Sofia, Bulgaria – 12th September 2024: NetIX, the leading global distributed platform for award-winning connectivity and peering solutions, is proud to announce the expansion of its long-standing partnership with DE-CIX by adding five of their exchanges. The addition of these five new DE-CIX Internet Exchanges in Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Marseille, and New York to NetIX’s global peering platform further enhances the company’s presence across key global markets boosting its customers’ access and reach.

This strategic move strengthens the collaboration between NetIX – part of the Neterra Group – and DE-CIX, creating even more opportunities for networks to access and exchange traffic between these critical locations. Networks now have streamlined access to a greater number of peering partners, including ISPs and CDNs, providing reduced latency, improved network resiliency, and increased redundancy — all without the need for multiple direct connections.

“The addition of these new exchanges to our Global Internet Exchange service marks a significant milestone in our relationship with DE-CIX,” said Dean Belev, VP of Connectivity Services at NetIX. “We have partnered with DE-CIX for over 17 years, and as we continue to grow together, we remain committed to providing seamless global connectivity and empowering networks to peer globally through our one-stop platform. We look forward to continuing this growth journey with DE-CIX and expanding our shared reach across the world.”

With this expanded offering, NetIX continues to focus on delivering unparalleled global connectivity by making these leading exchanges part of its ecosystem. By connecting through a single cross connect to NetIX from any one fo its 220+ locations, networks can now instantly peer at DE-CIX’s newest locations, enabling better connectivity for customers and partners alike, regardless if they’re in a DE-CIX facility or not.

“NetIX has proven to be an exceptional partner; their innovative approach to building a global peering ecosystem has not only earned them respect within the industry but has also set new standards for seamless and efficient interconnection,” commented Karim Tubin, Global Partner Manager, Wholesale Business, at DE-CIX. “Working with NetIX allows us to extend our reach and provide enhanced services to our customers, while simplifying the peering process. Their commitment to delivering high-performance connectivity aligns perfectly with our mission, and together we look forward to further strengthening our partnership to support the evolving needs of networks around the world.”

Only last month, NetIX added four IXPs to its Global Internet Exchange (GIX) service; IX.br’s Fortaleza exchange, Giganet’s exchange in Amsterdam, and 1-IX’s exchanges in Frankfurt and Kyiv. These additions enabled NetIX to offer access to more than 45 IXPs, and now, with the addition of these five DE-CIX exchanges, it means NetIX has already revised and updated this total to over 50 IXPs.

NetIX’s GIX peering ecosystem is unique in the industry in allowing networks to tap into the power of global connectivity with unmatched efficiency; NetIX blends the traffic of its 50+ connected IXPs together and deliver all these routes via one cross connect and one port to the members’ networks. This innovation has already earned NetIX several prestigious awards, highlighting its impact on the global telecommunications landscape. 

NetIX’s platform reaches daily peaks of over 3Tb of daily traffic, a testament to the growing demand for its efficient and expansive connectivity solutions. Are you ready to benefit from NetIX’s award-winning peering services? Reach out to the team to discover new ways to improve and enhance your network reach by emailing contact@netix.net or visit netix.net for more information.

About NetIX

Our next-generation network accelerates the Internet; we connect content creators with users faster, cheaper, and more directly than ever.

Our network stretches across more than 220 global data centres in 100+ cities in 65 countries. The NetIX platform connects our 200+ members to content from 10,000+ visible networks and 50+ Internet Exchanges and reaches daily peaks of more than 3Tb of traffic throughput.

NetIX offers the best possible Internet connectivity: our members can directly exchange traffic with peers, giving their end-users faster page-load times on 90% of the most popular sites.

Our members include Internet service providers, broadcasters, telecoms operators, and content delivery networks – all the peers your customers need to access!

Network operator and UK ISP LightSpeed Broadband, which claims to have already built their gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP) network to cover 250,000 premises in the East of England and West Midlands, has today opened their network up for use by rival ISPs and businesses via a new wholesale division – LightSpeed Networks.

The provider, which was last year acquired by Kompass Kapital (here) after suffering job cuts and a build slowdown in the East of England (here), currently claims to have builds across parts of 32 market towns in South Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Rutland.

However, until now LightSpeed has tended to be more of a vertically integrated provider, but all that has just changed with today’s launch of their new wholesale offerings via LightSpeed Networks (technically it actually launched last week, but the press release only dropped today) – offering partners a range of connectivity options from 100Mbps and all the way up to 100Gbps (everything from FTTP to lightning-fast Ethernet or wavelength connections).

