In an unsurprising development, both Sky TV (Sky Broadband) and EE (BT) have now confirmed their separate plans for withdrawing the old Netflix Basic (£7.99) plan from their various bundles. The move follows on from last year’s decision (here) by the video streaming giant to replace Basics with their “Standard with adverts” plan.

Just in case anybody has forgotten. Netflix stopped offering their old ad-free Basic plan to new or rejoining members in October 2023. But this raised a question mark over the fate of the service for those TV and broadband providers that have been bundling it with some of their packages, often as part of a special agreement with the streaming giant.

Sky actually stopped offering the original Basic plan last year on its bundles (e.g. Ultimate TV), although until now it wasn’t clear what would happen to existing customers with a related bundle. Meanwhile, EE has continued to offer the Basic plan, but Cord Busters reports that this is all coming to an end.

Firstly, Sky have confirmed that customers with Netflix’s Basic plan on their related bundles will, from September 2024, be “automatically” changed to the ‘Standard with adverts’ plan. However, you won’t pay any less, despite the ads tier costly less than the Basic’s one, which seems a bit unfair. Customers can alternatively upgrade to Standard by paying an extra £6 per month or cancel.

Finally, EE has just joined Sky in withdrawing the Basic plan from related packages for new customers. New customers will instead get the ‘Standard with adverts’ plan on related bundles (e.g. Entertainment or Big Entertainment), while existing customers have been warned that they can only keep the Basic tier until they renew their contract, or until late 2026 if they’re out of contract.

One catch here is that the new Standard with Ads plan is currently only supported on EE TV’s latest 4K Pro (inc. Mini versions) and the 4K Apple TV boxes. But EE has pledged to upgrade customers on older boxes, at no extra cost, to the latest kit if they’re affected.

Mobile operator Three UK has expanded their Connected Communities programme, which offers “free high-speed broadband, smart tablets and digital training sessions“, to include the Carrbridge Youth Centre in Birkenhead. The scheme has already launched across four youth groups in Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester.

Following a pilot in 2022 by Three UK’s Discovery team, the Connected Communities scheme was set-up with the goal of providing “brilliant young people across the country with the tools they need to succeed – empowering them and their communities every day, through the power of Three UK’s network.”

The first learning session at the Carrbridge Youth Centre was delivered by Three UK’s Discovery team on Tuesday 2nd July 2024 and provided attendees with training in stop-motion animation. The 5G broadband and tablets provided will remain at the Youth Centre and be available to all of those who use it.

Craig Miller, Head of Retail at Three UK, said:

“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to bring our Connected Communities programme to the youth of Birkenhead. Being able to run a Discovery session for the Carrbridge Youth Centre has helped us to empower and educate young people with the tools they need to excel in an increasingly complex and interconnected world.”

The day has finally come when UK ISP Andrews & Arnold (AAISP), which have long been one of the few remaining fixed line broadband providers’ to only offer plans with capped data allowances (albeit very big ones), has finally adopted packages that come “without a usage cap” (aka – unlimited, although they don’t describe it like that).

Until now consumers looking to take out one of AAISP’s broadband packages, such as via their FTTP or FTTC products, would have typically chosen one with a default data allowance of either 1TB (TeraByte) or 10TB. For example, their 115Mbps speed home broadband package on Openreach’s network would cost £37 per month for 1TB or £47 for 10TB.

However, the big change today means that those 10TB packages will now be expressed as coming “without a usage cap“, although the ISP will retain their 1TB plans for those who have lower usage demands but still want high quality service and support etc.

A&A Statement

For many years A&A has resisted offering “Unlimited” plans. Our explanation for this unusual approach has always been themed in a way that aims to be “technically correct”; one can not download an elephant and one can not download more than the capacity of the connection multiplied by time. Therefore, strictly, “unlimited” is false.

We’ve often resorted to analogy to bolster our explanations; “an all you-can-eat buffet actually does run out eventually”, for example.

In tandem with this, we believe we have always offered usefully and appropriately high inclusive usage limits, such that many customers (in their own words) often describe them as “effectively unlimited for me”. What they mean by this is that the quota so massively exceeds their actual usage, that the limit is not something they must worry about, or indeed think about at all, ever.

This allergy to presenting something not entirely correct has, definitely, had a consequence for A&A in terms of potential customers. We are definitely aware that potential customers have chosen an alternative provider because of quota anxiety.

The business has changed and developed, and real world usage has started to plateau. We have also deployed a large number of our new FireBrick FB9000 as LNSs and BGP routers, and begun offering higher bandwidth services, up to a gigabit, and monitored average usage over a sensible period of time. We are confident we have ample network capacity.

