Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile operator and broadband ISP Vodafone UK has this morning announced that their internet security feature – Secure Net Home, and smart router technology, Who’s Home, which were previously only available on their premium Pro 3 fixed broadband packages, has been extended to 900,000 customers on their standard broadband packages too.

Just to recap. The Secure Net Home service includes various features, such as real-time protection against viruses and online threats (malware) for any device connected to WiFi. In addition, the parental controls it includes will enable you to create profiles for children, before assigning groups of devices to apply preferred controls for each individual user.

By comparison, the relatively recent Who’s Home service is designed to proactively alert customers when their loved one’s smartphone connects or disconnects from their hub (here). The feature is said to be “designed to give greater peace of mind and reassurance to customers“ and Vodafone allows individual users to opt-in or out, which helps to avoid the risk of it becoming too intrusive or just creepy.

Previously if you wanted either of these features then you needed to pay extra for one of Vodafone’s premium Pro packages and Who’s Home in particular initially only worked on their latest Wi-Fi 7 capable Ultra Hub 7 Fibre broadband router. But as of today, both Secure Net and Who’s Home are now available to Vodafone customers with a standard broadband package and the regular Power Hub router.

In terms of cost, the Who’s Home feature is being added “at no extra cost“, while Secure Net Home on standard packages will be free for the first three months to new users, followed by £2 a month thereafter with the flexibility to cancel any time.

Online protection for Vodafone customers doesn’t stop at home. Secure Net Mobile is also available to all Vodafone mobile customers for £2 a month and provides round‑the‑clock protection against viruses and malware, advanced parental controls, and 24/7 ID monitoring. Most recently, Scam Call Protection was added to Secure Net Mobile – an AI‑powered feature that flags scam and suspected nuisance calls before customers even pick up.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has released their May 2026 update on the delivery progress of contracts awarded under their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme. The update reveals that some 256,680 contracted premises (up from 250,000 in April 2026) have so far been covered out of a planned total of 837,340 (31% complete).

The figures in this update are not directly comparable to the figures published in BDUK’s general quarterly statistics releases. This is because today’s report tracks the number of contracted premises to which a supplier has delivered a gigabit-capable connection under the main Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy (GIS) programme, whereas the general statistics also include gigabit premises delivered via any public / BDUK subsidy (i.e. that includes other schemes too, like gigabit vouchers and contracts that pre-date Project Gigabit).

So far, most of the country’s gigabit-capable broadband coverage has been delivered by commercial deployments (predominantly focused on urban and semi-urban areas), while Project Gigabit focuses on the final bits that they fail to reach (usually rural areas). The project has already committed most of its budget up to 2030, but there are still some contracts yet to be awarded and others that have been scaled-back or switched suppliers (e.g. here, here, here, here and here).

Otherwise, it’s worth remembering that these contracts were all awarded at different times and are thus at very different stages of development (some started several years apart). A few of the listed contracts have already completed their delivery, such as Wessex Internet’s build for North Dorset and GoFibre’s roll-outs for County Durham and North Northumberland. Meanwhile, others, such as Openreach’s new contract for Cheshire (here), were only added in the April 2026 update.

The biggest change this time around is CityFibre’s significant reduction in planned build (here), which played a major role in slashing the total contracted premises figure from 1,047,200 last month to 837,340 now (-209,860 premises).

On top of that we’ve also noted some quirks this time around, such as for CityFibre’s Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes contract, where the already ‘built’ premises figure has gone from 4,570 in April to 4,150 in May. BDUK states that 420 premises missing from this will be “re-added at a later date“. The Freedom Fibre contract for North Shropshire suffered an even bigger monthly fall of -2,140 and BDUK said the same about that, albeit without providing any context for the change.

As previously reported, CityFibre’s contract for Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire (Lot 10) has also been removed from the contracted list this month as part of their recent change. BDUK are now working to find an alternative solution.

