a virtual on-site expert. Leveraging the high information density of video, Vyn® AI can watch, listen and interpret. Through integrations, it tracks status changes, while smart search and prompts provide access to relevant information about a site, asset, or specific moment.“

Vyntelligence continues to deliver on its stated purpose of simplifying and speeding up frontline work, carefully balancing people, profit and the planet. Building happier customers, contractors and colleagues.

Book a 15 min call with one of our experts to find out more.

###

About Vyntelligence: 

Vyntelligence (Vyn^®) is the market-leading Agentic Video Intelligence Work Platform, designed for customers, contractors and colleagues. Vyn Simplifies and Speeds up work with short video data capture and Agentic Video Intelligence.

Top 80% of UK utilities, telecoms, and retail clients use Vyn^®, creating trusted engagement by simplifying and speeding up work to optimise asset life cycles.

Vyntelligence powers collaboration across multibillion dollar worth of assets. Vyn® harnesses insights from 200+ contractor firms, thousands of colleagues and millions of retail consumers. Vyn® purposefully balances profit and the planet by saving field visits, upskilling people and making lives safer at work.

Vyn® turns field videos — prompted before, during, and after work — into automated workflows, such as invoicing and work instructions. Its AI-driven insights help businesses improve pricing accuracy, speed up delivery, ensure safety, and maintain compliance.

As a pioneer in Video Intelligence, Vyn has the largest expertly-curated short-video knowledge base, integrating advanced Generative AI models across video, vision, and speech.

Vyn® is proud to partner with game changer clients, such as EDP, Total Energies, Cadent Gas, Scotia Gas, Suez, Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent, Openreach, Vodafone, and UK Power Networks.

Recognised as a Gartner Cool Vendor 2023, Vyn holds US patents for Smart Data Capture and AI-driven insights.

Vyn^® SmartVideoNotes^® and Vyntelligence are registered trademarks of humanLearning Ltd.

For press enquiries, please contact us at isha@vyntelligence.com

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative network provider Wildanet, which has spent the past few years deploying a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based gigabit broadband network across rural parts of Cornwall and Devon in England, has announced plans to conduct a “phased retirement” of their legacy Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network.

Just to recap. The internet provider, which has recently suffered some job losses (here) and is currently in the process of changing CEO (here), originally started life in 2017 as a fixed wireless broadband provider for remote rural communities across Cornwall. But in recent years they’ve branched out to focus more on deploying full fibre networks instead of wireless ones.

However, much of the equipment supporting their original FWA network is now said to be “approaching the end of its operational life“, which means it’s becoming “increasingly prone to failure” and is “no longer economically viable to maintain or upgrade“.

Suffice to say that Wildanet have now taken the decision to retire their FWA network and has already begun a project to assist affected customers with transitioning across to an alternative service, in advance of the planned decommissioning. Many of the affected customers have already transitioned over to a new service.

The original timeline to decommission parts of the FWA network was scheduled for June 2025, but this has now been postponed to 31st October 2025 in order to allow more time to transition their remaining customers on to alternative broadband solutions.

Simon Hughes, Chief Commercial Officer at Wildanet, said:

“While the FWA service was an important part of the foundation and early development of Wildanet, some of the supporting infrastructure is no longer economically viable to maintain or upgrade and as a result we have made the difficult decision to retire parts of this older network and focus our efforts on delivering new, more reliable broadband technology.

The Wildanet team will be contacting all remaining customers affected by this change to assist their transition to an alternative broadband service (where they have not already).

Where possible, our teams will help customers move over to an alternative broadband service provided by Wildanet. If that is not currently available at their address, the Wildanet team will assist customers in exploring other options.”

Hopefully this transition won’t result in too many of their remaining FWA subscribers being thrown back to even slower copper-based broadband lines. But we can imagine that this may still be the outcome for some locations.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

APFN is to provide business-grade FTTP connections to Onecom customers, after a deal was signed between the two companies.

Onecom has already started onboarding to APFN’s aquila platform, through which Onecom will have access to the largest network of business-grade fibre premises in the UK. aquila will enable Onecom to access CityFibre FTTP connectivity for the first time, allowing the reseller immediately to broaden its offer.

Onecom is the UK’s leading provider of business communications, IT, and security services trusted by small to medium-sized organisations and enterprises nationwide.

One of Onecom’s critical business requirements is for Layer 3 connectivity, which aquila can deliver with ease. The Onecom – APFN deal will therefore be the first time that Layer 3 Connectivity is delivered by APFN over the CityFibre network.

