Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Transport for London (TfL) and Boldyn Networks have published a progress update for their roll-out of 4G and 5G mobile (mobile broadband) coverage on the London Underground, which reveals that more sections of the Bakerloo, Metropolitan and Circle line are now live. The project is currently on target to complete by the end of 2026.

Just to recap. Boldyn Networks, using kit from Nokia and others, currently holds a 20-year concession deal with TfL, which was signed in June 2021 (here). The agreement allows them to deploy new mobile network infrastructure across the whole Tube (London Underground), DLR and Elizabeth line network.

The latest progress update for this reveals that customers on the Bakerloo, Metropolitan and Circle lines are now able stay connected for more of their journeys after further sections gained mobile coverage in recent months. In addition, around 60% of stations that are ‘underground’ now have coverage, and work is on track to bring coverage to the whole network by the end of the year.

In recent weeks, coverage has been introduced in the tunnelled sections on the Bakerloo line between Queen’s Park and Edgware Road, plus on the Metropolitan line between Euston Square and King’s Cross St Pancras as well as between Barbican and Moorgate. The Circle and District lines have also gained coverage between Cannon Street and Monument, Sloane Square and Victoria, and Bayswater and Paddington.

As well as tunnelled sections, busy stations including Vauxhall, Temple, Nine Elms and Gloucester Road have all now gone live. Mobile coverage has also begun to be introduced at major stations like King’s Cross St Pancras, Victoria and Paddington, which will go live in phases due to their size and complexity, focusing initially on ticket halls and platforms.

The vast majority of the Northern, Bakerloo and Metropolitan lines will have coverage in the tunnels by the end of summer this year. The expanding coverage will also host the new Emergency Services Network (ESN) – which, when fully operational, will give first responders (police, fire and ambulance) immediate access to life-saving data, images and information in live situations and emergencies.

Rebecca Bissell, Director of IT at TfL, said:

“We are delighted to be delivering more mobile coverage to our customers across our Tube network. Providing mobile coverage across our network means customers can stay better connected while they travel, allowing them to stay in contact with friends and family, shop online and keep up with the latest news and sports results. We remain focused on having 4G and 5G mobile coverage across the whole Tube network by the end of the year, and more than 600 engineers work hard overnight during limited engineering hours to help deliver this.”

Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor of London for Transport, said:

“It’s brilliant to see this continued progress on the Mayor’s promise of delivering 4G and 5G across the London Underground, with more mobile coverage for passengers across an ever-growing network of lines and stations. In an increasingly digital world, we’re committed to ensuring that all Londoners and visitors have the connections they need – even whilst on the move – as we build a better London for everyone.”

In addition, TfL and Boldyn are also working to introduce coverage to sections of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) that are under-ground, as well as the Windrush line between Highbury & Islington and New Cross.

The operators are also working to install small-cell technology on TfL assets such as lighting columns, to enhance mobile connectivity in high-footfall urban areas. Some of the capital’s busiest areas – such as King’s Cross, Waterloo, London Bridge, Old Street, The Shard and Hyde Park Corner – are already benefiting from this work.

The original goal of the London Underground deployment, which also extends to some of the London Overground network, was to reach completion by the end of 2024 (ticket halls, platforms and tunnels). But some sections of certain lines, such as those that are closer to the surface, where partial mobile coverage exists, required bespoke works and that has taken a bit longer.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Plans by Amazon (AWS) and Vodafone to deploy a new high‑capacity subsea fibre optic cable link between Ireland and the United Kingdom (Wales), as part of the ‘Beaufort Cable’ system, appear to be making progress, with new planning applications helping to confirm the expected landing sites.

The Beaufort Cable System is essentially envisaged as being a replacement for the ESAT‑1 cable (installed in 1999 by ESAT Telecom and later acquired by BT), which reached the end of its operational lifespan in 2024. The new cable will carry up to 96 fibre pairs within a 33 mm‑diameter unit and is targeted to be buried 1.5 metres beneath the seabed for protection.