Project Gigabit – Contracted Premises and Built Premises by Contract (May 2026)

Remember – it’s important to understand the context behind each contract before judging delivery progress, since a face-value assessment will often overlook key realities. Speaking of which, some of the contracted figures may differ from the original announcements, which reflects the usual modifications (i.e. the scope of delivery can increase or decrease, such as due to commercial builds by other operators going further than expected or builds costing more than expected etc.).

For some extra context, you can check out the previous figures for April 2026 (here).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network analyst firm Streetwave has today published the results from a new study they conducted, which examined mobile network (4G, 5G) coverage and mobile broadband performance across part of the River Thames (Putney Pier to Westminster Pier) in London, while travelling onboard an Uber Boat (Thames Clippers). Vodafone came out on top.

The live survey, which used Streetwave’s portable network measurement and monitoring kit, was conducted during the afternoon rush hour on 20th May 2026 (3:40pm to 4:29pm). The kit captured real-world signal quality and service speeds across one of London’s busiest commuter river routes.

All four of the major UK operators – EE, O2, Vodafone and Three UK – were found to have delivered strong ‘Basic Coverage‘ scores along the route. Streetwave also measured ‘Good Coverage‘, a higher threshold that reflects the speeds needed for video calls and data-intensive tasks, where results varied more between networks and O2 was particularly poor.

Streetwave defines Basic Coverage as reflecting locations where the mobile network provides users with data speeds of above 1Mbps download, 0.5Mbps upload, and below 100ms (milliseconds) of latency (i.e. supporting only the most basic of use cases or needs).

The company also defines Good Coverage as being locations where the mobile networks provide at least 5Mbps download, 1.5Mbps upload, and less than 50ms latency – supporting a wider range of everyday tasks including video calls, remote working, and higher quality streaming. The results were as follows.

Basic Coverage Scores

Good Coverage Scores

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The scale of the UK’s commercial fibre rollout means some target areas no longer warrant government support

Today, fibre network operator CityFibre and Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency have agreed to ‘re-scope’ the nine contracts the operator holds as part of Project Gigabit.

The decision, the companies say, comes “in response to the accelerated rollout of commercially funded full fibre across Project Gigabit areas”, meaning government subsidies are no longer necessary.

Officially launched in 2021, Project Gigabit promised £5 billion in government subsidies to help fibre network operators reach some of the UK’s hardest-to-reach premises.

In 2023, CityFibre won ten Project Gigabit contracts with subsidies totalling around £782 million. This funding, CityFibre said, would help the company to reach 1.3 million homes and businesses across rural or hard-to-reach areas.

Work related to each of the contracts was reportedly underway by the start of last year, with CityFibre saying it had reached 150,000 premises in the covered areas, 70,000 of which had made use of subsidies.

Now, following analysis of information gained from BDUK’s ongoing Open Market Review process, the partners agree that the scope of the contracts is too broad for today’s market conditions. As a result, the revised targets will see CityFibre aim for 450,000 rural or hard-to-reach premises by 2030, with 226,000 of these directly subsidised by Project Gigabit.

In addition, a £58.6 million contract covering Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire will be ‘returned’ to BDUK.

“We are immensely proud of CityFibre’s involvement in Project Gigabit, an ambitious programme that has helped unlock the benefits of full fibre infrastructure for households and businesses previously at risk of being left behind. BDUK’s commitment has helped spur further investment and continued innovation and the time is right to focus on where we will have the biggest impact as we establish the competitive digital infrastructure market the UK deserves,” said Simon Holden, CityFibre’s Chief Executive Officer.

The government was quick to take credit for facilitating the rapid rollout of fibre across the UK.

“Over the past 18 months, this government has delivered upgrades to more than 229,000 hard-to-reach premises across the country. Our reforms to the telecoms market have unlocked a surge in commercial broadband rollout, meaning many areas previously in scope for CityFibre’s Project Gigabit contracts will now be upgraded without cost to taxpayers,” said Liz Lloyd, Telecoms Minister.

The announcement notes that this revision “will not affect BDUK’s ability to achieve the UK government target of 99% UK gigabit coverage by 2032”.