Commenting on the deal, Nisreen El-kaloush, APFN Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Our agreement with Onecom is just the latest in a series of deals that we are signing to bring new partners on to aquila. We can’t wait to welcome Onecom on to the platform, and to start delivering amazing service experiences to their customers.”

Marcus Alves, Head of Product and Supplier Management at Onecom, said: “By partnering with All Points Fibre Networks, Onecom is able to offer more businesses the opportunity to access high-performance fibre broadband. This collaboration will ensure that we can meet the growing demand for reliable connectivity, even in areas where traditional providers may not have the capacity to deliver.”

Onecom is committed to helping businesses stay competitive in an ever-evolving digital world. The partnership with APFN strengthens the ability to offer future-proof connectivity, allowing businesses to operate more efficiently, increase productivity, and maintain a strong digital presence.

This partnership opens up new opportunities for businesses across the UK, providing them with the reliable, high-speed fibre connectivity needed to drive efficiency, support growth, and stay competitive.

George Wareing, Chief Sales Officer at CityFibre, said: “AllPoints Fibre Network’s new aquila platform is opening up opportunities for even more partners to reach customers with the best products, the best economics and the best service, all from CityFibre’s  growing full fibre network.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed to grant SpaceX’s Starlink service “temporary authorisation” to harness the E band frequencies for their mega constellation of compact ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The move would expand their backhaul capacity at three gateway earth station sites within the UK.

At present Starlink has around 7,580 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (c.3,880 are v2 Mini / GEN 2A) – mostly at altitudes of c.500-600km – and they’ll add thousands more by the end of 2027. Residential customers in the UK typically pay from £75 a month, plus £299 for hardware on the ‘Standard’ unlimited data plan (currently free in some areas on a 12-month term), which promises latency times of 25-60ms, downloads of 25-100Mbps and uploads of 5-10Mbps.

However, Starlink’s growing network is in need of new capacity to support its expansion, which has resulted in the company requesting temporary authorisation to use E band (71-76GHz and 81-86GHz) spectrum at three of its existing gateway sites: Morn Hill (Hampshire), Wherstead (Suffolk) and Woodwalton (Cambridgeshire).

The regulator has today proposed to grant these temporary authorisations, which would expire on 31st December 2028. But they would be subject to some technical conditions in order to protect existing uses for Fixed Service and the Earth Exploration Satellite Service (passive).

The reason for this being only a temporary measure is because Ofcom are still in the process of developing their plans for making spectrum in the Q, V and E bands available for satellite gateways. But given Starlink’s request for the spectrum, Ofcom has decided to phase this work, although they still plan to consult on the longer-term authorisation of gateways in E band in 2028 – following the next World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027 (WRC-27). The regulator also still intends to make the Q/V bands available for satellite gateways and they’ll consult on that in Q2 2025/6.

“We consider that, subject to these conditions, issuing these licences on a temporary basis should not unduly affect other services using E band and adjacent frequencies,” said Ofcom’s statement. The proposal is currently subject to consultation until 27th June 2025. The final decision would then, short of any unexpected delays, be confirmed on Q2 2025/6.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News 

South Western Railway (SWR) has become the first train operator in Europe to roll out a ‘Rail-5G’ Wi-Fi solution, promising internet speeds up to 20 times faster than currently available on most UK trains

The new technology has gone live on a 70 km stretch between Earlsfield and Basingstoke, one of the busiest parts of the rail network. The upgrade allows passengers to stream video, download large files, make video calls, and work remotely with minimal disruption. 

Unlike standard onboard Wi-Fi (which typically pulls signal from mobile masts and struggles with bandwidth when hundreds of passengers are online) the rail-5G solution involves the creation of a dedicated trackside network. Antennas installed along the route and on trains deliver a continuous connection throughout the journey. 

The system was developed by FirstGroup’s rail technology team, following a successful trial on the Isle of Wight’s Island Line. According to SWR, a full HD film could now be downloaded in just four minutes. 

“We’re thrilled that our customers travelling between Earlsfield and Basingstoke are the first to benefit from this unprecedented superfast Wi-Fi. Customers can now stream, download files, video call, and much more – without worrying about their connection,” said Peter Williams, Customer and Commercial Director for South Western Railway in a press release. 

“We hope this will make travelling by train an even more attractive option, helping to get people out of cars and onto the rail network,” he continued. 

