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The LSBUD (Line Search Before You Dig) organisation, which offers an online asset search facility to UK civil engineering firms for underground pipes and cables, has said that Northern Ireland’s underground pipes and cables will be “safer than ever before” after Virgin Media (O2) and Mutual Energy joined their platform.

The operators both just became the first members of LSBUD’s platform in Northern Ireland, which is said to be “helping to protect UK infrastructure, workers, and the public from avoidable utility strikes” (i.e. damage to infrastructure, not union activity). At present more than 12,000 kilometres of underground assets are registered on LSBUD across NI.

By registering, these founding Members can now provide detailed asset maps to anyone looking to take on an excavation project, which should help to protect both their own networks and those doing the digging.

Richard Broome, Managing Director of LSBUD, said:

“We’re so pleased to be welcoming the first Members in Northern Ireland to our growing network. With existing Members and Users pushing for us to expand our services into Northern Ireland, following the success our service has had in the UK, the move marks a major milestone for the safe digging community.

We would like to thank our founding Members Mutual Energy and VMO2 for being so proactive in their pursuit of safety. The impact of a strike can have serious ramifications, from expensive repairs and disrupted services through to reputational damage and risk to life. By joining our established service, not only are they protecting their assets from costly damage, but also keeping those people digging around them safe. Safe digging is for all.”

But this approach does appear to compete a bit with the UK Government’s ongoing development of a National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) for England, Northern Ireland and Wales, which represents a new digital map of underground pipes and cables (broadband, power, water etc.) – also intended to help reduce accidental damage.

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UK ISP BT (EE) appears to be set to make an important change to their line-up of low-cost home broadband social tariffs – available to those on state benefits (Home Essentials). The headline change is the provider’s move to scrap their special 36Mbps (average speed) £15 per month “fibre” plan for those with “no income” on 1st May 2025. But other plans remain.

The Home Essentials plans reflect “fibre” (FTTC/P) and call bundles that are usually only available to those receiving Universal Credit (and certain legacy benefits). The plans included unlimited data, the ability to cancel anytime without penalty and speeds of 36Mbps (dropping back to 16Mbps in ADSL-only areas) or 67Mbps for just £15-£20 or £23 per month respectively. A Call Only (no broadband) plan also existed for £10 per month.

Crucially, the 36Mbps package was normally priced at £20 per month, but a special “Home Essentials No Income” option also existed (see old T&Cs) that reduced the price to just £15 per month and added unlimited anytime UK calls. This was available to those who receive Universal Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and “not receive any income from any paid employment and not have anyone else in their household receiving any income from any paid employment.”

However, BT recently released new T&Cs for their Home Essentials plans (credits to Thinkbroadband for spotting), which will apply to “customers joining from 2nd May 2025, and to Home Essentials customers that joined before 2nd May 2025 (except customers that are in-contract for their previous Home Essentials plan).”

The changes reflect a small +£1 price increase for two of their plans and the removal of their “No Income” option. The only £15 option left is the one intended for those in ADSL-only areas (i.e. people with no FTTC/P “fibre” services). But the original packages are currently still available until May 2025, so now might be a good time to lock in your chosen package for the next 12-month period.

Revised BT Home Essentials Plans

Home Essentials Unlimited Broadband*
Average downloads of 16Mbps
Unlimited anytime calls to UK mobiles and 01,02, 03, 0845 and 0870 numbers excluding Channel Islands
£15 per month

* This plan will “only be available where fibre broadband is unavailable“.

Home Essentials Fibre Essential plan
Average downloads of 36Mbps
£21 per month

Home Essentials Fibre 2 plan
Average downloads of 67Mbps
£24 per month

Home Essentials Call Only plan
Unlimited anytime calls to UK mobiles and 01,02, 03, 0845 and 0870 numbers excluding Channel Islands
£10 per month

NOTE: Customers who take BT’s broadband-only Home Essentials plans can optionally still add Pay As You Go (PAYG) calling from an extra £2 per month or £10 if you want unlimited anytime UK calls.