Keep up to date with all the latest news with the Total Telecom newsletter

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 UK’s fibre fiesta sees CityFibre’s Project Gigabit contracts ‘re-scoped’ appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The scale of the UK’s commercial fibre rollout means some target areas no longer warrant government support

Today, fibre network operator CityFibre and Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency have agreed to ‘re-scope’ the nine contracts the operator holds as part of Project Gigabit.

The decision, the companies say, comes “in response to the accelerated rollout of commercially funded full fibre across Project Gigabit areas”, meaning government subsidies are no longer necessary.

Officially launched in 2021, Project Gigabit promised £5 billion in government subsidies to help fibre network operators reach some of the UK’s hardest-to-reach premises.

In 2023, CityFibre won ten Project Gigabit contracts with subsidies totalling around £782 million. This funding, CityFibre said, would help the company to reach 1.3 million homes and businesses across rural or hard-to-reach areas.

Work related to each of the contracts was reportedly underway by the start of last year, with CityFibre saying it had reached 150,000 premises in the covered areas, 70,000 of which had made use of subsidies.

Now, following analysis of information gained from BDUK’s ongoing Open Market Review process, the partners agree that the scope of the contracts is too broad for today’s market conditions. As a result, the revised targets will see CityFibre aim for 450,000 rural or hard-to-reach premises by 2030, with 226,000 of these directly subsidised by Project Gigabit.

In addition, a £58.6 million contract covering Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire will be ‘returned’ to BDUK.

“We are immensely proud of CityFibre’s involvement in Project Gigabit, an ambitious programme that has helped unlock the benefits of full fibre infrastructure for households and businesses previously at risk of being left behind. BDUK’s commitment has helped spur further investment and continued innovation and the time is right to focus on where we will have the biggest impact as we establish the competitive digital infrastructure market the UK deserves,” said Simon Holden, CityFibre’s Chief Executive Officer.

The government was quick to take credit for facilitating the rapid rollout of fibre across the UK.

“Over the past 18 months, this government has delivered upgrades to more than 229,000 hard-to-reach premises across the country. Our reforms to the telecoms market have unlocked a surge in commercial broadband rollout, meaning many areas previously in scope for CityFibre’s Project Gigabit contracts will now be upgraded without cost to taxpayers,” said Liz Lloyd, Telecoms Minister.

The announcement notes that this revision “will not affect BDUK’s ability to achieve the UK government target of 99% UK gigabit coverage by 2032”.

Keep up to date with all the latest news with the Total Telecom newsletter

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 UK’s fibre fiesta sees CityFibre’s Project Gigabit contracts ‘re-scoped’ appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The High Court has granted rights holders, such as Columbia Pictures and others, more flexibility to require the UK’s major broadband ISPs (e.g. BT, EE, Plusnet, Virgin Media, Sky Broadband and TalkTalk) to block customers from accessing websites that have been found to facilitate internet copyright infringement (piracy).

At present ISPs subject to blocking orders, which in the UK usually flow from Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA), have over the past 16 years or so become very common. Hundreds of sites have been blocked through this approach (thousands if you include their many proxies and mirrors), which usually include file sharing (P2P / Torrent), streaming sites, Sci-Hub and those that sell counterfeit goods etc.

Since then, we’ve also seen similar kinds of restrictions being imposed via some third-party Domain Name System (DNS) providers and efforts have also been made to target Virtual Private Networks (VPN) in some countries, as well as CDN providers and internet search engines etc. But keeping up with the ability of serious copyright infringers to rapidly change websites remains a common and often costly problem.

However, the new ruling – ‘Columbia Pictures and others v British Telecommunications and others’ (Case ID: IL-2025-000240), which has not yet been published in public, appears to represent a new generation of UK blocking orders that ISPs will soon need to contend with.

According to the MPA and TorrentFreak, it allows Columbia Pictures, Disney, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Universal City Studios and Warner Bros (claimants in the case) to seek blocking of any “structurally infringing audiovisual piracy services that meet defined criteria, without having to bring a fresh court application for each new domain or site name available in the future … This is particularly important where piracy operators use generic, descriptive, or frequently changing names to avoid being captured by brand-based or domain-specific orders“.

