Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Head of Standards at Nokia Technologies, Peter Merz, has today told ISPreview – as part of our latest interview – that they’re conscious of wanting to avoid what mobile operators call “G-fatigue” (over-hyping) with their development of future 6G mobile (broadband) technology, which he says will be more about “intelligence and efficiency” than raw data throughput.

The future 6G standard is currently still in the early Research and Development (R&D) phase, and most observers don’t expect to see the first commercial network builds surfacing until around 2030 (note: some countries do expect early field trials around 2028). Suffice to say that a lot of work is currently ongoing to help produce the final standard and develop prototype solutions, which is where Nokia Technologies plays a big role.

The next gen mobile technology is currently thought to be aiming for theoretical peak data rates of up to 1Tbps (Terabits per second) and may be able to harness radio spectrum up to the TeraHertz (THz) bands, while also using AI optimisations, new antenna designs and other changes to improve network efficiency. By comparison, 5G was designed to work between 450MHz and 52GHz, with top theoretical speeds of up to 20Gbps (Gigabits per second).

However, in practical terms, it’s worth noting that the final 6G technology will almost certainly end up being constrained by the real-world restrictions of existing data capacity and spectrum availability, with most UK mobile operators preferring to harness more economically viable lower and mid-band spectrum between 700MHz and 4GHz.

Naturally, you can get faster data speeds from using even higher frequencies, but this tends to make the signals very weak and offers poor coverage. However, there remain various unknowns about what the final 6G standard will actually deliver.

Nokia, alongside Ericsson, is currently one of the European market’s largest suppliers of mobile network technologies and related services. Suffice to say that they, via Nokia Technologies, have a lot of input into how the new standard is developing and naturally ISPreview wanted to understand more about what it might actually mean for consumers.

The good news, as Peter Merz says, is that 6G’s “defining feature isn’t raw throughput – it’s intelligence and efficiency“. Peter has been at Nokia for nearly 19 years and is responsible for shaping the evolution of access and core network technologies, as well as spearheading innovations across the automation and service delivery layers. So who better to answer some of our questions about the future mobile technology.

The Peter Merz (Nokia Technologies) Interview

1. Over the past few years we’ve heard about a number of technological enhancements being associated with 6G, such as the ability to harness Terahertz (THz) spectrum bands (i.e. 100GHz to 10THz) – potentially pushing data speeds of up to 100Gbps as a theoretical peak, as well as new antenna designs and so forth.

Now we’re also getting closer to the development of an early draft technical standard for 6G. Can Nokia provide a simple summary of the five main technological enhancements that you expect 6G to include and explain why they’re beneficial, as well as how fast the theoretical speeds might become for different environments?

Peter Merz said:

At Nokia we define 6G as the next-generation system that fuses the physical, digital and human worlds, moving networks beyond connectivity into platforms enabling sensing, intelligence, and immersive interaction.

In our work architecting 6G, we’re ensuring 6G standardization includes the following major technological enhancements:

1. AI-native by design: Unlike previous generations, we’re designing 6G with intelligence built in from day one – you can’t bolt intelligence on, it has to be included from the start. This will enable radios, protocols, and network functions to adapt in real-time, ensuring predictable performance, lower energy consumption, and autonomous operations. This reduces complexity for operators and enables networks to essentially manage themselves.

2. Modular, future-proof standalone architecture: We are advocating for a single, modular, and future-proof 6G architecture specifically to avoid unnecessary complexity, support modular deployment, and enable long-term sustainability and ROI for operators. We see this as ensuring 6G can co-exist with existing 5G assets and allow for smoother migration paths with the ability to scale networks as needed. This sustainable approach also maximizes the lifecycle of the existing infrastructure. In terms of speeds, modular architectures will be capable of supporting tailored deployments, with speeds optimized for specific environments—ranging from multi-gigabit connections in urban areas to hundreds of Mbps in remote regions.