SWR hopes the improved service will help make rail travel a more attractive option. A recent Ipsos poll found that 41% of UK adults would be more likely to travel by train if reliable Wi-Fi was available. Among 16–24-year-olds, that figure rises to 64%. 

The operator says more upgrades are on the way as it looks to improve digital infrastructure across its network. 

Last week, the company was the first UK train operator to be nationalised in over 30 years.

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Also in the news:
BT accelerates fibre rollout amid cost cuts
AT&T agrees $5.75 billion deal for Lumen’s consumer fibre assets
Telefónica exits Uruguay in $440m Millicom deal

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

State-owned broadband ISP and telecoms operator JT (Jersey Telecom), supported by technology partner Ericsson, have today confirmed that their c. £80 million project to deploy a new 5G based mobile network across Jersey (English Channel Island) has finally started to go live across its first area.

The deployment, which was first announced almost two years ago (there have been various trials and pilots conducted since then), will also involve both the complementary retirement of their legacy 3G network and the replacement of JT’s existing 4G network (this is based off kit from Chinese firm ZTE, is now seen as a security risk by the UK government and other countries).

So far, the operator has successfully migrated the old network on sites within Area 1 of their deployment plan (St Ouen) and transitioned to the newly built network, which all occurred over the weekend. “Predictions based on early testing show significant signal strength and coverage improvements, culminating in further significant increases in average download speed on the new network compared to the previous connectivity,” claimed the update.

The process of rolling out the new network will take place over “several months“, with new areas going live in a phased approach. The full 5G Standalone (SA) experience will then only become available once all phases are completed, which is expected by the end of 2025 (i.e. this reflects end-to-end 5G connectivity without any 4G services to hold the network back, assuming you have a compatible device / Smartphone).

Predicted 5G Go Live Dates in 2025

Area 1 – North-West (St Ouen, St Mary) – MAY/JUN
Area 2 – North (St John) – JUN
Area 3 – North-East (Trinity, St Martin) – JUN
Area 4 – East (Grouville, Gorey, La Rocque) – JUL
Area 5 – West (St Peter, Airport) – JUL
Area 6 – South-West (St Brelade) – AUG
Area 7 – St Helier Town Centre and Marina – SEPT
Area 8 – Central (St Saviour, Five Oaks) – SEPT
Area 9 – South-East (St Clement) – OCT
Area 10 – South (St Lawrence, First Tower, St Peter) – NOV

JT has also invested in extensive core network equipment in Guernsey as part of this initiative and stands ready to switch the radio network to match the capabilities of Jersey’s. But only once the Guernsey Regulator establishes a spectrum licensing framework for the deployment of 5G and future technologies.

Daragh McDermott, CEO of JT Group, said:

“Networks are never complete; the work never stops because technology is always improving, so our focus will always be on enabling the technology of tomorrow, for our customers today. We are constantly looking ahead while addressing current needs, providing the best possible connectivity and working with partner organisations and businesses to help them get the most out of the network.

It’s about taking the right risks and making prudent investments so everyone can thrive and innovate, advancing the digital economy across the Channel Islands.”

Deputy Lyndon Farnham, Chief Minister of Jersey, said:

“We welcome the roll-out across the Island of the new 5G network and the potential for enhanced service, security, resilience and innovation it brings. I was able to visit JT’s Network Operation Centre for the official launch and look forward to hearing more about the performance of the new network and the impact on customers in Jersey.”

The new mobile network, once completed, should act as a good complement to JT’s new fixed line full fibre (FTTP/H) broadband network on the island. Upon completion, it will also be one of the few networks globally to have end-to-end Ericsson 5G technology.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Clevedon-based business, student and residential ISP Glide Group, which is separately still busy expanding their full fibre broadband network, has today announced that a recent funding boost from banking giant NatWest has enabled it to start preparing for an “ambitious expansion” of its high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity infrastructure too.

The investment will focus on delivering new connectivity to those living in high density developments, such as student accommodation, and purpose-built rental residences, as well as SMEs (small and medium sized businesses) based in remote business parks. This will see them building beyond their existing services in student hubs, such as Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester and London.

NatWest’s backing will also allow Glide to further develop its commercial offering, providing more small businesses and start-ups with access to high-speed broadband, although no details of this were provided. The firm said they’re “particularly committed to supporting business customers based in remote and hard-to-reach locations“.

The announcement comes several months after Glide announced that it had successfully completed the refinancing of its existing debt arrangements (here), which also included a new capex (capital expenditure) facility to support growth.