MPA Summary

The Court accepted that this broader form of relief was necessary and proportionate in light of the scale and evolving nature of the problem of online infringements, the operational burden of repeated applications, and the demonstrated responsible use of site blocking remedies by rights holders over many years.

The order has a duration of 6 months and can be extended also depending on an ex-post reporting obligation, requiring rights holders to submit to the Court information on implementation and effectiveness, thereby preserving judicial oversight and accountability. This type of order does not require expanding intermediary liability but rather ensuring that existing no-fault injunction mechanisms remain practically effective in rapidly evolving online environments.

This development is particularly relevant in light of recent changes in the technical and operational behavior of piracy operators. While fully autonomous “agentic AI” systems are not yet known to be widely used in the piracy ecosystem, several technological developments are already materially lowering the barriers to large-scale domain hopping and evasive schemes, so that pirate operators can now rapidly deploy cloned streaming sites using openly available codebases and low-cost automated domain registration systems, often combined with bulk registration APIs and redirect-based migration strategies.

As a result, infringing services increasingly operate through rotating networks of domains, including generic or non-brand-related names specifically designed to evade traditional domain-specific or brand-based blocking measures. In some cases, operators maintain multiple interchangeable domains with substantially identical infrastructure, content libraries and functionality, allowing users to be seamlessly redirected to replacement domains.

Essentially, the new approach is much more automated and appears to cut out a fair bit of the process cost, at least for Rights Holders, in order to deliver both more rapid blocking and even unblocking, where needed. But it’s difficult to know how far this goes without being able to see a copy of the final legal text, and what, if any, safeguards might be in place to reduce the risk of accidental overclocking (lack of transparency).

Admittedly, this is still very much a game of whack-a-mole for Rights Holders, but the new order may help them to keep pace.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

ESPOO, FINLAND, May 26, 2026—Telia Finland and QMill have developed quantum-enhanced message encryption for mobile networks. QMill’s new encryption method is enabled by local or cloud quantum computers. Once completed, the method is designed to protect messages against attacks carried out using either classical or quantum resources.

”The security of our networks is becoming more crucial, especially for our mission-critical customers. In this first demonstration with QMill we focused on the most critical part of our network, but this method could be applied more widely and, in the long-term, it could potentially establish a new standard for encrypted communications,” says Jari Collin, Head of Customer Segment Defense, Telia Finland.

 “It is important that we were able to include Telia as a telecom operator in this phase. We will continue developing our quantum-enhanced security method with the objective of making it available as a standalone product, while also using it to complement other encryption methods by adding an additional layer of security,” says Hannu Kauppinen, CEO of QMill, which is a pioneering quantum algorithm and software company based in Finland.

The method has also been demonstrated to the Finnish Defense Forces. 

According to the C5 Division of the Defense Command Finland, “Encryption is a critical component of the Defense Forces’ information networks. It is important for us to monitor developments in both encryption and quantum technology, and to assess their impact on the systems used by the Defense Forces. Testing in collaboration with companies offers an interesting perspective on this.”

This demonstration complements Telia’s previous achievement of being the first commercial operator to successfully test quantum key distribution (QKD) in their network, done as part of Finland’s national quantum-secure network NaQCI.fi project. Quantum key distribution is based on transmitting quantum states. In the future, it could serve as one of the means of ensuring a high-level of security in dedicated infrastructure, as opposed to a standard mobile network, which was used in the latest demonstration.

In the future, Telia and QMill will expand the newly demonstrated point-to-point connection with quantum-enhanced security to a wide variety of use cases as part of their ongoing collaboration project.

_ _ _

About Telia
Telia is a technology company that provides telecommunications, IT and digital services to its millions of consumer and business customers as well as public administration. Telia has approximately 3300 employees in Finland, and our customers have nearly 4.4 million subscriptions in our various services. Safety is the starting point for everything we do. Telia strengthens its critical infrastructure by investing approximately EUR 200 million annually in Finland’s nationwide telecommunications networks and secure ICT services.