As a result, we feel that now is the time to start to offer packages that other ISPs would probably describe as “unlimited”, but which we would describe as “without a usage cap”.

Changes this month

During August anyone on:

Home::1 10T
SoHo::1 20T
Office::1 20T

will have their package changed, with no increase in cost. Our website and order pages will be updated over the coming days too.

“Lite” Tariff

Anyone on

Home::1 1TB
SoHo::1 2TB

will have their package name changed to “Home::1 Lite” or “SoHo::1 Lite”. The price will stay the same, and the inclusive usage will remain unchanged. This package is intended for people who want the high quality, low latency Internet connection A&A provides but do not need high usage, and at the slightly more budget-friendly price point.

Final words

We hope customers are pleased with these changes, though we do recognise that in a majority of cases they will have no effect at all!

We want to reassure everyone that this change has been extremely carefully thought through, and the assurances given over many years about being able to maintain quality of service (in terms of loss and latency) still stand. We are confident that we will still be able to offer low latency, high quality, Internet connections.

Sky UK (Sky Glass, Sky Stream etc.) has today announced the expected launch of their new Sky Sports+ service, which will become available nationwide from Thursday 8th August 2024. Sky Sports+ is to be included with Sky Sports “at no extra cost” and brings a bunch of new features and content.

Sky Sports+ is expressed as giving customers more choice with new live streams and a dedicated channel (live pause and rewind available on all new live streams), as well as an updated User Interface (UI) and live scores from concurrent events will also be displayed on match tiles. This will simply drop into the existing Sky experience across Sky Glass, Sky Stream, Sky Q and NOW TV, so customers don’t need to do anything extra to benefit.

Sky noted that the launch has come just in time for the EFL opening weekend, with every game from across the Championship, League One and League Two streamed live, which is said to be “a first in broadcasting history“.

The provider has also launched a special offer for new customers to get Sky Sports (inc. Sky Sports+) and Sky TV in Ultra HD, plus Netflix (standard with adverts) included for the price of £43 per month. But the small print notes that this requires Sky Stream or Sky Glass TV (from £14 extra pm) and the offer price will end on 21st August 2024.

Sky Sports+ Content for August

• Watch your EFL team over 20 times a season, live
• Enjoy over 1,000 live EFL games, including every Carabao Cup fixture
• Watch every match from the men’s Rugby Super League
• Over 100 tournaments across the US Open, ATP and WTA tours
• Offers the capability to show up to 100 events concurrently
• Available on Sky TV, the streaming service Now TV, and on the revamped Sky Sports mobile app

Sky Sports+ will also give customers exclusive access to Sky’s sports documentaries “at least two weeks before anyone else“. In addition, Mobile users will get new personalisation options to follow their favourite teams and competitions, as well as improved navigation and access to all Sky Sports+ live streams via event centres.

Jonathan Licht, MD at Sky Sports, said:

“Sky Sports+ is here, taking sports viewing to the next level by offering unmatched access and choice through numerous live streams and our new dedicated channel. We’re showing up for football fans like never before this season, showing every EFL team more than 20 times a season, and this weekend, our viewers can look forward to seeing every EFL game live. We’re thrilled to offer this to customers at no extra cost, ensuring they can enjoy even more of the sport they love this summer.”

Sky Sports+ can be found on linear channel number 410 for Sky Glass customers, 412 for Sky Q customers and 416 for ROI.

News

Reports suggest that Macquarie will walk away from the £450 million deal to buy a stake in TalkTalk’s wholesale division, PlatformX Communications (PXC)

According to reports over the weekend, discussions between TalkTalk and Macquarie regarding a stake sale in PXC have reached an impasse.

Macquarie was reportedly looking to spend up to £450 million on buying a 40% stake in the business, valuing PXC at £1.2 billion.

Reasons for the breakdown of negotiations were not revealed, though reports suggest Macquarie could reopen negotiations if TalkTalk’s financial situation improves.

TalkTalk had been struggling under the weight of immense debt for several years now, with the current total standing at over £1 billion. With the company failing to significantly improve its balance sheet by traditional means, TalkTalk announced it would carve up the business into three separate units – its B2B Wholesale Platform (now rebranded as PXC), TalkTalk Consumer, and TalkTalk Business Direct – in September last year.

Since then, the various business unit have been the focus of much investor attention. Just one month after the announcement, TalkTalk confirmed the sale of its business unit to a group of its own shareholders for £95 million under a special purpose vehicle called TFP Telecoms.

Some months later, in February, Virgin Media O2 was tipped to be in discussions for TalkTalk’s consumer division, though a deal has yet to materialise.