3. Lean, scalable, and implementation-friendly system design: It’s important the 6G radio interface avoids the fragmentation challenges we have seen in 5G. A single, scalable technology stack for devices, RAN, and core networks will ensure faster adoption, and cost-efficient development and deployment across the ecosystem. Not only does this simplify integration for device manufacturers and operators, but it will also reduce time-to-market and lower operational costs.

4. Continuous learning and optimization: AI-native 6G networks are being designed for continuous learning and dynamic adaptation. This means that both user equipment (UE) and network-side machine learning (ML) models can evolve autonomously, utilizing real-time data to optimize performance. The benefit comes from eliminating the need for frequent specification updates, making the network more agile and future-proof.

By learning from data and adapting, 6G networks can self-optimize, which reduces the operational complexity for operators while delivering superior performance for users. This means that networks can adapt to changing demands, including varying traffic patterns or use cases.

This continuous optimization could enable peak speeds in localized hotspots, such as stadiums or event venues, while stable and reliable performance is maintained in suburban and rural areas delivering consistent connectivity across diverse environments.

5. Predictability, explainability, trust, and fit for the future: Our work is leading the development of frameworks to validate AI/ML behavior post-deployment to ensure predictability, explainability, and trust in 6G networks. This includes aligning AI cycles with Telco cycles to maximize technology developments.

By ensuring AI systems are transparent and explainable, we aim to build trust among operators, users, and regulators. This is critical for enabling the widespread adoption of future AI-driven networks while also ensuring compliance with emerging global standards.

2. In the past, the development and introduction of a new Generation (G) of mobile technology has often been accompanied by a ridiculous amount of hype, which seems to get worse with every new generational update, and yet the real-world experiences don’t always live up to that. In fairness, this often just as much of an issue for local market regulation, network capacity and spectrum management as it is one of technology.

Regardless, we’re expecting the same hype train again for 6G, which is likely to boast some wild capabilities that perhaps won’t always end up being widely adopted or which could have been done similarly well by the previous generation (5G SA, 5G or even 4G etc.), without the need for 6G. Are you expecting something like this for 6G too, or is it likely to be more of an evolution than a revolution this time around?

Peter Merz said:

It’s true that every new “G” has been accompanied by a wave of expectations, and sometimes the reality takes longer to catch up. We’re very conscious of avoiding what operators call “G-fatigue.” That’s why we’re shaping 6G as a smooth evolution of 5G.

The 6G radio interface is being designed to be lean, implementation-friendly and scalable. This avoids the fragmentation seen in 5G and supports high performance with minimal complexity, enabling faster deployment and broader adoption.

Nokia is advocating for a single, scalable architecture that avoids unnecessary complexity. This supports modular deployment, reuse, and coexistence—critical for long-term sustainability and operator benefits (ROI).

Nokia’s 6G architecture embeds AI/ML natively from day one across radio, core, and edge. This enables real-time adaptation, predictive performance, and autonomous operation, rather than bolting AI on top of legacy systems.

This modular by design, future-proof by nature approach means operators can protect investments while steadily upgrading.

The step-change isn’t just about higher peak speeds – it’s about AI-native design, automation, and sensing that will make networks smarter, greener, and more adaptable from day one. – AI-Native by Design, Not Retrofit

While some futuristic capabilities will be showcased, we expect 6G’s true impact to come from practical improvements (see chart)- lower energy per bit, more predictable performance, and new applications in healthcare, transport, and immersive collaboration.

There will always be bold claims. The difference this time is that 6G is being designed with today’s and future operator realities in mind. We’re delivering a smoother, more cost-efficient migration path rather than a hype-fuelled revolution that risks overpromising.

