UK ISP Virgin Media Business (VMO2) has today announced that they’ve launched a new Small Business Partnerships initiative with several key brands including Virgin StartUp, GoDaddy, and egg, to bring exclusive offers to small business based broadband and mobile customers.

For example, Virgin StartUp will offer a 50% discount to VMO2’s customers on their 12-topic on-demand video course, ‘How to Build a Business’, which covers key steps from customer research to brand development and investor readiness, saving customers £25 (RRP £50). Similarly, GoDaddy is offering a 40% discount on all their Website Builder Plans.

In addition, egg’s exclusive offer for VMO2 customers includes savings of up to £730 on EV charging points for employees and customers and £500 off a 6-28 solar panel solution. On the flip side, VMO2 said that small business customers of Virgin StartUp, GoDaddy, and egg will be able to get 6 months Half Price on all their Voom broadband (Solus or Bundle) plans, as well as 25GB of mobile data for £10 on SIM only (24-month contract).

Chris Holmes, Director of SOHO at VMO2, said:

“Virgin Media O2 are committed to helping businesses of all sizes stay connected, competitive, and ready for the future. By partnering with Virgin StartUp, GoDaddy, and egg, our all-new Small Business Partnerships initiative ensures our customers have access to great discounts on industry-leading technology, expert guidance, and strategic resources. In turn, their customers can also access these benefits from us, helping them seize new opportunities and achieve further growth. We’re excited to build on these partnerships in the future and to continue powering small businesses across the UK, providing them with the tools they need to succeed.”

Merseyside-based alternative broadband operator and UK ISP BeFibre, which sells packages to homes and businesses via FullFibre Limited’s Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, has today refreshed their prices, shifted from 24-month to 18-month contract terms and launched a new 2.3Gbps speed package.

The changes mean that BeFibre’s entry-level 150Mbps symmetric speed package, for example, now costs slightly less at £24 per month on both a 12 or 18-month minimum contract term (£30 thereafter), which includes free setup, a free WiFi 6 router and no mid-contract price hikes. But you can now also get a new 2.3Gbps package on their network from £25 per month for the first 3 months and then £50 thereafter.

The provider also offers a 30-day guarantee, which means that if you aren’t happy within that first month of service, then “you can leave with no cancellation fees“. The latest round of price discounts on their packages will be available for new customers to take until 2nd December 2024.

Rochdale-base broadband ISP Zen Internet has today signed yet another wholesale deal with an alternative full fibre network, which this time will enable them to sell faster internet packages to homes and businesses by harnessing Freedom Fibre‘s 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across the North West and West Midlands.

At present Freedom Fibre’s network can already cover 315,000 premises (that’s up only a little from 300k on 27th Mar 2024) across parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Shropshire in England and North Wales. The operator previously aspired to cover 2 million UK premises and also holds the Government’s Project Gigabit contracts to cover 12,000 premises in rural parts of Shropshire (here), as well as 15,000 in Cheshire (here).

However, until recently Zen Internet were only able to harness FTTP lines from Openreach and CityFibre, although they recently started to expand their availability by joining Trooli’s network as an ISP partner (here) and today’s deal will give them access to a fourth network via Freedom Fibre. Suffice to say that Zen are steadily growing their reach.

Nathan Vautier, Freedom Fibre CEO, said:

“We are really pleased to be working with Zen, a leading, award-winning ISP, as this allows us to deliver our high-quality network services to Zen customers and accelerate our growth plans. This is a very important partnership, based on a shared ambition to drive the adoption of futureproof connectivity and boost business productivity.”

Richard Tang, Zen Internet CEO, said:

“I’m super-excited about our new partnership with Freedom Fibre, which will allow Zen to expand its full fibre network reach to many more customers.

We are the UK’s oldest ISP that still exists in its original form and also the best, according to the IT professional readership of PC Pro, who have voted Zen the UK’s best broadband provider every year since 2004 – 20 years and counting. I’m looking forward to launching our services shortly through Freedom Fibre’s first-class fibre network.”

The catch with these things is that it can make it harder for retail ISPs to offer a simplified set of packages and prices, since what they charge and offer will often end up varying much more by location, which can in turn increase the problem of market complexity for consumers. But at this stage it’s hard to judge such things as we don’t yet know when Zen will be launching their Freedom Fibre based packages and prices.

The Horsham-based Telecom Acquisitions Group (TAL), which is a holding company for several familiar UK residential broadband brands (Home Telecom, Eclipse Broadband etc.), has today announced that they’ve signed a wholesale agreement to access and sell services over KCOM’s full fibre (FTTP) network.

The deal means TAL’s brand, Eclipse Broadband, will market and support solutions on the expanded KCOM network in parts of East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire (England) that have recently been cabled with fibre. The agreement is due to become effective from the 19th November 2024.