According to a new planning application submitted to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park (Subtel Forum), Apollo Submarine Cable Systems (a subsidiary of Vodafone) are planning to bring the cable ashore at the village of Newgale in Wales (linking via a site at the Newsurf Shop Car Park, Sands Café Car Park and Duke of Edinburgh Inn). The side in Ireland will connect at a site in Kilmore Quay, Wexford.

At present we still don’t know the final timescale for deployment (pending planning approvals) or the full technical specs for the cable itself, although the deployment phase appears to be inching ever closer. The final cable is also expected to adopt a multi-branch architecture, which includes an additional subsea connection to Bude (Cornwall) in England.

This is only the latest in a string of recent subsea cable announcements, including the new AUÐUR cable between the UK and Iceland (here), as well as the IOEMA Fibre project that will connect the UK with Northern Europe (here). Not to mention others, like 2Africa (here) or the VERENA cable between the UK and Denmark (here). Several other subsea links have also been proposed, such as a new one to link with Shetland (here) and several by Microsoft.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A new study from Broadband Genie has compared the cumulative prices of common household expenses, including utilities, council tax, groceries, transport, and entertainment. The result identifies that the average cost of a “new” broadband subscription is 10% cheaper than it was in 2016.

According to the results, a decade ago a new broadband deal had an effective monthly cost of £25.19, yet today it claims that bill payers can sign up to a new deal for only £22.63 – often with much faster speeds (i.e. better value). This is said to be based on recording the effective monthly price of the “top 10 deals” from 2016 to 2026 and comparing the cumulative change to a virtual basket of goods and services from the same period.

By comparison, gas and electricity are 82% more expensive than they were ten years ago, while average water bills have increased by 69%. Even everyday luxuries and essentials have surged. A pint of lager is 38% pricier than it was a decade ago, while the price of a single stamp has skyrocketed by 181%.

The news is likely to frustrate those who have recently been stung by various inflation busting mid-contract price hikes, but then the catch in this study is that we’re only talking about new subscribers and thus the big first term discounts they often deploy. Equally, the study has not considered network availability, which could be an issue because many cheap and fast altnets lack strong national coverage.

Cumulative percentage price change 2016 – 2026

Naturally the situation is likely to be quite different for existing customers, particularly since many broadband consumers still don’t switch ISP and instead remain loyal (in many cases this group will face much higher prices). According to Ofcom, only 1.62 million consumers switched landline (phone) or broadband provider using the primary One Touch Switch (OTS) process in the year to September 2025 (here).

The new study goes on to claim that an estimated 8.8 million broadband customers are currently out of contract and thus paying an average of £183.60 more per year than necessary. The obvious indication is that consumers should switch to save money, although if you’re happy with your ISP or prioritise quality over price then haggling for a lower price with your existing ISP may be a better option (Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill). However, your mileage from haggling will vary, as not all providers do it (big providers are usually more receptive).

In fairness the new study and its core point is valid. We can recall paying £40+ per month for a 0.5Mbps ADSL broadband connection may moons’ ago, and today you can often get gigabit speeds or better for such a price. Part of this is because modern networks are cheaper and more efficient to run, while core or backhaul capacity links are forever getting faster and often cheaper in the process. The highly competitive market also helps.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

From accelerating scientific discovery and advancing healthcare research to transforming public services, AI is becoming a critical driver of innovation and economic growth across the U.K. To help advance the next generation of AI infrastructure and AI-powered scientific breakthroughs, AMD, Dell Technologies and the University of Cambridge have announced plans to establish the new Sovereign AI Innovation Lab (SAIL) in the United Kingdom.

The initiative represents a major step forward in the U.K.’s ambition to build world-class AI capabilities while advancing open and interoperable AI technologies.

As nations increasingly view AI as a strategic capability, leadership will depend on access to advanced models and on the ability to combine AI, computing and scientific expertise to accelerate discovery, strengthen competitiveness and fuel economic growth.