This left the prospective sale of PXC to Macquarie as a major financial lifeline for TalkTalk, with the company desperately need a cash injection ahead of looming debt deadlines. The company is due to repay £685 million in bonds in February, while a revolving credit facility of £330 million is set to be refinanced in November.

The company’s founder, Sir Chales Dunstone, and other major shareholders are currently in discussions with TalkTalk over a potential investment of over £180 million to help keep the company solvent.

“Funding proposals to refinance the group’s balance sheet are under active discussion,” said James Smith, TalkTalk’s chief financial officer. “We are making constructive progress and are confident of a near term agreement which will ensure the group is well capitalised going forward.”

Join the UK’s connectivity industry in discussion at this year’s Connected Britain, 11-12 September in London. Get your tickets here!

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News

Nowo Communications is Portugal’s fourth largest mobile operator 

Romanian telco Digi has agreed to acquire Nowo Communications from Spain’s Masmovil for €150 million. 

According to the announcement’s press release, Nowo has approximately 270,000 mobile users and 130,000 fixed clients. It also holds spectrum licenses in 1800 Mhz, 2600 MHz and 3600 MHz frequency bands.  

The acquisition comes a month after the Portuguese competition authority, Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC), rejected Vodafone Portugal’s attempt to acquire Nowo.  

Vodafone announced its intention to acquire Nowo in October 2022, but it quickly became clear that the AdC viewed the merger as potentially creating significant barriers to effective competition. Despite Vodafone submitting remedies to address these concerns, the AdC ultimately blocked the merger earlier this year.  

Luís Lopes, Executive President of Vodafone Portugal, called the decision “bewildering”, noting that Nowo holds just a 2% market share. 

Nonetheless, the AdC said “Nowo exerts considerable competitive pressure on the other market operators”, arguing that the merger would lead to reduced pressure and higher prices for customers. 

There should be no such regulatory concerns facing Digi Portugal’s new bid for Nowo, however, with Digi being a relative newcomer to the Portuguese market. The operator is currently in the initial phases of its 5G network rollout, having won 5G spectrum licenses in 2021. 

 A merger with Nowo should allow Digi to compete more effectively with the existing market leaders – NOS, Altice (MEO), and Vodafone Portugal – therefore making it an attractive prospect for AdC.  

The deal is subject to standard regulatory approval.  

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

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News

The regulator said it needed more time to assess all the evidence, given the inquiry’s ‘very wide scope’  

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has delayed its investigation deadline into the £15 billion Vodafone–Three merger that was announced last June. The new deadline is now 7 December this year, eight weeks later than expected. 

The regulator said the “very wide scope of this inquiry and the technical and regulatory complexity of the sector” were key factors in the deadline extension. 

“The Inquiry Group now considers that it will not be possible to complete the investigation and to publish its final report within the revised reference period. The Inquiry Group aims to complete the inquiry as soon as possible,” said the CMA in a statement. 

“It is not unusual for the CMA to exercise its right to extend its reference period in cases such as this,” said Vodafone in response to the announcement. 

“We appreciate the additional time it is taking to assess the extensive evidence submitted, which sets out how this transaction will significantly benefit over 50 million mobile customers, enhance competition and help transform the UK’s digital infrastructure. We will continue to work closely with the Inquiry Group as it finalises its report.” 

In May, the UK government released a “Publication of Notice of Final Order” that provisionally approved the Vodafone–Three merger, subject to certain conditions. The following month, the CMA published ten responses to the merger, commenting on issues and possible remedies to the move.  

Unsurprisingly, the UK incumbent BT released a 40-page report condemning the merger, saying its completion would be “to the detriment of UK customers.” 

If the deal is given the green light, Vodafone has pledged to invest £11 billion over ten years to create one of Europe’s best 5G standalone networks, which every school and hospital will have access to by 2030. 

Join the UK operators in conversation at this year’s Connected Britain, 11-12 September in London. Get tickets here! 

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News 

The new government has reevaluated the conservative party’s AI plans as it settles into office 

The newly formed Labour government has scrapped the £1.3 billion AI investment pledged by the Conservatives, despite newly appointed Science Secretary Peter Kyle promising to put “AI at the heart of the government’s agenda to boost growth and improve our public services” just last week. 

The investments included £800 million to build a supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh, which would be able to complete one billion calculations each second, and £500 million to set up an AI Research Resource, which helps to fund computing power for AI. 

However, these AI funding commitments by the Conservative government were “unfunded”, meaning that they were promised without any funds being formally allocated in the budget. 

“The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments,” said the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). “This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth.” 

New Shadow Science Secretary Andrew Griffith has condemned the decision, saying “it is a terrible blow to the UK tech sector and could be just the start of Labour cuts”.  