Tim Pilcher, CEO of Glide, said:

“The team at NatWest has become a significant lender in supporting Glide’s growth strategy. Their decision to join us as a key financial partner reflects confidence in our vision and the strength of our business model.

We look forward to building this new partnership as we continue expanding our fibre network, ensuring our customers receive the robust and seamless connectivity they rely on in today’s digital world.”

Stuart Allison, Relationship Director at NatWest, said:

“We’re committed to providing support for businesses of all sizes and whatever stage of their journey. Glide has been a valued NatWest customer for many years and we are thrilled to support the team’s continued growth and infrastructure investment through this latest funding deal.

This investment will enable Glide to expand its high-speed connectivity solutions to new markets, ensuring more businesses and residential areas benefit from their services.”

Glide’s most recent company accounts to the end of January 2024 (here) noted how their revenues had grown by 15% in the year to £27.9m and gross profit grew to £17.3m (up from £15.4m). The provider also onboarded 12,000 new student beds in the year, meaning they now serve a total of over 250,000 students with internet connectivity. Glide also added 7,000 new business units to their coverage and invested over £20.9m into their network (up from £19.6m in the previous year).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network analyst firm Streetwave has revealed that they’ve won yet another contract to map 4G and 5G mobile broadband coverage and performance in England, which will this time see them testing along 6,000km of the road network within the four councils covered by the local authority’s Superfast South Yorkshire project.

Streetwave have spent the past two years harnessing waste (bin / refuse) collection trucks to map mobile network coverage and speeds in various parts of the UK (e.g. here, here, here, here and here). In this setup, refuse trucks are installed with several off-the-shelf Smartphones using special software on top, which run continuous network tests (once every 20 metres in rural areas and 5m in urban areas) as the vehicles go around their routes.

The data they collect is then used by local authorities to help identify areas that may require additional intervention in order to improve local mobile coverage and or network capacity. In addition, members of the public have also been given access to some of this data via address-based coverage checkers and interactive maps (example).

The new deal will see mobile coverage quality being benchmarked across every road in each of the associated councils, including Barnsley Council, Sheffield City Council, Doncaster Council and the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. Some 1,400,000 people live across this the region and will soon be able to access greater detail on local mobile connectivity.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A little over a year has passed since broadband and telecoms giant BT announced a 10-year project, which aimed to convert a further 2,000 of the operator’s legacy payphones and kiosks – across more than 200 UK towns and cities – into smart Street Hubs, starting this year (here). But objections by some local authorities are starting to mount.

At the last update in March 2024, BT had already upgraded around 1,000 of their old payphone boxes to Street Hub 2 units, which typically offer features such as “up to” 1Gbps capable public WiFi internet connectivity (“within a 150-metre radius“), free UK calling, USB device charging, small cells to boost localised 4G or 5G mobile signals, local information / adverts via a large HD touchscreen display and environmental sensors etc.

However, the rollout seems to be running into a few obstacles, with the planning departments of several local authorities rejecting a growing number of BT’s proposed deployments. For example, 27 similar schemes were rejected in Bristol city centre last year, following 750 objections from members of the public.

In addition, similar rejections have recently occurred across locations such as Swindon and Salisbury in Wiltshire, Dursley and Stroud in Gloucestershire, and Bristol. Such objections are often particularly strong when BT has been looking to deploy the kiosks inside of conservation areas, where greater scrutiny is often to be expected.

Most of the rejections tend to highlight issues with the kiosk’s siting, design, scale and illumination (Punchl!ne). For example, the Dursely Town Council initially accepted the principle of BT’s idea, but ultimately described the kiosks as “alien” and “incongruous” – one of “an inappropriate design and appearance“.

Planners had something similar to say about BT’s future deployment in Bristol’s Staple Hill and Kingswood: “The proposals would occupy valuable walkway space, restricting the flow of pedestrian movement and hindering accessibility for individuals with mobility issues, serve as a distraction, and obstruct pedestrians’ views, thereby exacerbating safety risks for pedestrians.”

A BT Group Spokesperson told ISPreview:

“Street Hubs are digital units which support our Universal Service Obligation to provide a public call service in the UK. We work with council departments, community members, and BID (Business Improvement District) teams to refine our location selection process.

As well as offering connectivity to make calls and utilise free public Wi-Fi, Street Hubs also offer USBs for rapid device charging, touch-screen tablets displaying real-time public information and a dedicated 999 calling button.”