3. Speaking of which, we note how the next generation of wireless Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn – Ultra High Reliability) networking technology is going in a bit of a different direction. Put another way, if Wi-Fi 7 was – and I’m over simplifying here – more about pushing ever faster peak speeds, then Wi-Fi 8 seems to be aiming to focus more on pulling greater network reliability, efficiency and congestion management from a finite amount of spare radio spectrum. More than a few people have suggested that this should be the focus for 6G development too, would you agree?

Peter Merz said:

While new spectrum and higher peak speeds will always be part of the story, 6G’s defining feature isn’t raw throughput – it’s intelligence and efficiency.

Operators tell us they need networks that behave more like utility/critical infrastructure – consistent, predictable, secure and resilient. That’s why 6G networks won’t just run, they’ll learn, continuously optimising performance in real time.

Like Wi-Fi 8, 6G will squeeze more value out of finite spectrum through sharing, aggregation, and adaptive radios, ensuring operators can deliver more without exponential new deployments. Where Wi-Fi 8 focuses on reliability in the local domain, 6G extends that principle globally – integrating terrestrial, satellite, and sensing capabilities so performance is consistent at scale, not just in hotspots.

So yes, we agree, 6G is about smarter, greener, and more reliable networks, not just faster ones. Peak speeds matter, but the real breakthrough will networks that adapt intelligently to whatever the world throws at them.

Please flick over to Page 2 in order to finish reading the interview.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today opened a “narrow consultation” that proposes to amend their leased line access (LLA) market analysis for the ongoing Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR) to reflect a “greater potential impact” from Openreach’s Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product (this allows rivals to run new fibre via existing cable ducts and poles).

The regulator has already recognised that competitive conditions are different across the UK for the supply of high-capacity leased line (Ethernet) services to businesses and network operators. Ofcom has thus already proposed different market boundaries compared to wholesale broadband services, reflecting differences in how the markets has developed since 2021 (i.e. this approach sorts postcodes into ‘Areas’ based on the presence of competing networks). The existing TAR proposals already split this as follows:

Different Regulation in Different Areas (original proposal)

• High Network Reach (HNR) area, where there is significantly more leased lines network competition, but BT still has SMP [Significant Market Power]. In this area, which covers 9% of UK postcode sectors, we propose that Openreach should provide access to its leased lines services at fair and reasonable prices.

• Area 2 where there is, or there is likely to be the potential for, material and sustainable competition. In this area, which covers 42% of UK postcode sectors, we propose to continue to require Openreach to provide access to its active leased lines services, and to set flat, inflation-adjusted price caps.

• Area 3 where there is not, and there is unlikely to be potential for, material and sustainable competition. In this area, which covers 46% of UK postcode sectors, we propose to continue to require Openreach to provide dark fibre and to set prices based on its reasonable costs. In addition, we propose to continue to require Openreach to provide access to its active leased lines services. For higher bandwidth active services, we propose to maintain flat, inflation-adjusted price caps while the market transitions to dark fibre. For lower bandwidth active services (1 Gbit/s and below), we propose to reduce prices in line with costs as dark fibre is a less attractive alternative than we expected in 2021.

The main focus of today’s new mini-consultation is on how Ofcom defines Area 2, which requires Openreach to follow a more specific pricing policy at wholesale. “In light of responses to our March consultation and new evidence we have received in relation to the use of PIA by competing networks, we are consulting on a proposal to extend the ‘buffer distance’ we use to identify areas where there is or there is likely to be the potential for material and sustainable competition (known as ‘LLA Area 2’),” said Ofcom.

Ofcom originally felt that a 50 metre buffer distance was an appropriate proxy to capture cases where networks are already fibre-connected to, or are a short distance from, demand sites, and that LLA providers would typically find it economic to dig only short distances for customer-specific network extensions. But PIA has the potential to increase the distance over which an LLA provider can extend their network to connect and compete for customers, with the regulator now suggesting a distance of 75m or 100m for Area 2.

The proposed change would have the effect of increasing the size of Area 2 since their March 2025 Consultation, “supporting further competition and investment in these places“. Ofcom’s illustrative analysis shows that this could increase the size of Area 2 from 42% of postcode sectors to a maximum of 50%.

