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Six months now remain until the old analogue phone network (PSTN/WLR) is switched off in favour of modern IP-based digital alternatives. In order to help highlight the urgency of this, Openreach have published a league table showing how many lines have yet to make the switch across the UK’s ten largest cities. London naturally has the largest pool of laggards at 235,934 lines. (more…)
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Alternative network operator and UK ISP CommunityFibre, which has deployed their full fibre broadband (FTTP) network to 1.4 million homes (mostly in London and the South East), has today boosted their top package speeds from 5Gbps to 8.5Gbps (symmetric) and connected their first live customer to the new tier. But you’ll need deep pockets. (more…)
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The Government’s Building Digital UK agency has published their calendar Q2 2026 progress report on their publicly subsidised gigabit broadband rollout schemes. The data reveals that some 1,462,910 premises have received coverage under BDUK’s gigabit programmes since their inception (up from 1.42m in March 2026), including 46,300 premises over the past quarter. (more…)
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Edinburgh-based UK alternative network operator GoFibre, which is deploying full fibre (FTTP) broadband across rural parts of Scotland and Northern England, has provided an update on their rollout in the North East of Scotland under the publicly subsidised Project Gigabit contract. Work is now underway in St Fergus, Inchmarlo, Kincardine O’Neil, Collieston and Newburgh, as well as Kingswells. (more…)
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Next week looks set to be a pivotal moment for SpaceX as the company will attempt to launch their Starship rocket again (Flight 14), which will for the first time attempt to place Starship into a proper orbit around the Earth and then deliver 26 fully operational commercial Starlink V3 broadband satellites (not test samples like before). (more…)
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Comparison service Switchity has taken data submitted by 2,472 UK households between May and August 2026 and used it to work out how much it typically costs to cancel a broadband ISP contract early, both generally and by each internet provider. The average (median) household faces a cost of £279 and Virgin Media came out as the most expensive to leave (£360). (more…)
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EXA Infrastructure, one of the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platforms throughout Europe, today announced the launch of EXA Meridian, a new 6,552 km transatlantic subsea cable between New Jersey, U.S., and Brean, UK. Scheduled to be ready for service in 2029, EXA Meridian will become the ninth transatlantic cable in EXA Infrastructure’s portfolio, adding significant new capacity and route diversity between North America and Europe, two of the world’s largest digital markets. It will also be the first transatlantic cable built by a single operator in a decade.
Demand for transatlantic infrastructure is growing as AI, cloud, and distributed data centre architectures generate more traffic between North America and Europe. At the same time, the largest capacity buyers are increasingly procuring spectrum and complete fibre pairs rather than individual wavelengths. EXA Meridian is purpose-built for this market shift. Designed with 24 fibre pairs, EXA Meridian delivers over 500 Tbps of scalable, long-term capacity for Hyperscalers, Neoclouds, financial institutions, government and research organisations.
The project has now reached Contract in Force (CIF) with subsea telecommunications specialist Xtera, marking a significant milestone in its development. The agreement follows extensive planning and early engagement with the supply chain, drawing on EXA Infrastructure’s team experience in delivering complex subsea systems. Xtera will act as a key supplier to the project, which is being led and delivered by EXA Infrastructure, a leader in delivery of wholesale transatlantic capacity.
Unlike a standalone subsea cable, EXA Meridian will connect directly into EXA Infrastructure’s existing owned network. A new cable landing station in Brean will connect the system through diverse terrestrial routes to Slough and EXA Infrastructure’s pan-European backbone. This integration into the wider platform will give customers an enhanced network mesh with multiple options for moving large volumes of data between North America and European regions, with greater choice over routes, resilience, and geographic diversity.
“Demand across the Atlantic is changing quickly. The largest customers are increasingly planning in spectrum and fibre pairs, and the capacity they will need towards the end of the decade has to be built now,” said Jim Fagan, CEO at EXA Infrastructure. “With a Ready For Service (RFS) date set for 2029, EXA Meridian will be the only cable with sufficient capacity to satisfy these large-scale demands.
“We have consistently committed to investing to meet strong demand. That means understanding where the market is going, securing the capital to act early and having the experience to execute when the opportunity arrives.
By integrating EXA Meridian directly into infrastructure that we own and operate across Europe, we can give customers greater route choice, resilience and accountability. It demonstrates the discipline behind our investment strategy and our confidence in continuing to build as commercial demand requires.”
EXA Meridian is already supported by significant anchor customer commitments, including leading Neocloud and Hyperscale players, providing strong commercial backing for the investment alongside tier-one suppliers secured to support project delivery. The system is targeted to be ready for service in Q4 2029.
How is the global submarine cable sector changing? Join industry leaders in discussion at Submarine Networks EMEA 2027, the world’s largest subsea conference
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The post EXA Infrastructure to build new transatlantic cable EXA Meridian appeared first on Total Telecom.
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Some customers of BT’s UK broadband packages, specifically those that also make use of their included Email platform, have recently begun complaining about receiving hundreds of unsolicited password reset messages (sometimes as many as 1,000 TXTs) – each containing a onetime four digit PIN code to verify their BTInternet mail account. (more…)
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The Comms Council UK, which represents the national Unified Communications and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phone industry, has this morning published its data-sharing guidance – produced with support from the Home Office, Ofcom, and Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – for tackling telephone-enabled fraud (e.g. scam calls and messages). (more…)
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The CEO of broadband ISP Zen Internet, Richard Tang, has today published the seventh edition of his entertaining ‘Full Fibre Wacky Races‘ presentation, which summarises both his and the wider industry’s views of how the UK’s troubled market for alternative fixed broadband networks (altnets) has progressed and what the future may hold. (more…)