The move sees the LightSpeed Group being split into two distinct brands:

LightSpeed: The ISP providing access for homes and businesses to Gigabit broadband across the East of England and West Midlands 

LightSpeed Networks: Expanding the group’s full fibre connectivity across existing and new areas, and the provider of wholesale connections to partners 

Third-party ISPs joining this network will also be able to benefit from a range of consumer services ranging from 100Mbps to 2Gbps.

Brett Shepherd, LightSpeed Group CEO, said:

“We’re delighted to have launched LightSpeed Networks at Connected Britain this month, discussing all things broadband with likeminded telecoms innovators.

Our mission is to empower homes, businesses, and communities with flexible, high-quality broadband infrastructure. By building partnerships based on shared goals, we aim to push the boundaries of technology and unlock new opportunities for everyone.”

Interestingly, the website for Lightspeed Networks also offers a visual map of their infrastructure, which provides some clues as to their roll-out plan.

News

The announcement follows Sir Chris Bryant, Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms, gaving a speech on the importance of digital infrastructure at Connected Britain 2024 

The UK government has officially classified data centres as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), aiming to enhance their protection against cyber threats, IT outages, and environmental risks.  

The decision, announced by Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, focuses on safeguarding important data such as NHS records, financial information, and personal data, while also supporting the broader digital economy. 

The new status places data centres alongside essential services like energy and water, ensuring they receive additional government support where necessary.  

It also includes better coordination with security agencies, such as the National Cyber Security Centre, and the creation of a dedicated data infrastructure team of senior government officials to oversee the infrastructure.  

Designating data centres as CNI is aimed their resilience against outages, cyber-attacks, and other risks that could impact vital services like healthcare and financial systems.  

This scale of the disruption possible by cyberattacks of unintentional technical faults was highlighted earlier this year, when an unintentional consequence of a Crowd Strike update saw 60% of GP practices unable to access software holding patients’ appointment details, prescriptions, and health records. 

In line with this announcement, the government has announced a proposed £3.75 billion investment in Europe’s largest data centre, to be built in Hertfordshire by data centre company DC01UK. The project, which is pending approval, is expected to create 700 local jobs and support almost 14,000 positions across the UK’s tech sector.  

“Data centres are the engines of modern life, they power the digital economy and keep our most personal information safe. Bringing data centres into the Critical National Infrastructure regime will allow better coordination and cooperation with the government against cyber criminals and unexpected events,” said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle in a press release. 

“The huge £3.75 billion private investment announced today in Hertfordshire is a vote of confidence in those plans and a clear example of my determination to ensure technological advancements are helping to grow our economy and create wealth across the country,” he continued. 

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Also in the news: 

News

The regulator will come to a final decision on the merger in December this year 

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has released its provisional findings on the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three, once again raising concerns that the deal could lead to higher prices and reduced service quality for millions of UK mobile customers. 

“We’ve carefully examined the potential effects of this merger. While it could improve network quality, the potential cost to customers and smaller providers is significant,” said the CMA in a statement. “We will now work to address these concerns while ensuring future network investments.” 

Specifically, the investigation has raised three key issues: 

Potential price increases: The CMA suggests that tens of millions of mobile users could face higher bills or receive reduced services, such as smaller data allowances, as a result of the merger. Those most affected are likely to be customers already struggling with affordability.
Impact on Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs): The merger may also hurt smaller providers like Sky Mobile and Lyca Mobile (both of whom were named specifically), who rely on Vodafone and Three’s networks. With fewer network operators, MVNOs could struggle to secure favourable terms, making it harder for them to offer competitive deals.
Uncertain benefits: While Vodafone and Three claim the merger will improve network quality and accelerate 5G deployment, the CMA claims that the two companies have “overstated” these benefits, while questioning whether the merged company would follow through on its investment promises.

“We’ve taken a thorough, considered approach to investigating this merger, weighing up the investment the companies say they will make in enhancing network quality and boosting 5G connectivity against the significant costs to customers and rival virtual networks,” said Stuart McIntosh, chair of the inquiry group. 

“We will now consider how Vodafone and Three might address our concerns about the likely impact of the merger on retail and wholesale customers while securing the potential longer-term benefits of the merger, including by guaranteeing future network investments,” he continued. 

 In response to these findings, the executive teams at Three and Vodafone once again argued that the merger would not mean higher prices for customers and would not negatively impact competition.  

Three UK CEO Robert Finnegan said in a LinkedIn post that “the current UK 4 player mobile market is dysfunctional and lacks quality competition with 2 strong players and 2 weak players”.  