Ofcom’s Full Proposal(s)

• Leased Lines Access market definition – we are consulting on a proposal to extend the buffer distance, which we use to define the boundaries between the LLA Area 2 and LLA Area 3 markets. This reflects new evidence that PIA could have a greater potential impact on providers’ ability to build customer-specific network extensions than we had previously assumed in our modelling. In response to stakeholder comments, we are also clarifying our view on the potential impact of altnet consolidation on LLA competitive conditions in this review period.

• PIA pricing – we are consulting on a change to the way we calculate the simplified lead-in duct rental charge. We are proposing to update our approach to how we apply discount rates to certain components.

• Fibre cost reallocations – we are consulting on a proposal to incorporate certain fibre cost reallocations which BT plans to capture in its 2026 RFS in our charge control modelling for the TAR Statement. This proposal impacts our proposed cost-based charge controls for leased line access services up to and including 1Gbit/s sold in LLA Area 3, and dark fibre services sold in LLA Area 3 and in SMP exchanges (i.e. BT Only exchanges and BT+1 exchanges) within the IEC market. As a consequence of this, we are also proposing to amend the sub-cap on each Main Link service charge within each of the Ethernet charge control baskets in the LLA and IEC markets, from CPI-0% to CPI+5%.

• Low Bandwidth (LBW) services cost-based charge control in LLA Area 3 – we are consulting on a proposal to adopt an updated glidepath that allows Openreach to maintain national LLA pricing at CPI-0% for a one-year transition period, followed by a glidepath down to cost-based prices by the end of the TAR period.

• Dark fibre cost modelling – we are consulting on a proposal to change the treatment of Openreach sales product management component costs within our dark fibre cost modelling. This change follows on from BT’s recent amendments to its cost allocation methodology for this component, which took effect in BT’s 2025 RFS.

Ofcom’s final decision on all this will be published in March 2026 and the above consultation will remain open until 17th December 2025.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Great Western Railway (GWR), which operates most train services across the Great Western Main Line (GWML) – the rail line in England that runs between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads, has joined with Peninsula Transport, Network Rail and Motion Applied to pilot faster on-board broadband (WiFi) using “technology from the world of Formula 1“.

At present the technical details of the project remain very limited and it’s unclear exactly which aspect of it involves technology that is specific to “Formula 1“, but we believe it may be the use of 5G Edge Active Antennas. Something similar was used in F1, although it’s been used plenty of times elsewhere too.

In short, the new setup involves a hybrid of trackside 5G mobile infrastructure on the ground and ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO); it’s not stated if they’re using Starlink or OneWeb (Eutelsat) for this. This is an approach that has also been used on other trains before.

The official GWR website mentions that this is being piloted (started mid-November) for 60 days on a single 9-car Intercity Express Train (look out for train 802101 on their network, aka – “Nancy Astor CH“). The effort looks as if it could be part of, or may complement, the Government’s new Project Reach, which reflects a public-private partnership that aims to deploy “ultra fast fibre optic cable” (via Neos Networks) across 1,000km of major rail lines to help “eliminate mobile signal blackspots” in tunnels on “key rail routes” up and down the country (possibly extending to 5,000km in the future).

The Government’s recently published 10 Year Industrial Strategy did similarly pledge £41m to help introduce Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite connectivity “on all mainline trains” in order to help tackle the above issue.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Customers of broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2), specifically those who also take a Pay TV service via one of their TV 360, Stream or v6 box platforms, have today been informed that they’ve added video-on-demand (VoD) capabilities, “at no extra cost“, to at least some of their growing line up of FAST channels.

“For the first time, [customers] can watch unmissable episodes from their favourite FAST channel shows whenever suits them outside of the linear TV schedule. Customers can access the catch-up content via Virgin Media’s On Demand streaming app as well as via the Search function on their home screen,” said the announcement.