In practice, this means that those on the No Income plan in a “fibre” area will eventually have to shift to BT’s £21 package, which is quite a steep price increase (or hunt out another ISP). The provider had previously also made a bit of a song and dance about how their social tariffs would not be increasing in price when they confirmed their latest round of annual hikes in January 2025 (here), but clearly their earlier statement wasn’t entirely accurate.

Finally, a quick reminder. We know social tariffs can be a divisive topic for some, but that is not an excuse to abuse the comment system in order to post offensive remarks toward those who take state benefits. Such posts are against our rules and will be removed.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Infracapital-backed broadband operator and UK ISP Fibrus, which is building a full fibre (FTTP) network across rural parts of Cumbria (England) and Northern Ireland, has this week re-launched their Community Fund for 2025 with a pot of £120,000 to invest across a variety of rural community groups within the operator’s network patch.

So far Fibrus have already allocated £175,000 to local groups across Northern Ireland and £120,000 to 68 local groups across Cumbria – all since 2021. But this week’s announcement means they’ll be continuing this sponsorship throughout 2025 with more funding and a “focus on addressing digital poverty and fostering inclusivity within rural communities.” The grants are worth up to £2,000 for each organisation selected.

The operator’s network currently reaches over 400,000 UK premises and has connected 100,000 customers.

Linda McMillan, Chief People Officer at Fibrus, said:

“The local community is at the heart of everything we do at Fibrus, from our day-to-day work to our sponsorships and community engagement. The Fibrus Community Fund 2025 will see another £60,000 go to deserving clubs and organisations, helping us bridge the gap in becoming a fully digital inclusive society.

We are delighted to bring Full Fibre broadband to areas that have been notoriously hard to reach and are extremely proud to continue working with Community Foundation NI to expand our rural community’s digital literacy and connectivity through this fund.”

If you are part of, or know of, a club or organisation that could benefit from funding, the next round of the Fibrus Community Fund is now open and will close on Friday, 9 May.

Learn more about the Community Fund Northern Ireland here.

Learn more about the Community Fund Cumbria here.

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Broadband ISP and mobile operator Vodafone has revealed more details about how they’re harnessing their UK mobile network to provide more accurate rain “nowcasting” (i.e. short-term forecast of rainfall – from a few minutes to a few hours ahead). This is supported by the River Severn Partnership’s Advanced Wireless Innovation Region (RSPAWIR) and Wireless DNA.

The trial is being run across the River Severn catchment area, which has a long history of flooding. An estimated £230 million per year is said to be spent across the region to manage and mitigate damage to infrastructure brought by floods. Suffice to say that being able to understand exactly where the rain may be falling or will soon fall can help to mitigate or manage such problems.

Crucially, rain and other forms of precipitation in the atmosphere can absorb and scatter microwave radio signals (i.e. the links that exist between some mobile masts), reducing their strength. The interference this creates is typically considered a negative thing, which can reduce the performance of such connections.

However, the same disruptions also create data that can be processed to “function as a virtual rain gauge, providing pinpointed and precise precipitation data“, which is what Vodafone has been experimenting with. “Wireless DNA will monitor all signal variations to identify those caused by precipitation and share this data with the River Severn Partnership to enhance early warning systems for flooding and improve flood defences for local residents,” said the mobile operator. The additional data will supplement conventional systems, like radar and rain gauges, with a dense layer of ground-level observations.

Vodafone says their mobile network can work as an environmental sensor because the data offers “greater accuracy than radar and more detail than weather stations“, improving forecasts with localised insights. The data this delivers could also be used to support the information that is already being collected via millions of Vodafone’s worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) based environmental sensors.

Nick Gliddon, Director of Vodafone Business UK, said:

“Storms and extreme weather are becoming more frequent and destructive. Working with River Severn Partnership, we can use our cutting-edge technology to provide greater insight on weather forecasting and help mitigate the impact of extreme events.