Telia Finland is part of Telia Company, which operates in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Telia Company’s revenue in 2024 was EUR 8 billion. The company is committed to achieving net zero emissions throughout its value chain by 2040.

Read more: www.telia.fi/medialle,  X: @teliafinland, LinkedIn: @Telia.

About QMill
QMill is a quantum‑algorithm and software company making quantum computing practical and accessible for real-world industrial use cases on existing and near‑term quantum computers. The company develops algorithms especially geared towards the NISQ era, supporting quantum researchers and developers as well as industrial sectors such as defense, energy, telecom, and transport. QMill is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. www.qmill.com

The post Telia and QMill demonstrate a new quantum-enhanced data encryption method for mobile networks appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

One of the country’s largest alternative networks, CityFibre, has announced that they’ve reached an agreement with the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency to “re-scope” the contracts they hold under the Project Gigabit broadband roll-out programme due to the “accelerated rollout of commercially funded full fibre” across their contracted areas.

Just to recap. CityFibre’s full fibre (FTTP – XGS-PON) network currently covers over 4.7 million UK premises (4.5m Ready for Service) and they aspire to reach 8 million in the future. In addition, the operator also holds ten Project Gigabit contracts – originally representing over £920m of government funding for a subsidised build to 557,000 premises in “hard-to-reach” rural areas (1.36 million if we included their supporting commercial build).

However, the operator has today announced that their Project Gigabit contracts have all been “re-scoped in response to the accelerated rollout of commercially funded full fibre across Project Gigabit areas“, which in practice means that they’ll reach fewer premises (i.e. there’s now no need to build in locations where rivals have already built gigabit-capable broadband networks, as doing so would waste public funds).

CityFibre now expects to connect a total of 450,000 rural and harder-to-reach premises by 2030, including 226,000 subsidised through Project Gigabit. The operator has so far completed 70,000 contracted premises, or 150,000 if we include their supportive commercial build in the same areas.

As part of this re‑scoping, CityFibre “will return” (i.e. abandon) a £58.6m Project Gigabit contract for Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire (Lot 10), originally taken on as part of its acquisition of Connexin’s full fibre infrastructure in 2025 (they originally promised to deliver this, but no progress has been made). The move is not surprising as we had recently noticed a bit of a slowdown in some of their roll-outs (here).

Simon Holden, CityFibre’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

“We are immensely proud of CityFibre’s involvement in Project Gigabit, an ambitious programme that has helped unlock the benefits of full fibre infrastructure for households and businesses previously at risk of being left behind. BDUK’s commitment has helped spur further investment and continued innovation and the time is right to focus on where we will have the biggest impact as we establish the competitive digital infrastructure market the UK deserves.”

Liz Lloyd, Telecoms Minister, said:

“Over the past 18 months, this government has delivered upgrades to more than 229,000 hard-to-reach premises across the country. Our reforms to the telecoms market have unlocked a surge in commercial broadband rollout, meaning many areas previously in scope for CityFibre’s Project Gigabit contracts will now be upgraded without cost to taxpayers.

“We welcome CityFibre’s progress to date and remain fully committed to supporting communities still struggling with slow broadband. That’s why we are already in discussions with other suppliers to ensure remaining premises receive upgrades as soon as possible, and these changes will not affect our target of reaching 99% gigabit coverage by 2032.”

The announcement states that “these changes will not affect BDUK’s ability to achieve the UK government target of 99% UK gigabit coverage by 2032,” although that may partly depend upon how successful and prompt BDUK are in finding a solution for the now uncertain Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire (Lot 10) contract.

Summary of Project Gigabit and CityFibre Changes

Suffolk

Revised to cover around 60,000 premises backed with up to £118.2 million investment through Project Gigabit.

ORIGINAL: £100.5 million contract to provide around 79,500 premises.