Vodafone’s CEO of European markets, Ahmed Essam, meanwhile, said that the findings “underestimate the current realities of the UK market.” 

Both said that they looked forward to addressing the CMA’s concerns in order to secure approval. 

Overall, while these findings from the CMA are not positive for the merger, they were also very much expected, In fact, some analysts are suggesting that the CMA’s statement could have a silver lining, in that it may be willing to consider “behavioural remedies” in order to approve the deal. 

“The CMA’s findings on the Vodafone UK / Three UK merger do signal a potential pathway, importantly through behavioural rather than any structural remedies, over and above the £11bn network investment commitment to be enforced by the regulator, said Paolo Pescatore, founder of PP Foresight. 

“The CMA offers a potential path to approval through a range of remedies. Crucially, it appears willing to consider “behavioural remedies” such as enhanced network access for virtual providers or safeguards for retail customers,” agreed Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight.

“This is significant as many had feared that more onerous “structural remedies” – such as selling assets or supporting a new entrant – would be required. In this sense, Vodafone and Three should be encouraged by the tone of the CMA’s report which appears more open to the merger than I was expecting,” he continued. 

The CMA is seeking responses to its provisional findings by 4 October 2024 and to its proposed remedies by 27 September. A final decision is expected by 7 December. 

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Also in the news: 

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today announced that the first 5,000 premises (homes and businesses) across Perth in Scotland can now access their new 1.8Gbps capable full fibre broadband ISP network. But thousands more are planned in the city and across more rural parts of the county over the next 12 months.

In case anybody has forgotten, Perth was only added to Openreach’s UK rollout plan in September 2023 (here) and the operator has since been busy expanding their network to deliver on that. The first 5,000 premises in the city have now gone live and engineers also plan to start work on major builds for nearby Coupar Angus and Crieff this autumn, which will join the 17,000 already able to access their FTTP network across Perth and Kinross.

Work is also ongoing in several more locations as part of the Scottish Government’s £600 million Reaching 100% programme, including in Aberfeldy and Bridge of Gaur. Further R100 upgrades are due to start later this year around Blairgowrie and Rattray. In addition, Openreach is separately working on Fibre Community Partnerships (FCP) in Glencarse, Gellybank, Fossoway and Blairadam, where it is helping to co-fund the local builds.

However, it’s worth noting that Openreach is NOT the only gigabit-capable broadband network in Perth, which is a city that has also been covered by Virgin Media’s infrastructure. But otherwise, Perth generally hasn’t had a lot of gigabit class network choices, until now.

Robert Thorburn, Openreach Partnership Director for Scotland, said:

“We’ve got a lot of work either under way or planned across Perth and Kinross, so we want to let local people know what to expect. We’re looking to upgrade as many homes and businesses as possible while our teams are working locally, so residents will spot more engineers, technicians, equipment and vans.

We work hard to build safely and limit disruption, with loads of support from Perth and Kinross Council. Wherever we can, we use our existing network of ducts and poles to avoid roadworks, digging and disturbance. But there may be places where we have to put in new poles or underground ducts and cables if it’s the only way to include some people in the upgrade.”

The service itself, once live, can be ordered via various broadband ISPs, such as BT, EE, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Vodafone and many more (Openreach FTTP ISP Choices) – it is not usually offered as an automatic upgrade, although some ISPs are doing free upgrades as older copper-based services and lines are slowly withdrawn.

Openreach’s build partner Morrison Telecom Services (MTS) is helping to deliver the Perth roll-out.

Alternative full fibre operator Zzoomm, which has built a 2Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 202,000 premises (RFS) in England, has today launched a new 200Mbps (symmetric) service that appears to replace their previous entry-level 150Mbps package. But the new entry-level tier is more expensive.

The new “200 Full Fibre” service is priced at £32.95 per month on a 12-month minimum term and comes with a £100 Amazon voucher for new customers (compared to £29.95 for the old 150Mbps tier). All of their packages also include a free standard installation, Zzoomm Wi-Fi 6 Hub (router), free in-home Wi-Fi setup, unlimited data and a pledge of “no mid-contract price rises“.

The operator’s network, which is home to 30,000 customers (c.15% take-up), is currently available across parts of around 29 market towns and small urban communities in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Herefordshire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire and Cheshire. Zzoomm originally aspired to cover 1 million premises across 85 UK towns by the end of 2025, before the difficulties of raising fresh capital forced their build to stop (here and here). But growth via mergers and acquisitions is now being actively explored (here).