The move is also interesting because Eclipse Broadband was formerly a KCOM brand, which was purchased in 2021 by TAL with circa 10,000 off-net customers. TAL, which trades under several brands including Eclipse, Home Telecom and Fleur Telecom, now has residential partnership deals with CityFibre, FullFibre, MS3, Freedom Fibre and F&W Networks, which run alongside traditional services provided by TalkTalk, BT, Vodafone, Virgin Media and Sky Broadband.

As a side note, TAL confirmed to ISPreview last month that they had a wholesale agreement of some sort with Virgin Media to harness the nexfibre network, which made them one of the first to do so (other than anchor tenant Virgin Media, of course). But the details around this remain a little unclear.

Nigel Barnett, TAL’s CEO said:

“This project has been some time in the making, but we’ve always had a great working relationship with the KCOM team which has made this exciting opportunity possible. This offering will state ‘powered by KCOM’ and is supported by the TAL brands combined Trustpilot Rating 4.4 “Excellent” with the support of over 15,000 reviews.

The agreement reinforces his group’s presence in the Hull, East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire area following the acquisition of bases developed by ISP’s Open Fibre, Link Broadband, Infinics Broadband and Zybre.

In just the last twelve months all our brands’ customer bases have trebled in size.”

Jan Collins, MD of KCOM Enterprise, said:

“KCOM’s full fibre network powers thousands of homes and businesses across Hull, East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. This new deal with TAL means that more customers in our expansion areas can access the benefits of our fast, secure and reliable network via the Eclipse broadband brand.”

The TAL Group is now home to over 100,000 broadband customers and has returned a turnover of £40m. Pictured at the top are Nigel (L) and Jan (R).

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Apple’s investment is set to boost Globalstar’s network expansion for enhanced satellite services 

Globalstar has expanded its partnership with Apple, in signing an updated agreement to deliver enhanced satellite services through a new mobile satellite network (MSS), according to a recent regulatory filing. 

The upgraded network will feature a fresh satellite constellation, expanded global ground infrastructure, and additional satellite service licensing to support Apple’s connectivity needs. 

Under the new terms, Apple will prepay up to $1.1 billion to fund network development, including satellite construction and launch costs. Apple will also invest $400 million to acquire a 20% passive equity stake in a Globalstar special-purpose entity (SPE) that will hold assets for the MSS network. 

Globalstar will retain full control of the network’s operations and continue to serve other satellite customers, while dedicating 85% of the network’s capacity to Apple’s services. 

The agreement also allows Globalstar to retire its outstanding 2029 debt, using part of Apple’s prepayment. Globalstar will earn additional service fees from Apple, including payments tied to network milestones, performance incentives, and licensing fees. Apple’s equity stake includes repurchase options, allowing it to redeem its investment once prepayment obligations are met.  

This updated partnership is projected to double Globalstar’s revenue in the first year of the MSS network’s launch. Globalstar will host an investor day in December 2024 to share more details about its future plans and network capabilities. 

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Also in the news:
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Telecoms and broadband giant BT Group has reportedly begun the process of making their ‘Global’ division available for sale, either in whole or in pieces. The international arm of the business, which is overseen by Business CEO Bas Burger, typically sells internet, phone and other business solutions to over 1,000 multinational corporate clients worldwide.

According to This is Money, BT Global has suffered a fall in profitability over recent years and is claimed to be difficult to value, with the division generating around £2.4bn in revenue last year and £500m in earnings, but little cash flow (they sell a lot of legacy services that aren’t super profitable). BT’s CEO, Allison Kirkby, is said to now be strongly in favour of selling the business, which is an approach that has been on the cards as one potential option since earlier this year.

Industry analysts have previously pointed toward several potential suitors, such as US rival Verizon, as well as technology giants like Amazon and Microsoft. But it could also be sold in pieces, with some reports indicating that Macquarie-backed Viatel was sniffing around BT Ireland, while Telecom Italia is said to have expressed an interest in the remnants of BT’s Italian business. BT said: ‘It could be one transaction, whichever option maximises value.’

The sale of their global division would no doubt help to support the operator’s UK plans, such as with their ongoing roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband technology across the UK and their related deployments of 5G based mobile networks for EE.

Some customers of mobile network provider giffgaff, which is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) on O2’s UK platform, appear to be experiencing a mix of two problems, including delays to new SIM activations and delays to transfers (ports) of mobile numbers – both in to or out of their network.

In terms of the delays to new SIM activations, the operator’s technical team recently confirmed (here) that SIMs ordered on or after the 21st of October have been impacted by the activation issue, with some having delays or being unable to activate. But other customers report that the issue has been going on since around late September 2024 and have become frustrated with the limited support they’ve received (or not received, in other cases).