Cambridgeshire

Revised to cover around 35,000 premises backed with up to £77 million investment through Project Gigabit.

ORIGINAL: £69 million contract to provide up to 45,000 hard-to-reach premises.

Leicestershire and Warwickshire

Revised to cover around 36,000 premises backed with up to £76.4 million investment through Project Gigabit.

ORIGINAL: £71 million contract to provide around 38,000 hard-to-reach premises.

Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and East Berkshire

Revised to cover around 6,000 premises backed with £24.4 million investment through Project Gigabit.

ORIGINAL: £58 million contract to provide around 34,000 hard-to-reach premises.

Kent

Revised to cover around 9,000 premises backed with £26.1 million investment through Project Gigabit.

ORIGINAL: £112 million contract to provide around 50,000 hard-to-reach premises.

Norfolk

Revised to cover around 33,000 premises backed with £61.9 million investment through Project Gigabit.

ORIGINAL: £114.2 million contract to provide around 62,200 premises.

East and West Sussex

Revised to cover around 13,000 premises backed with £25.2 million investment through Project Gigabit.

ORIGINAL: £100 million contract to provide around 52,000 hard-to-reach premises.

Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes

Revised to cover around 6,000 premises backed with £19.8 million investment through Project Gigabit.

ORIGINAL: £51 million contract to provide around 25,000 hard-to-reach premises.

Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire

BDUK Statement: “Building Digital UK and CityFibre have mutually agreed to end the Project Gigabit contract for Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire. As a result of wider market conditions and a significant expansion in commercial rollout in the region, less public funding is required and the contract is no longer appropriate. We are in discussions with other suppliers to ensure the few remaining premises not covered by any rollout plans still get access to fast, reliable broadband as soon as possible.”

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Contributed Article

by Pete Harvey, Senior Product Manager Subsea, Starboard Maritime Intelligence

When Starboard published Cable Risk Intelligence 2026 (Issue 1) in April, the Persian Gulf scored 4.6 out of 5.0 on our risk index, the highest of the 25 cable landing zones we assessed globally. At the time, that rating was grounded in a combination of geopolitical tension, high traffic density, constrained repair access, and documented vessel behaviour around cable routes in the region.

Since then, the situation has deteriorated further. Iran has explicitly threatened to sever submarine cables in the Strait of Hormuz as part of the 2026 conflict, with state media circulating maps of Gulf undersea cable routes. At least 17 cable systems transit the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, carrying the majority of data traffic between Asia and Europe. Cable construction work across the Gulf has come to a standstill because repair ships can’t operate in active conflict zones.

The Persian Gulf rating was a forecast of the conditions that have now materialised.

The window of opportunity

Most operators find out a cable is at risk through a service degradation report from a customer, an optical monitoring alarm, or a repair dispatch. By the time any of those signals fire, the cable is already cut, and the repair window begins. Under normal conditions, that window averages 40 days for a deepwater fault. In a conflict zone there’s no definitive end.

The solution is to collate and analyse the risk data within the prevention window, giving operators a chance to intervene before a cable is struck.

Whether accidental or deliberate, every cable incident is preceded by vessel behaviour that is detectable before damage occurs. An anchor drag begins as a vessel drifting over a known route. A trawler working a protected zone slows to trawling speed before it makes contact. A vessel executing a deliberate act loiters, changes course without apparent purpose, or goes dark in a sensitive area. If you’re looking for them in the right way with the right tools, these patterns can be seen in the data before the fault event.

Early detection in practice

Starboard fuses AIS, satellite data, fibre sensing (DAS and SoP), and bathymetry into a single operational view, then applies behavioural models to flag when vessel activity near a cable route deviates from established patterns. The output is a prioritised alert with enough vessel data for a Marine Operations Centre or an operator to act.

In a New Zealand cable protection trial conducted with the New Zealand Government, commercial cable owners, and a marine operations centre, this approach generated 86 alerts, prompted 17 VHF vessel calls, and resulted in three vessels changing course, none of which required waiting for a fault signal.