This example shows how, through innovation, our mobile network can have a real impact on not just the lives of residents who live and work in the River Severn area, but for communities across the UK.”

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News  

Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) has approved changes to Starlink’s licence, allowing it to launch 7,500 more satellites 

The decision significantly broadens Starlink’s footprint in Brazil, building on its existing licence granted in 2022, which covered 4,408 satellites. 

Starlink currently operates around 6,750 low Earth orbit satellites, which provide global coverage of satellite internet services..  

Following this latest approval, the company is now authorised operate up to 7,500 additional satellites to provide services across the country.  

While the council unanimously approved the expansion, Anatel issued a regulatory alert highlighting the need to modernise Brazil’s telecoms framework.  

According to councillor Alexandre Freire, the “purpose is to preserve the coherence, predictability and legitimacy of administrative deliberations, while ensuring transparency in dialogue with the regulated sector and society in general”. 

“Although we have unanimously granted the request to change Starlink’s satellite exploration right to expand the number of satellites and authorized frequency bands, as well as update the associated networks, this case has made clear to me the limitations of the current regulations to offer adequate responses to the complex issues that emerge in this scenario,” he added. 

Starlink’s operations in Brazil have become entangled with Elon Musk’s broader business interests, particularly his ownership of X (formerly Twitter). In August 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the suspension of X after the platform refused to comply with legal demands to take down accounts accused of spreading misinformation and failed to appoint a local legal representative. Although Starlink and X are legally separate, authorities treated them as part of the same economic group, freezing Starlink’s assets to force compliance. While Starlink ultimately agreed to block access to X, allowing it to maintain its service in Brazil, the episode highlights the fragile and politically sensitive relationship between Musk’s companies and Brazilian institutions. 

The recent implementation of significant tariffs on US imports, such as the 104% tariff on Chinese goods effective from this month, could impact the satellite industry. These tariffs may increase costs for electronic components essential for satellite manufacturing, potentially affecting production expenses and service affordability for companies like SpaceX.  

Separately, several regions globally have reconsidered Starlink contracts, reflecting the importance of geopolitical tension in the satellite connectivity industry. For example, the Canadian province of Ontario announced the cancellation of a $68 million Starlink contract, commenting “Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy.” 

Italian defence Minister Guido Crosetto also announced last month that negotiations over a $1.63 billion Starlink contract had stalled, expressing outrage over reports that the US had threatened to shut down Starlink’s communications in Ukraine earlier this year. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to our newsletter 

Also in the news: 
Nokia, Telia, and Finnish military demo 5G network slicing across borders
Mobile operators quibble with Ofcom over spectrum fees
Deutsche Telekom commits to Google Cloud through 2030 

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News

All four of the UK’s mobile players have found fault with Ofcom’s proposed adjustments to spectrum annual licence fees (ALFs) for spectrum, arguing the prices are too high

This week, Ofcom has published statements from the UK’s four national mobile network operators, all of whom are unhappy with proposed spectrum pricing remedies.

The comments come following an Ofcom review into ALF pricing launched last summer, the results of which were published seeking industry comments in December.

In short, these proposals would see a decrease of ALFs for 900MHz spectrum of to £1.097m per MHz (a 21% reduction), a decrease of ALFs for 1800 MHz spectrum to £0.81m per MHz (a 21% reduction), and an increase of ALFs for 2100 MHz spectrum to £0.766m per MHz (a 12% increase).

In total, the regulator said these changes would save UK mobile operators around £40 million per year.

The operators, however, say they would still be being overcharged.

The issue revolves around Ofcom’s methodology when calculating an appropriate price for ALFs. Currently, the regulator does this by assessing the estimated market value of the spectrum, converting this value into an annual payment over the licence fee period (typically 20 years), and increasing the ALFs annually in line with inflation via the consumer price index (CPI).