“During the election, Labour refused to commit to growing the amount the UK spends on research, yet that’s a core part of growing a modern economy. If DSIT can’t get the funds from the Treasury, this means university research can expect to be hit, too,” he continued. 

The government has recently launched its new AI Opportunities Action Plan, which will seek ways to accelerate the use of AI to better everyday people’s lives. It will also help the UK’s burgeoning AI sector to “compete on the global stage”. 

Speaking to Total Telecom, Lee Myall, CEO of UK telecoms provider Neos Networks, emphasised that the new government must “prioritise these investments to solidify its position as a global hub for AI technology and services, or risk losing ground to other more ambitious nations.” 

Join the conversation around UK AI at this year’s Connected Britain, 11-12 September in London. Get your tickets now!  

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Customers of UK broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2), specifically those who take their Pay TV services (i.e. TV 360, STREAM or v6 box platforms), may like to know that the provider is offering TV customers who don’t currently subscribe to Premier Sports “free access to the channels for the whole of August”.

Eligible customers will see the premium sports channels, which normally cost an extra £12.99 per month, added to their TV line-up, offering them the chance to enjoy an “abundance of sporting action this August across LALIGA, Motorsport, MMA, Scottish Premiership, Premier Sports Cup and more“.

Customers who wish to subscribe to Premier Sports after the 31st August 2024 can do so directly via their Virgin TV box by heading to the Apps area and subscribing. In addition, Virgin Media Stream customers can pocket 10% credit on their Premier Sport subscription when they sign up via Virgin TV.

David Bouchier, Chief TV and Entertainment Officer at VMO2, said: “Throughout August, we’re offering our customers even more value with the addition of free access to Premier Sports. Our customers can extend the summer of sport with football, rugby, motorsport and more, including upcoming games such as Real Madrid v Chelsea, Rangers v St Johnstone, Celtic v Hibernian and Dundee FC v Hearts.”

A new survey of over 1,000 adults across the UK, which was conducted by research and consulting firm Cavell, claims to have found that the majority of UK consumers (71%) still find the process of changing broadband ISP to be frustrating, complicated or intimidating. Just 28% said they found it “easy“.

According to Cavell’s 2024 UK Consumer Broadband Report, younger adults aged 18-24 were the ones who, perhaps conversely, found the switching process most complicated, with 33% highlighting frustrations. But on the flip side, the majority of consumers are now engaged with their broadband contract and know when it is up for renewal (87%), with just 13% unaware when their existing contract ends.

When it comes to broadband speed and understanding of what you pay for vs what you receive from your ISP, there are generational differences too. For example, awareness is very high (80%) amongst adults under 34 years old but drops quite steeply in the 55+ age bracket, with just 57% of respondents saying they knew if they are getting what they are paying for.

Additional Findings

➤ BT has the second-largest percentage of “positive sentiment” (42%) amongst national ISPs; only behind Sky (48%) and marginally ahead of Virgin Media (39%). TalkTalk meanwhile, which is reported to be facing an uncertain future due to debt pressures, fares less favourably in perceptions, with more UK consumers feeling negative (29%) towards the provider than positive (23%).

➤ Just 52% of respondents predict an increase in their internet usage over the next three years.

➤ Demand for streaming TV services (65%) comes out as the primary use of the internet, significantly above those who rely on it for working from home (37%).

➤ 64% said they have not been impacted by disruption in terms of roadworks to improve internet facilities in the last three years.

Furthermore, the research reveals that one in four consumers (25%) will seek a new contract immediately when their previous one ends.

Finbarr Begley, Senior Analyst at Cavell, said:

“I think it’s important to acknowledge that while there is friction with some elements like switching providers, and perceptions of individual providers might not be positive, many consumers are happy with their internet. It is fast enough, it is letting them do everything they want with it, and they think that will continue.

Of course, this poses a challenge to the broadband industry in the UK who want to keep selling faster, better, and more competitive services. There is yet to be a clear use case for mass adoption of hyperfast next-generation broadband across the country. You don’t need it if you just stream video every night.”

In fairness, switching ISP is something that Ofcom and the industry have been trying to improve for some considerable time, particularly now that the market is no longer as dominated by two major physical networks (Openreach and Virgin Media). The new One Touch Switch (OTS) migration system for easier and faster consumer broadband ISP switching is finally due to launch next month (after a lot of delays), but it may initially be a bit buggy.

The issue of encouraging people on to “hyperfast” connections is of course very well known (we’ll assume they mean gigabit-capable), although often the focus on top speeds does tend to overlook the fact that you can still benefit from the advantages of newer full fibre / gigabit networks (e.g. greater reliability and often lower pricing) via slower speed packages too. In any case, the eventual retirement of older copper and hybrid-fibre lines will perhaps make this somewhat of a moot point.