Building on a Strong Foundation for AI Research

The announcement of SAIL follows the recent expansion of the University of Cambridge’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) that includes deployment of the Zenith AI supercomputer. Powered by 5th Gen AMD EPYC™ processors and AMD Instinct™ MI355X GPU accelerators integrated into Dell infrastructure, Zenith can provide researchers and innovators with the advanced computing capabilities needed to support increasingly complex AI, simulation and scientific workloads.

Together, SAIL and Zenith will expand access to advanced AI and high-performance computing infrastructure for researchers, healthcare organizations, public-sector institutions and industry partners across the U.K.

As scientific and engineering challenges grow in complexity, access to advanced AI and high-performance computing resources becomes increasingly important. Systems such as Zenith provide researchers with the computational foundation needed to explore new approaches to discovery and innovation.

A Collaborative Hub for AI Innovation

Hosted through the University of Cambridge Research Computing Service, SAIL can serve as a collaborative environment where organizations can evaluate, develop and deploy advanced AI technologies.

The lab is expected to support a broad range of applications across scientific research, healthcare, climate science, engineering, public services and national-scale AI initiatives. By bringing together technology leaders, researchers and public-sector stakeholders, SAIL aims to accelerate the adoption of AI while helping ensure deployments are secure, trusted and scalable.

Advancing Open and Interoperable AI Infrastructure

A key focus of SAIL is the planned development of open and interoperable AI infrastructure built on AMD computing platforms, AMD ROCm™ software and cloud native technologies.

The lab will explore deployment models spanning AI training and inference, scientific foundation models, simulation-assisted AI workflows, trusted research environments and secure public-sector AI services. Through this work, SAIL aims to help organizations build AI capabilities with greater flexibility, interoperability and long-term choice.

Accelerating AI for Science

SAIL is intended to work alongside Cambridge’s growing national AI infrastructure footprint, including the Zenith AI supercomputer and the Sunrise fusion AI system developed in partnership with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

Together, these systems will support a diverse range of AI-for-science applications, including healthcare research, climate modelling, materials science, engineering simulation, fusion energy research and scientific AI model development.

Many of the world’s most important scientific challenges require more than AI alone. They depend on the convergence of artificial intelligence, simulation, data and high-performance computing to accelerate discovery and deepen scientific understanding. This emerging approach – often referred to as AI for Science – is creating new opportunities across healthcare, climate science, materials research, engineering and energy.

Supporting the Future of Fusion Energy

One of the most ambitious scientific efforts supported by this expanding AI ecosystem is fusion energy research.

Sunrise is a second Dell-AMD AI supercomputer being built now; funded by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ), owned by UKAEA and operated by the University of Cambridge. Sunrise is part of a long standing UKAEA-University of Cambridge partnership and dedicated to the fusion mission.

Built on the same Cambridge-designed AMD and Dell architecture as Zenith, Sunrise is designed to help researchers tackle one of the world’s most complex scientific and engineering challenges: delivering fusion power capable of producing net-positive energy. The system also forms part of a broader effort to establish advanced AI capabilities at Culham Campus, home to the U.K.’s first AI Growth Zone.

Enabling the Next Generation of AI Infrastructure

As demand for AI continues to grow across research, industry and government, initiatives such as the Sovereign AI Innovation Lab demonstrate how open technology ecosystems and strategic partnerships can help unlock innovation at scale.

By bringing together advanced infrastructure, open software and scientific expertise, AMD, Dell and the University of Cambridge are helping to lay the foundation for the U.K.’s next era of AI-driven discovery and innovation.

Through Zenith, Sunrise and SAIL, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and scientific research converge to accelerate discovery, strengthen competitiveness and help solve some of society’s most important challenges.