The operators say that both Ofcom’s estimations of the spectrum’s market value and the inflation-linked price increases are flawed. They say that these calculations do not reflect the fact that the value of the spectrum licence is actually decreasing year-on-year as more bands become available and older services like 3G are discontinued.

“We think that the appraisal of current ALFs still does not reflect the observed changes in market value of the spectrum and therefore the proposed ALFs will not promote the optimal use of spectrum in line with Ofcom’s duties,” said BT’s statement, suggesting the proposal overestimates BT’s ALFs by £36 million a year.

Virgin Media O2 agreed, noting the significant loss in spectrum value today compared to 2021, when the spectrum’s value was initially calculated.

“Our response identifies four key factors that have driven value change from 2021–25: inflation (used by Ofcom); discount rates; the timing of future spectrum supply; and projections for mobile traffic,” said the company’s statement. “The impact of these factors, individually and jointly, must be considered to secure a full understanding of how spectrum values have evolved in recent years.”

Vodafone’s complaints, meanwhile, focussed on ensuring market stability, arguing that excessive fees “risks derailing the Government’s desire to invest for growth” in the telecoms market.

“Ofcom has failed to take a suitably conservative approach” to ALFs, said the operator, suggesting that Ofcom should “introduce guard rails in the application of CPI”. Capping CPI increases to 4%, for example, would help operators significantly with their investment planning.

Finally, Three UK argued that ALFs should be abolished entirely.

“We reiterate that ALFs have no role to play in mobile and should be abolished, as we invited Ofcom to do in 2018. Professor Martin Cave (the original proponent of ALFs) has now withdrawn his support. Spectrum trading already ensures that spectrum will find its way to the highest-value users without the need for ALFs,” said Three, which nonetheless proposed similar ALF reductions in line with the other operators.

Exactly how receptive Ofcom will be to these various arguments remains to be seen, but it seems unlikely that the regulator will abandon ALFs completely or stop linking them to inflation.

“We think it is appropriate to increase ALFs by actual, rather than forecast, inflation such that they remain constant in real terms,” said Ofcom in its December statement.

A final decision from Ofcom on ALF pricing was initially set to be published later this year, but is now likely to take place in Q2 of the next financial year as the regulator assesses the mobile operators’ objections.

Join the mobile operators in discussion about key regulatory issues and the UK connectivity market at Connected North live in Manchester

Also in the news:
UK SMEs lose £3.4bn annually to cyberattacks – report
Rogers strikes $7bn deal with Blackstone-led group to boost balance sheet
Harmeen Mehta Joins Equinix as Chief Digital and Innovation Officer to Accelerate Customer and Employee Experiences

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network infrastructure provider CommScope has today announced that they’ve started a new collaboration with Brighton-based Altnets (the company, not the sector), the telecoms procurement specialist. The aim of this is to “accelerate the UK’s full-fibre rollout, supporting Project Gigabit and the nation’s digital infrastructure“.

According to the announcement, Altnets and CommScope will accelerate UK fibre rollouts, improve network resilience, and support the next phase of digital connectivity. Additionally, supplying CommScope’s products paves the way for Altnets’ to support the rollout of FTTX networks and central offices, which they say “will be of key importance for the future of the nation’s economic prosperity“.

CommScope will also be able to harness Altnets’ established market position and logistical expertise to help expand their connectivity solutions to more UK clients.

Paul Britnell, Co-Founder of Altnets, said:

“We’re incredibly excited to support CommScope’s initiative to further support the UK telecoms sector, helping ISPs build faster and more resilient networks for the digital future. We are delivering high-density fibre connectivity solutions that are instrumental in FttX networks. Altnets is proud to play a key role in advancing the UK’s digital infrastructure.”

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Alternative network operator Elevate (formerly Telcom and Luminet) has today announced that they’ve completed the deployment of a new full fibre “Hypercity” network across the city of Cardiff in Wales. The new network gives over 5,000 businesses access to dedicated internet speeds up to 10Gbps and over 4,000 homes access to speeds of up to 1Gbps.

