A Connected Britain 2022 Preview

Connected Britain 2022 is just around the corner and, with just over a week left to go, it is only fitting that we highlight some of our amazing keynote sessions, featuring some of the biggest names in the UK telecoms industry.

 

Day 1 Keynote: Unlocking the benefits of a ‘Connected Britain’

What exactly do we mean when we talk about a ‘Connected Britain’? What does a truly connected, digital economy look like and how can we attain it while still delivering impecable customer experience? Is ubiquitious connectivity truly within reach?

Moderated by Financial Times’ Telecoms Media and Technology Correspondent, Anna Gross, this panel will seek to answer these fundamental questions and more, exploring the strategies at the heart of creating digital Britain.

Speakers:

Lutz Schüler, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Media O2
Katie Milligan, Chief Commercial Officer, Openreach
Tristia Harrison, Chief Executive Officer, TalkTalk
Katherine Ainley, Chief Executive Officer UK & Ireland, Ericsson
Ahmed Essam, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone UK
Greg Mesch, CEO, CityFibre

Day 2 Keynote: The road to full fibre: Where are we and where do we need to be?

The UK telecoms industry has been rolling out fibre at an incredible pace in recent years, but are we moving fast enough to hit the government’s ambitious gigabit broadband targets? What are the biggest barriers holding back the UK’s full fibre future and how can these be overcome?

James Barford, Head of Telecoms Research at Enders Analysis, will guide the discussion, assessing the industry’s fibre progress so far and mapping the next key steps in creating a more digital future.

Speakers:

Paul Norris, Chief Executive, Building Digital UK, UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
Gareth Williams, Chief Executive Officer, Gigaclear
Dana Tobak, Chief Executive Officer, Hyperoptic

 

 

It’s not too late to join us at Connected Britain! Check out the full agenda and secure your tickets here.

 

Also in the news:
UK telcos to face stricter cybersecurity obligations under new govt rules
Jio prepares to plough $25bn into 5G
VMO2 activates first open RAN sites in live network

The post Connected Britain 2022: Keynote Preview first appeared on Total Telecom.

Rural broadband ISP Gigaclear, which is investing £700m to reach 500,000 rural UK premises with their full fibre network by the end of 2023 (they’ve so far completed 300,000), has appointed test and monitoring firm EXFO to help reduce the time and cost associated with fault-finding, repairs and truck rolls during operation. The focus on […]

UK ISP 1310 (“thirteen-ten“), which offers gigabit broadband services via Openreach’s national network and is also building their own full fibre (FTTP) across parts of Hampshire in England, has recently reduced the standard pricing across their packages and issued a progress update on their fibre rollout. Firstly, in terms of 1310’s work to build their […]

The wholesale division of UK broadband ISP TalkTalk (TalkTalk Business) has today announced that it has created two new wholesale divisions to support both its business-to-business (‘Business Wholesale Services‘) and consumer wholesale (‘Consumer Wholesale Services‘) segments. The latest move follows hot on the heels of TalkTalk’s acquisition of Ethernet provider Virtual1 (here) and their gobble of […]

Broadband ISP and energy provider Shell Energy will later this morning launch a new promo, which is to offer “free broadband” until January 2023 to both new and existing customers who take one of their Fast, Superfast Fibre, Superfast Fibre Plus, Ultrafast Fibre or Ultrafast Fibre Plus plans (i.e. ADSL, FTTC or G.fast). The promotion, […]

A little-known internet provider called Ashford Fibre has just become the first ISP on Open Fibre Networks Limited‘s (OFNL) open access UK full fibre broadband network to launch a gigabit-class 900Mbps package for residential customers. Most OFNL providers previously only offered up to 360Mbps for homes. The Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network that OFNL builds is usually […]

Chip and technology giants Intel and Broadcom have achieved an important milestone this week after they demonstrated the first cross-vendor Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) network link using prototypes of their next generation Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) hardware, which achieved data speeds of over 5Gbps (Gigabits per second). At present most UK consumers have yet to […]

News

 Lightning Fibre has announced its plans for a multi-million-pound investment in West Sussex and Kent.

Full fibre network provider Lightning Fibre, founded in East Sussex in 2018, has announced its plans to expand into West Sussex and Kent. The company has the backing of infrastructure and private equity investment manager Foresight Group.

Lightning Fibre recently passed 60,000 premises and this next stage of investment will fund the expansion to a further 140,000 homes and businesses.

Amit Thakrar, Portfolio Director at Foresight Group and Tim Passingham, Chair of Cambridge Management Consulting both recently joined the Board of Lightning Fibre alongside CEO Ben Ferriman and Simon Bonini, Non-Executive Director. The company’s expansion will also see its headcount increase to approximately 200.

Ben Ferriman, CEO of Lightning Fibre commented: “This is a very exciting time for Lightning Fibre and highlights our rapid progress and success so far. We have not only built a network, we’ve built a brand.  A brand that appeals to our local markets through a clear product and price differentiation as well as a genuine, evidence-based community-centric approach and exceptional customer care.”

Foresight Group’s Portfolio Director Amit Thakrar added: “Progress in terms of network build, as well as uptake on the retail side of the business, has been extremely encouraging. All expectations have been exceeded and the positive reputation in the towns served by Lightning Fibre further supports the case for expansion.”

Additionally, in response to the cost-of-living crisis, Lightning Fibre has also permanently reduced its 1Gbps price by 25% and its 100Mbps price to £24 per month. This move makes its one of the lowest priced full fibre ISPs in the region.

To hear the latest from the UK full fibre market, join us on 20th and 21st September for Connected Britain 2022.

The post Lightning Fibre announces expansion into two new regions in the Southeast first appeared on Total Telecom.

ISP CommunityFibre, which has already covered 500,000 premises in London with their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, have this week continued their expansion with the aim of adding “thousands” of residents, businesses and local communities across Harrow. By the sound of it, the operator has probably secured a master wayleave agreement (legal land/property access) with […]

Hull-based network builder and broadband ISP KCOM has today announced a second major expansion of their existing gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which will see them invest a further £100m to cover an additional 50,000 premises across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (14 new locations). In case anybody has forgotten, KCOM originally invested around £85m to […]