How is AI supercharging the UK’s digital economy? Join the discussions at Connected Britain 2026

Also in the news
TELUS and L-SPARK give Canadian startups access to AI supercomputer
Belden to acquire RUCKUS Networks for $1.85bn
VMO2 taps Suffolk solar farm for 10 years of clean energy

The post AMD, Dell and University of Cambridge set SAIL on AI lab appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The UK telecoms regulator has today set out their plan to auction off a 25MHz (frequency) slice of the 1.4GHz radio spectrum band (i.e. the “Upper Block” of 1492 to 1517MHz) to mobile operators (EE, O2, Vodafone / Three UK) for use in their 4G and 5G based mobile broadband services, which will take place during the first half of 2027.

Just for some context. The lower part (40MHz) of the L-Band spectrum (i.e 1452 to 1492MHz) is already being used by VodafoneThree to boost their mobile data connectivity (example), albeit mostly as a Supplemental Downlink (SDL) solution. But Ofcom has long been working to clear and re-purpose the additional frequency between 1492 to 1517MHz (here) for use by mobile operators too.

The advantage of 1.4GHz is in the fact that it’s a nicely balanced band that can deliver both a fairly strong level of coverage and fast data speeds, albeit naturally only if the device being used is actually able to harness that extended frequency. Suffice to say that this could make it useful for boosting coverage both indoors and across rural areas (lower frequency signals travel further than higher frequency ones).

However, Ofcom’s plan to auction the upper block of 1.4GHz to mobile operators does note that it sits just below part of the 1.5GHz band, which is being used by Inmarsat‘s emergency communication satellite terminals (i.e. on ships at and near ports, and on aircraft around airports). As such Ofcom’s plan will introduce some temporary limitations on how and where the band can be harnessed.

Ofcom Statement

We will auction 1492-1517 MHz for mobile use. We will award this spectrum in a single round, sealed bid auction, and we will not impose any competition measures in the auction.

There is a risk that use of 1492-1517 MHz for mobile services could cause blocking1 to Inmarsat satellite receivers on ships and aircraft in the 1518-1559 MHz band. This could give rise to risks to safety of life at sea around the coast, and to potential disruption of operations at ports and international airports.

To mitigate these risks, use of this spectrum will be subject to limits on mobile transmissions around the coastline and at certain international airports. We will relax these limits around the coastline on 1 January 2043, and around airports on 1 January 2034. In setting these timeframes we have taken into account significant concerns raised in response to our consultation by the maritime and aviation industries and extensive engagement with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority.

We will not protect either current or future land-based Inmarsat receivers in the 1518-1559 MHz band from potential blocking by mobile services in the 1492-1517 MHz range. We will also not protect programme-making audio links from interference by those mobile services. However, the award winner will not be authorised to begin using 1492-1517 MHz for mobile services before 11 June 2027, at least one year from the date of this statement, to give these users time to implement mitigation measures before the risk of blocking arises.

The overview section in this document is a simplified high-level summary only. The decisions we have taken and our reasoning are set out in the full document.

The compromise allows existing users, those likely to be most impacted by the auction (particularly in the maritime and aviation sectors where safety is paramount), time to adapt their systems to cope with the change.

Ofcom expects to publish their draft Auction Regulations consultation later this summer 2026, before then conducting the auction itself sometime in the first half of 2027. We suspect VodafoneThree will strongly desire to acquire the block nearest to their existing spectrum holding.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Communications and broadband provider BT Business has today announced the launch of a new “prioritisation capability” delivered over EE’s commercial mobile network. The new feature, called Mission Boost ™, enables organisations in “critical sectors” to access prioritised 4G and 5G connectivity during periods of congestion or high demand.

Mission Boost is said to form part of BT’s new MissionNet portfolio, which reflects a mix of connectivity, cloud infrastructure and security solutions. “These have been designed to support sectors including critical national infrastructure, responders and transport, where connectivity is essential to maintaining safety, resilience and service delivery,” said the announcement.

One of the first organisations to harness Mission Boost is UK Power Networks (UKPN), with the partnership supporting field communications and network resilience across its electricity infrastructure in London, the South East and East of England.