Chris Collinson, CCO of Zzoomm, said:

“At Zzoomm, we’re committed to meeting the growing demand for faster, more reliable broadband. This new service is 33% faster than our 150Mbps capability for only £3 extra.

The launch of our new 200 Full Fibre, 200Mbps symmetrical service reflects our dedication to delivering top-tier connectivity that keeps up with the pace of modern life. This update ensures that our customers, future and existing, not only stay ahead of the digital curve but enjoy symmetrical speeds that significantly surpass the national average.

We are committed to keeping continuously improving our offerings and this launch is all part of our mission to provide our customers fast, reliable Full Fibre broadband that truly elevate their online experience.

Full Fibre just got faster.”

Despite the positives, it is worth keeping in mind that not all consumers want or need faster speeds and there are those who would rather have a cheaper / slower package that exists to cater for only their basic needs. In that sense, removing the cheapest option for new customers does have some downsides.

Broadband ISP CommunityFibre (CF), which has rolled out their 3Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across around 1.4 million UK premises (predominantly in London), has today claimed to already be “reaping the rewards” from Ofcom’s new One Touch Switching (OTS) system for consumers migrating between providers.

Just to recap. Last week saw the long-awaited introduction of OTS, which has faced many delays but aims to make it both quicker and easier for consumers to switch between broadband providers on physically separate networks. However, despite a somewhat turbulent history and start, CommunityFibre sees only positives and has already completed its first customer installation in less than two days (who switched from Sky Broadband).

“By eliminating the need for customers to liaise with their existing providers, and only terminating contracts once their new provider is live, what was once a complicated, time-consuming process that can leave households without internet access will now become a seamless, risk-free experience for broadband users,” said CF, which believes that this will “continue to be a net positive for the company” when it comes to acquiring new customers.

Graeme Oxby, CEO of CommunityFibre, said:

“I hope that the latest One Touch Switching rule change will continue to benefit both alternative broadband providers and consumers, now that it is easier for users of other networks to come and join us to experience the great services that Community Fibre provides.”

Residential customers of CF typically pay from £21 per month on a 24-month term for speeds of 150Mbps (symmetric) with free setup and an included WiFi 6 router, which rises to £56 for their top 3Gbps tier. The pricing is currently fixed if you join before 4th November 2024. At the end of your contract, your price will increase by £4 per month.

CommunityFibre also offers a separate 35Mbps social broadband tariff at £12.50 a month (rising to £16.50 after the first 12-months), although their 35Mbps plan isn’t technically a true Social Tariff because it’s available to everybody covered by their network (i.e. not just those on state benefits) and we rather like that.

Fife-based network operator Gigaloch, which in 2020 began building their own Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across a few remote rural communities in West Cheshire (England) and Perthshire (Scotland), has put in an application for Code Powers from Ofcom to help with their network expansion plans.

Just to recap. UK ISP Gigaloch originally started their build in Mollington (West Cheshire) and have also expanded out into other locations, such as Abraichan (Inverness-shire), Loch Tay (Highlands of Perthshire), Mouldsworth, Manley and Ashton Hayes (Cheshire), and Methven (Perth and Kinross) etc. The operator currently aspire to cover 200,000 premises over the next few years.

However, it appears as if Gigaloch may be preparing to move into a higher gear with their application for Code Powers, which are typically sought to help speed-up deployments of new fibre and cut costs, not least by reducing the number of licences needed for street works. The powers can also help with supporting access to run new fibre via Openreach’s (BT) existing cable ducts and poles (PIA).

Code Powers Statement

The Applicant is a relatively new operator seeking Code powers to facilitate the deployment of a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) network predominantly across rural Scotland.

The Applicant is presently rolling out its network in Perth and Strathearn, Highland Perthshire, Inverness-shire and in West Cheshire in England.

The Applicant intends to continue building their own fibre optic access network in their own duct infrastructure.

Sadly, Gigaloch’s website doesn’t contain a lot of detail about their broadband packages and prices, but we recall from last year that an unlimited 1Gbps (200Mbps upload) service was being sold for £35 per month (frozen until 2025) on a 12-month term. Hopefully more details about their roll-out plan and network build progress will surface in the near future.

Network provider PlatformX Communications (PXC), which was formerly known as TalkTalk Wholesale before the recent demerger (here), has today announced a new agreement that will give their UK wholesale business access to Netomnia’s (inc. Brsk) new full fibre (FTTP) broadband network – currently covering 1.75 million UK premises (RFS).

Breaking news.. more to follow..

Customers of UK broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2), specifically those who may own one of their legacy WiFi Booster devices – also called Powerline Boosters, should remain vigilant after a number of users reported that their units had failed after sparking and smoking. A tiny number of users even alleged that the units caught fire.