Customers have also been complaining, for the past few weeks, about delays to transfers (ports) of mobile numbers (here), which a spokesperson for giffgaff said occurred following “an essential system upgrade to improve the overall network services“. The operator is trying to resolve this and has said they’re “automatically compensating” members impacted by the delays via credit to their account.

A spokesperson for giffgaff told ISPreview:

“Following an essential system upgrade, a small number of members have experienced issues. We’re working hard to resolve them as soon as possible and apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”

Some of giffgaff’s responses to customers suggest that many of these issues relate to third-party systems, such as those run by O2, as well as the system that Ofcom makes all of the mobile operators use for things like Porting Authorisation Code (PAC) requests, number transfers, SIM swaps and so forth. As a result, giffgaff has had to wait for some of the other parties involved to resolve their issues first.

The mobile operator’s community forum is filled with many hundreds of related complaints about these issues.

Gigabit broadband ISP Hyperoptic, which has already extended their full fibre (FTTP / B) network to cover “more than” 1.73 million UK homes in parts of 64 towns and cities (mostly MDUs), has today announced that they’re kicking off their Black Friday deals early with some modest price cuts.

The provider, which pledges no mid-contract price hikes, is currently also offering a price match guarantee should customers find the same package being offered for less elsewhere (available within a customer’s first 30 days of service). This means that if you find the same package for less elsewhere, they’ll match it.

As usual, new customers can expect to receive unlimited data usage, symmetric speeds (except on their 50Mbps plan where the upload is 5Mbps), 24/7 customer support and an included “HyperHub” wireless router. But a £19 one-off activation fee does apply. The full offers, which are available until 2nd December 2024, include:

Hyperoptics 2024 Early Black Friday Broadband Deals

24-month deals

50Mb £27 a month (£30 thereafter)

150Mb £27.50 a month (£40 thereafter)

500Mb £33 a month (£53 thereafter)

1Gb £38 a month (£63 thereafter) + £50 Amazon gift card

12-month deals

50Mb £28 a month (£30 thereafter)

150Mb £32 a month (£40 thereafter)

500Mb £36 a month (£53 thereafter)

1Gb £39 a month (£63 thereafter) + £30 Amazon gift card

News 

The partnership aims to meet the rising demand for 5G while supporting sustainable, digital growth across Spain 

Ericsson has partnered with newly merged MasOrange, Spain’s largest telco, in a five-year project to upgrade its network with Open RAN technology. 

Announced this week, the collaboration aims to make MasOrange’s network one of Europe’s most modern and powerful 5G networks, the companies said. 

Under the deal, Ericsson will help integrate the networks of Orange Spain and Masmovil, creating a stronger, more efficient system. The network will use sustainable technology and energy-saving equipment from Ericsson to reduce costs and improve performance.  

Part of the plan includes rolling out 5G Standalone (5G SA) in rural areas of Spain, which will expanding high-speed internet access to more communities. 

The upgraded network will feature Ericsson’s advanced antennas and computing systems, which will boost data speeds and allow MasOrange to offer new, improved services. This includes the use of Massive MIMO technology, which uses multiple antennas to send and receive data faster and improve user experience. 

“This collaboration with Ericsson represents a decisive moment not only for MasOrange, but also for European telecommunications industry as a whole and for the Spanish market, as we lead the development of Open RAN and we lay the foundation for an open and programmable mobile infrastructure that will drive technological advances and sustainable growth,” said MasOrange’s CEO Meinrad Spenger in a press release. 

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The 19,000km cable system is set to connect Malaysia to the US

This week, Philippines operator Globe Telecom has announced that it has been selected to build and manage the local section of the MYUS cable system, including building a landing station at Davao City.

The $720 million MYUS cable system is set to span roughly 19,000km, heading from Sedili, Malaysia, to Florence, Oregon, USA, via the Philippines and Guam. Branching units will also link the cable to Indonesia at Batam, Jakarta, and Balikpapan.

The cable will have 16 fibre pairs, capable of delivering a minimum capacity of 15 Tbps.

According to Hexa, the company in charge of the cable project, Globe had been selected in part due to their experience with the Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network.

“Our cable landing facilities offer diverse route connectivity to global and regional carriers…Access to customers using our robust state-of-the-art network should give confidence to operators looking to interconnect with domestic and international constituents. Davao is a critical hub for subsea fiber optic cables, which are the backbone of today’s Internet,” said KD Dizon, head of Globe Business told the Manila Standard.

The submarine cable industry is evolving rapidly. Join the discussion at the world’s leading subsea cable conference, Submarine Networks EMEA

Also in the news:
Nokia and Lenovo forge partnership to drive AI and automation in data centers
UK govt announces £22m investment in ‘smart data’
“We’re on track to close the loop”: Adtran talks data, AI, and network automation at Connected Britain