Faisal Mahomed, Managing Director of BT, said:

“Organisations delivering critical services are operating in increasingly complex environments, where reliable communications are a must. Mission Boost is designed to provide the connectivity and capabilities that organisations need to operate with confidence – and marks an important first step as BT looks to roll out a range of enhanced new mission-critical services.”

Over time MissionNet is expected to evolve and incorporate additional capabilities, spanning from contact management to applications such as push-to-talk – designed to integrate more seamlessly into operational environments.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The UK telecoms, media and internet content regulator, Ofcom, has closed their enforcement programme for the newest consumer broadband and phone switching system (One Touch Switching). The regulator found that, despite some initial problems, the majority of customers are now successfully switching providers using OTS.

The OTS system, which went live on 12th September 2024 via a central messaging platform that is run by the industry-funded One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), is a Gaining Provider Led (GPL) process where the customer contacts their new (“gaining“) ISP to start and manage the process on their behalf.

However, regular readers may recall that this system had a bit of a bumpy start, due in part to TOTSCo’s platform initially being in somewhat of a beta state and a number of ISPs failing to fully support the platform at launch. Nevertheless, various improvements have been made since then, and the system is already helping around 1.8 million consumers to switch ISP every year (it’s also in the process of being extended to business connections).

Despite the improvements, OTS does still sometimes suffer from problems, such as with matching customer details between providers and the fact that a very small number of providers are still not always adhering to the OTS process. But TOTSCo are working on improvements (here) and Ofcom now seems generally pleased enough with its performance.

Ofcom Statement on OTS Enforcement

On 3 April 2023, Ofcom introduced new rules regarding the process for residential customers to switch their broadband and/or landline services. This new process, One Touch Switch (OTS), is a requirement under Conditions C7.18 – C7.27 of Ofcom’s General Conditions.

Under OTS, a customer’s new provider must organise the switch. This removes the need for customers to speak with their current provider to cancel their contract before switching, which can put customers off changing providers. As such, OTS provides a simpler and quicker switching process, allowing customers to shop around with ease to find the best price and services for their needs.

Despite extensive engagement prior to the implementation deadline, industry failed to implement OTS by 3 April 2023. As a result, Ofcom opened an industry-wide enforcement programme on the same day. The objectives for the programme were to ensure that OTS was delivered to a high standard as quickly as possible, and that it works effectively and reliably for customers in accordance with agreed specifications.

OTS was successfully launched for most customers on 12 September 2024. From the point of launch, Ofcom monitored the progress that providers were taking to increase the number of customers who were able to benefit from OTS. Through this, we became aware of issues affecting the matching rates between different providers. In January 2025 we issued a formal information request to understand the issue and its impact on consumers.

Based on this evidence we concluded that, across industry as a whole, the majority of customers are successfully switching providers using OTS. Our analysis did, however, show that some providers were using an alternative switching method (i.e. something other than OTS) when repeated match attempts via OTS had failed. We engaged with relevant providers on this point and are now satisfied that usage of this alternative switching method has stopped.

Accordingly, Ofcom is now closing this enforcement programme. Ofcom will continue to closely monitor industry-wide compliance with our OTS rules. Should we identify evidence that communication providers are failing to participate adequately in OTS, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Senior Manager for All IP Migrations and Exchange Exit at Openreach, Juliette Scott, has revealed in a new interview that 1.9 million UK lines are yet to switch to a digital alternative ahead of the closure of the old analogue phone (PSTN / WLR) service in early 2027. But for consumers who fail to switch in time, there “won’t be a big bang on 1st February 2027“.

Just to recap. The legacy phone switch-off was previously delayed to 31st January 2027 in order to give broadband ISPs, phone, telecare providers, councils and consumers more time to adapt (details). The main focus of this was on the UK people who use vital home telecare systems (e.g. elderly, disabled – vulnerable users), which aren’t always compatible with newer IP-based digital phone services (telecare providers were slow to adapt).