First things first. Electronic devices do sometimes fail, and when that happens it’s usually more of a graceful failure, which means that the kit will simply stop working and that’s the end of it. In that sense, it’s not uncommon for a very small proportion of supplied hardware to suffer a failure during operation, which is a risk that tends to rise as devices age through time and usage.

Sometimes such failures can be a bit more noticeable, such as if you see sparks or smoke, while in extreme cases there’s also the risk of fire to consider. Take, for example, the 2015 case when EE had to recall masses of free portable Smartphone battery chargers (“Power Bars“) after some exploded (here). But most electronic devices are designed in such a way that they’ll fail without causing a fire. 

The latest example of a device that seems to be raising concerns over safety has come from Virgin Media’s legacy Wi-Fi Boosters (aka – Powerline Boosters), as well as the odd one of their more modern Plume pods and similar kit. But so far as we can tell, the most common issues are being experienced by their legacy boosters (pictured).

Examples of this are certainly not hard to come by and most have been reported via Virgin Media’s own Community Forum: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here (Credits to Cardiffman282 for helping us find these). Most of the complaints have occurred over the past 12 months, while a few pre-date that period.

Sample Customer Complaint by Marz123

“I have been using the old white Wi-Fi booster for the past few years and have not had an issue until two days ago. The booster suddenly sparked then made a loud bang and caught on fire. The customer service was closed for that day so we waited until tomorrow to contact virgin.

Upon contacting customer support they said were redirected to WhatsApp where we waited the full day to not even be contacted. I am extremely displeased with the way this was handled especially seeing as this could have resulted in a house fire had I not been home.”

Sample Customer Complaint by reeree81

“I returned from holiday and switched on all of my electrics. When I switched one of the booster packs back on, it literally popped and started to release smoke, thankfully no fire and my plug socket still works with other appliances.”

Sample Customer Complaint by Tim_allen

“My booster plug has just blown in its electrical socket. It sparked and smoked.”

Sample Customer Complaint by Megan_1910

“We’ve had this booster for about a year with no issues – got home tonight having been away and when I switched it on it started to spark a lot and then started to smoke and now no longer works.”

Sample Customer Complaint by cherrievarley

“My Wifi Booster, old style, went on fire today. Very dangerous and lucky i was in the room to quickly pull out of the plug.”

Naturally, we raised these concerns with Virgin Media, which advised that they take these reports incredibly seriously and, in each of the instances shared, they claim to have immediately requested that customers return them so that the provider could undertake comprehensive testing.

The operator said that, in every test undertaken on their boosters or pods – including on those devices returned by customers that have allegedly caught alight, sparked, popped, smoked, blown etc. – they’d “identified no faults which pose a fire risk and every device we’ve received or inspected has failed safely as designed, or worked as expected.”

Analysis of the failed Powerline boosters is said to have revealed either “no or very minimal visible damage to the outside of the units” – with the faults appearing to have been caused by a failing component. “In our testing, all other components and areas inside the units appear in good or excellent condition,” added the operator.

Virgin Media has also sent units to the manufacturer and to an independent third-party for further testing. In all cases, these tests are said to have “found that units were functioning safely and coped as designed, including when put under significant load testing – up to 1kV (four times higher than domestic wiring)“.

In short, the provider said they’d had “no substantiated reports of fire starting as a result of a booster failing” and inspections of those devices where customers claimed they caught fire “found this is not the case and there is no evidence of fire damage to the devices“.

A Virgin Media spokesperson told ISPreview:

“We always take reports like this very seriously and have carried out comprehensive testing and investigations, including with independent third-parties, all of which have found no evidence of a fire safety risk with our WiFi boosters or pods.

We have hundreds of thousands of customers safely using our WiFi boosters and pods and on the very rare occasion that individual units have failed, they have done so safely as designed.”

The last point about Virgin having “hundreds of thousands of customers safely using our WiFi boosters and pods” is a key one. As we said in the introduction, a small proportion of electronic devices will often fail and, with so many users, it’s not surprising that a very tiny number of that figure may fail in a way that is a bit more.. noticable (sparks, bits of smoke, popping sound etc.).

Such issues can happen with routers and WiFi adapters on other providers too, although without more data on the failure rate, it’s very difficult to know if Virgin’s legacy WiFi Boosters are more prone to such failures than those of competing brands / manufacturers / ISPs. But certainly, on the anecdotal level, we did find it much easier to uncover related complaints about Virgin’s adapters than similar kit at other ISPs.