The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has published their annual infrastructure review, which highlights how the UK is making “rapid” progress in rolling out gigabit-capable broadband ISP networks and expects the Government to “achieve its target” for nationwide coverage by 2030. But 5G mobile still needs more direction. At present, the UK has established two main […]

Network operator CityFibre has completed their deployment of a new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 1,018 homes in the suburban village of Binley Woods (Warwickshire), which only started in August 2022 and is an extension of their existing network in nearby Coventry. The project, which was delivered via civil engineering firm Callan, […]

Budget broadband ISP TalkTalk is reportedly mulling over the possibility of selling their business-to-business arm (TT Business Direct Limited), which is home to around 80,000 customers and could be worth over £200 million. The provider is understood to have hired bankers at Houlihan Lokey to oversee the plan. In case anybody has forgotten, we recently […]

NEWS

The social media giant has entered the ‘fair contribution’ debate, criticising plans to make tech companies pay for network infrastructure costs is not the solution

The company, in a post titled  ‘Network fee proposals are based on a false premise’, argues that the proposals don’t recognise that ‘its investments in content drive the business model of telecom operators’ and point to the investments in network infrastructure it’s already engage in, which run to tens of billions of dollars.

The post, co-authored by Kevin Salvadori, VP Network and Bruno Cendon Martin, Director & Head of RL Wireless, argues that ‘proposals by some European telecom operators to impose network fees on Content Application Providers (CAPs) such as Meta are not the solution. Network fee proposals are built on a false premise because they do not recognise the value that CAPs create for the digital ecosystem, nor the investments we make in the infrastructure that underpins it.’

In short, Meta argues that without the content customers would want to access, there would be less demand for high-speed, high-capacity networks – as well as Meta’s own high levels of investment into internet infrastructure, including undersea cables and what it terms a ‘content delivery network’ which included ‘an extensive European fibre network’, which operators are not charged for.

Meta’s rebuttal of the proposals is the latest in the growing debate around proposals to charge tech companies a ‘fair share’ for operating their services over telecoms networks within the European Union – but wherever you fall on the issue, the underlying issues driving the debate remain.

The European Commission’s ultimate decision on the issue will be watched with interest in both Europe and Silicon Valley – and the debate is likely to continue to run and run.

 

The current CEO of broadband and telecoms giant BT Group (inc. Openreach, Plusnet and EE), Philip Jansen (56), could be on his way out – sooner than expected. Industry sources have reportedly told a Sunday newspaper that BT Group have already begun hunting for somebody to replace Jansen, who has held the position since 2018. […]

OneWeb, which is part-owned by the UK government, has today technically completed their new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) based ultrafast (100Mbps+) and low-latency (sub-100ms) satellite broadband network. The development occurred after they successfully launched their final full batch of 36 satellites aboard a rocket from India. The operator has now launched a total of around […]

Alternative rural network ISP Voneus, which is deploying both gigabit-capable Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband networks across parts of England and Wales, has continued its strategy of growth through acquisitions by gobbling Welsh provider Beacons Telecom. At present Voneus claims to have “identified” a total of over 200,000 premises that could […]

The Ferns Group, which is a Kent-based civil engineering firm that specialises in reinstatement works, has become the latest such company to sign a major £50m+ network services agreement with Openreach (there are actually several contracts involved). The deal mostly covers the South of England and may lead to bigger things. The contracts will run […]

UK ISP BT has apologised and promised to automatically refund customers who were impacted after a billing error meant that a “small number” of them had a “duplicate direct debit taken from their bank account“, which in some cases forced a few of those impacted into overdrafts. According to MSE, BT has not yet confirmed […]

Cumbria-based network operator and broadband ISP Grain (Grain Connect) has today named a further 6 UK towns and cities for their ongoing rollout of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which includes some major locations like Leeds and Brighton. The provider has already announced full fibre builds for over 50 locations (plus 150 new build […]