In most cases such upgrades merely involve a fairly seamless change of service by your broadband or phone provider, which often results in customers needing to connect their home phone into the back of either a broadband router or Analogue Terminal Adapter (ATA); instead of directly into the socket on your wall or skirting board (NTE5 sockets). Special solutions also exist for telecare users.

However, in total there are around 1.9m UK lines left on the old phone WLR network that still need to be migrated across all providers (down from c.2.5m in April 2026), with a few hundred thousand of those serving business premises. Openreach has also previously stated that prices for these legacy lines are set to double by October 2026 (details), which is a strong incentive for both ISPs and customers not to leave upgrading until the last minute.

The main development today, as well as a progress update on the PSTN/WLR closure programme, is that the CEO of broadband ISP Zen Internet, Richard Tang, has just conducted one of the best and most informative interviews that we’ve seen done on the subject with Openreach’s Juliette Scott. The interview goes into a lot of detail and is well worth watching in full, and we’ve summarised some of the most interesting points below.

Key Points from Zen’s Openreach Interview

➤ The 31st January 2027 date isn’t going to be delayed again. Juliette said the country is “at the tipping point … [where] it’s more concerning to be on [the old network] than to move to something else, in terms of its fragility“.

➤ The PSTN is “falling to bits … and you can’t get spares“, said the former CEO of Openreach, Clive Selley, to Zen Internet in the recent past. In short, the network has to be replaced and, as Juliette points out, the “last bit [of line switching] is the hardest because it tends to be the customers who don’t want to move or who have more niche products on the end of it“.

➤ The switch-off programme started with over 16 million WLR lines needing migration and is now down to 1.9 million left to switch. Zen itself has 18,000 lines left to move (direct and partners), which is down from c.100,000 when they started the process. Juliette said Zen are “absolutely are on track to get to zero by January 2027” (most providers are on a similar track).

➤ Openreach revealed that the old PSTN network, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, still accounts for a staggering 1% of British energy usage.

➤ Openreach “would love it to be at” at zero lines come 31st January, but reality suggests this is “unlikely” and some will be left (probably in the high tens of thousands). Richard expects a “long tail of more difficult or disengaged customers to switch off“.

➤ Richard welcomed Openreach’s move to double the price of its related legacy copper line products because it “made a difference” and encouraged their partners to take it more seriously. Some providers had previously been slow to move, partly because Richard said they were “still making good margins” with the old products.

Openreach have meanwhile been cutting the price of modern alternatives (e.g. full fibre FTTP and copper-based SOGEA solutions) and making it as easy for providers to switch customers as possible.

➤ Juliette makes clear there “won’t be a big bang on 1st February 2027, but in time after that we will start to look at [those who might be left]“. Such lines will be assessed and where “we have capacity they will be moved on to a product called EVAc” (Emergency Voice Access).

We’ve covered EVAc before (here), which is essentially a less feature rich variant of the Pre-Digital Phone Line product from BT (PDPL / SOTAP Analogue) – this existed before, but PDPL is no longer available “so you can’t sign-up for it“. The PDPL service offered a similar service to the old WLR/PSTN one.

EVAc is thus a last-ditch solution to keep consumers connected if they’ve failed to move by the deadline, but it only works as a very basic phone service. Customers who have broadband on top of their WLR will “lose that” as EVAc doesn’t support it. Juliette warned it’s harder to get people off EVAc, so it’s something they’ll try to avoid unless absolutely necessary.

Take note that PDPL was always envisaged as temporary product, which would likely end up being phased out once Openreach started closing around 4,600 of their legacy UK exchanges (here) – mostly after 2030. We assume that this same caveat will apply to EVAc, since it’s based off PDPL.

➤ A key warning exists for business lines, since they won’t benefit from the same protections as consumer services. As we’ve pointed out before, and Juliette reiterates again, customers with old ISDN2 and ISDN30 data lines, for example, “don’t have a path … so from 1st February they will be ceased“.

➤ Fully unbundled (MPF) lines will continue past January 2027 (i.e. ISPs that have installed their kit in exchanges), but its lifespan depends on the providers who still support this (they’ll also want to switch customers away before exchanges start closing on mass from 2030 and because the equipment is very old).