When Starboard’s vessel risk alerts are integrated directly into a carrier’s NOC software, response time drops from 25 minutes to 3. The compressed timeline from signal to action is where damage is prevented.

Hormuz

The events of 2026 have clarified that ambiguity is itself a threat vector. When a vessel drags anchor over a cable, attribution is uncertain. When a sanctioned vessel transits a cable corridor slowly and without AIS, intent is unclear. When a cable is cut in or near a conflict zone, the line between accident and deliberate act is difficult to establish, and difficult to act on legally or operationally.

Starboard’s behavioural models are designed to provide information, clarity, and explanation that shed light on the. They flag deviations from established traffic patterns even when AIS data is absent or inconsistent, and correlate vessel activity with known risk indicators to deliver an assessed picture rather than a raw data feed.

This is the operating environment the Submarine Networks EMEA and Subsea Security Summit communities are navigating in 2026. The technology to detect threatening behaviour before it causes damage exists today. The question is whether it’s integrated into the operational workflows of the teams who need it.

Read the full risk index

Cable Risk Intelligence 2026 (Issue 1) covers 25 cable landing zones across the Baltic, Red Sea, Taiwan Strait, North Sea, Persian Gulf, and trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific corridors. The interactive map and full methodology are available at starboardintelligence.com/learn/where-submarine-cables-are-most-at-risk-in-2026.

Starboard Maritime Intelligence provides maritime domain awareness that helps governments, defence agencies, and critical infrastructure operators detect risks, prevent threats, and build resilience in real time. Partners include Ciena, Tampnet, Alcatel Submarine Networks, Kordia, and Searisk.

Submarine Networks EMEA takes place in London tomorrow! Get your ticket and join the discussion today.

Find Starboard Maritime Intelligence at Stand 10 of the co-located Subsea Security Summit & Expo.

The post The Persian Gulf topped our 2026 cable risk index. Here’s what it means for operators and what they can do about it appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Broadband and mobile providers Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have changed their plans for the previously proposed merger of their respective customer community forums. The complexity of the challenge means that they will now focus on reintroducing the two communities separately, at least at first.

Just to recap. Both Virgin Media and O2 took their separate community forums offline for new postings in January 2026 (here), which formed part of their plan to merge them into a single platform (including posts, stats, member accounts etc.). More recently the operators have also removed public access to view posts, so you can’t even read existing content any more.

At the time of the original announcement, we remarked that upgrading and merging two large databases of historic customer content would be a real nightmare to pull off smoothly. Complex database migrations and mergers rarely go without problems and often throw up significant obstacles. This partly explains why VMO2 has never once specified how long the downtime would actually last (i.e. they couldn’t be sure themselves).

ISPreview last posted an update on this in March 2026 (here), at which point we speculated that it might take VMO2 until around mid-2026 to complete the process. The latest development is that VMO2 have put their plans for merging the two forums on hold, at least temporarily, with the operator confirming to us that the “work required is complex” and their new plan is to reintroduce the communities “separately at first“.

The original forums made use of the Khoros platform, although VMO2 has also finally confirmed to ISPreview that the new one will make use of a different solution from Sprinklr, which we’ve been told is a “market leader in customer experience platforms“.

The operator added that they were not yet in a position to confirm exact timelines, although we understand from other sources that the July-August window is currently the aspiration for Virgin Media’s community forum to return. The O2 forum will either relaunch at the same time or follow soon after. A VMO2 spokesperson simply told us they “want to go live as soon as is practically possible“.

Introducing the new platform and migrating each forum separately is a much simpler task (albeit not one without some challenges), relatively speaking. The indication is that VMO2 may return to the idea of a grand merger of both forums again in the future, once they’ve had time to become familiar with the new platform and ensure everything is working smoothly. Sometimes trying to do too many big changes at once can be unwise.

Community forums remain an incredibly popular and useful tool for customers of such services to raise their issues and get support, even during periods where the telecoms provider itself might seem to be unresponsive (community members often help each other out). Suffice to say that there is a lot of interest in the return of both forums.