Just to recap. The Cardiff Council (Gyngor Caerdydd) has long been aware that patches of the city still lack any commercial upgrade plans for gigabit broadband and suffer from sub-30Mbps broadband speeds, which is what they’ve been trying to improve – using a £7m+ funding boost from the Welsh Government that was first awarded in 2022 (here) via the Local Broadband Fund (LBF).

Last year we reported that Telcom had won a contract to deliver the first phase of this network roll-out (here), which is understood to have delivered the new fibre connectivity to 79 sites, both residential and commercial. The same operator was then contracted to deliver Phase 2, which focused on premises identified as high on the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) and was due to complete by March 2025 (here).

The new network has now been completed. The company will operate under the Elevate brand for business customers, and WeFibre for residential customers in their homes. Elevate Wholesale will also be working with local IT organisations to support their customers’ connectivity needs in the City.

Elliott Mueller, CEO at Elevate®, said:

“Working in the cultural and commercial centre of Wales, businesses across the region need rapid and resilient access to the best possible digital infrastructure.”

When we were awarded the contract back in 2023, we committed to full fibre coverage across Cardiff by 2025, and we’re delighted that the work we’ve undertaken with Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government has delivered exactly that.”

Isabelle Bignall, Chief Digital Officer at Cardiff Council, said:

“Broadband is a necessity in this digital age, and access to reliable connectivity is essential to help our local businesses flourish and our residents thrive. I am proud to share the transformative impact of Cardiff’s Local Broadband Fund project which has successfully delivered gigabit speed connectivity to the most digitally deprived areas of the city. This project has boosted connectivity for businesses and residents, driving economic growth and enhancing daily life in Cardiff. Alongside the improvements in broadband infrastructure, this project has also invested in our local communities.

Elevate has provided Cardiff’s Virtual School with online tuition credits to enable students, who may struggle in a traditional school setting, to complete their English and Maths GCSEs. WeFibre offers an affordable social tariff helping to reduce the financial barriers to connectivity, and 15 community sites have received free-for-life gigabit internet connections, helping to ensure that everyone in our community can stay connected and flourish.”

We should point out that the vast majority of Cardiff and surrounding areas are already covered by gigabit-capable broadband networks, mostly via Hybrid Fibre Coax (Virgin Media) solutions and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) infrastructure from the likes of Openreach, Hyperoptic, Ogi, FibreNest (Persimmon Homes) and the community orientated Michaelston-y-Fedw CIC project. But the above project should have helped to close many of the remaining gaps.

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A useful new interactive map has today been published by Thinkbroadband, which rather handily provides a visual overview of broadband related roadworks across the whole of England and thus helps to see who is building near to your home. Plans are also afoot to expand the map’s coverage beyond England.

Figuring out who is building new broadband networks nearby has always been a bit of a hassle. Services like Causeway’s One.Network can help, but its recent moves toward commercialisation have somewhat restricted its usefulness, and there are limits to how much you can filter the results for telecommunications related works. More recently, the Better Internet Dashboard has also proven to be quite useful.

The good news is that Thinkbroadband have now added a new “Telco Roadworks” layer to their existing map, which groups such works into several selectable categories related to Openreach, Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre), KCOM, mobile operators and other telcos (i.e. alternative broadband networks).

In each case it’s also possible to filter by the status of the works (i.e. Planned, Cancelled, Completed or In Progress) and, if that wasn’t enough, you can look both forward in time by 40 days and backwards in time by 14 days (currently limited to 8 days). Once you have the results it then becomes possible to zoom-in and click each bit to see the details of what is occurring.

Suffice to say that we really have to credit the work Thinkbroadband has done here, as this is an extremely useful tool. At present, it’s only showing data for England, but they’ll be looking to expand that to include Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland “over the next few months“.