Juliette said such MPF lines are “not part of this programme, so [using them] is still an option [for providers like TalkTalk and Sky Broadband etc.]“. But Openreach added that they won’t sell MPF anymore in areas where 75%+ of premises now have full fibre coverage (FTTP Priority Exchange Programme) – FTTP will be the only option for new lines.

So Openreach aren’t going to switch off MPF for existing customers. But inevitably it will die a slow death as hardware gets old and replacement becomes problematic. In practice, many providers with MPF lines are trying just as hard to get customers off them and on to newer services.

➤ Richard said the free battery back-up unit that Zen provide to vulnerable customers lasts about 8 hours (powers your router and ONT for those on FTTP), before pointing out that most power cuts don’t last that long “that’s about the best we can do” (past a certain point BBU’s would become far too expensive to be offered for free). Battery units are needed because, unlike old PSTN phone services, the line will completely stop working if your house suffers a power cut (older copper lines were powered from the exchange).

Broadly speaking the message is the reverse of the old saying: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it“. Instead, the message is that the PSTN is broken, and you DO need to fix it before the deadline. The full interview goes into lots more detail and also crossed into the exchange closure plans, as well as Zen’s own position. We highly recommend watching it, even though it is about an hour long.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Residents in the two Essex (England) villages of Langham and Dedham, which are both home to around 3,000 people, have been left to suffer from poor to non-existent mobile connectivity after a local mobile mast at Gun Hill (Ipswich Road) was removed last month without the local authority approving a replacement site.

The situation, which reminds us of the recent and quite protracted problems in the Welsh village of Tenby (here and here), began after British gas supplier Cadent Gas requested that the old mast be removed because it was near to an underground gas main.

Civil engineering firm M Group Telecom then promptly applied for a new 20m high monopole mast site in July 2025, which would be located nearby to the old site. But this was quickly rejected by Colchester City Council (CCC) due to concerns over its visual impact on the “scenic quality of the Dedham Vale National Landscape“.

A Council spokesperson said:

“We want to be clear that we are supportive of improved digital connectivity in our communities. We would welcome discussions with operators to explore alternative solutions or revised proposals that meet coverage needs while respecting the area’s special landscape qualities.”

According to the BBC News, the situation has prompted complaints from residents, many of whom are now struggling to connect via a viable mobile signal. As one of those residents, Gillian Flack (from Langham), said: “This isn’t about convenience any more, it’s about safety, local businesses struggling to operate – and elderly residents feeling like they’re being cut off.”

Mobile operators would no doubt point to this as being another example of how local authorities and companies often fail to take a joined-up approach to such situations. The reality for locals is that, even once a suitable site is finally found and approved (a process that can take months), it will often then take several further months before a new mast can actually be installed due to all the extra work and planning required.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile operator giffgaff, which is owned by Telefónica and uses O2 UK’s virtual operator (mvno) platform, today claims to have launched its “best ever” unlimited mobile data (mobile broadband) plan for just £14 per month on an 18-month minimum contract term (reduced from its normal price of £25 a month); they’ve also cut the price of their 30-day plan.

As usual this plan includes unlimited data, unlimited calls and texts, up to 5GB of inclusive roaming in the EU and selected destinations, all for just £14 a month. The promotion, which saves members up to £198 in total over the length of their contract, is expected to be available for customers to take until 2nd October 2026.

In addition, giffgaff are also reducing the price of their equivalent £35 monthly-rolling plan to £20 a month.

Kate Dohaney, CEO at giffgaff, said:

“With a summer of sport, outdoor activities and holidays ahead of us it’s only fair our members get as much access and connectivity as possible. Which is why we’re providing even more value on our Unlimited data plans. Not only that, but while many other network providers increased their prices this year, we stuck to our commitment of no mid-contract price rises, so our members know exactly what they’re paying on their mobile bill each month.”