Just to be clear, this currently only applies to the “most popular” FAST channels, including Next Up Live Comedy, Love Pets, Haunt TV, Homes Under The Hammer, Baywatch, Real Crime, Real Wild, History Hit, Wonder, The Chat Show Channel and TRACE Sport Stars.

David Bouchier, Chief TV and Entertainment Officer at VMO2, said:

“We’re making unmissable content even easier to enjoy by making linear FAST channel content available on-demand so Virgin TV customers can tune in at any time and at no extra cost. From comedy to crime and history to pets, our customers can keep up with it all, with catch-up capability now available for the first time for 11 of our most popular FAST channels.”

Naturally, customers who also wish to catch up on Pluto TV and Rakuten TV shows can do the same by simply opening the Pluto TV and the Rakuten Apps, respectively.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Most people who call up their mobile operator’s retentions team to negotiate a better deal don’t expect to walk away from that with an unexpected £1,000 bill and to later be told that “sorry … we’ve lost your [mobile] number [and] … there isn’t anything we can do about it“. Nevertheless, that’s what recently happened to one of O2’s (Virgin Media) customers.

Like many of O2’s customers, Sam was recently notified that he was going to be hit by an unexpected cost increase due to a change in their mid-contract pricing policy (here). His response was to do what any savvy consumer would do in such a situation and contact the operator in an attempt to agree a new (cheaper) price plan. Sam had both an airtime plan and associated device plan, the latter of which still had 26 months left to run out of 3 years.

The call went well and Sam agreed to a new price plan of £18 per month, which marked a big improvement on what he was paying before (£36 + the 20% reduction that O2 give you for multiple lines / family members). Sam was also informed that this process would entail disconnecting his old number and moving it to the new plan. So far, so good. But it wasn’t to last.

Sam explained:

“[The support agent] proceeded to disconnect my number, but I kind of made it clear I wasn’t happy that it had to be processed that way and let her do her thing. She then decided to setup the new number, but at no point in advance did she tell me it was a 24 month SIMO replacement. I only found out while I was on the MyO2 [account page] and was looking at the account, as it now showed my line had been “Cancelled”.

She then ran up against the 1st part which was the balance of the airtime on the other agreement which had just become overdue in the last day. I grumbled and told O2 that I do not pay until I get a final bill. She put me on hold and told me no exceptions shortly after. I begrudgingly paid via a Credit Card I’d just paid off.

I told her this and she then proceeded. I had to go through an “Eligibility check” which then failed, but she didn’t tell me. She had me on hold again and then came back telling me some “flags” were preventing the “Activation” of the new ESIM.”

Somehow, during this back-and-forth process, O2 also managed to lose the customer’s mobile number, with their support team initially informing Sam that they wouldn’t be able to either restore his service nor move him to the new plan. Hardly ideal since Sam, like most of us, is heavily dependent upon his mobile number for one-time banking passwords / other security measures, WhatsApp and family contacts etc.

Sam ended up having to spend several more hours on the phone to O2 in an attempt to get his number recovered, which resulted in an Emergency Restore Request (ERR) being placed. Another day passed with no progress, except this time Sam noticed that his device plan had now also disappeared from the MyO2 account pages.

A quick call to customer support confirmed that, due to an “agent error“, his device plan had indeed been cancelled and O2 said he’d shortly be billed £1,000 for the remaining balance. Ouch! At this point, ISPreview became involved and attempted to help Sam get the problem resolved. Another day and more calls passed, but progress was then made.

An O2 spokesperson told ISPreview:

“We’ve spoken with [Sam] directly to apologise for the experience he’s had, which was due to agent error. We have now restored his phone number, agreed a new SIM only plan, and provided a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience caused. [Sam] is happy the matter is resolved.”

Except at the time O2’s response was received, the full matter had not been resolved and Sam – who had accepted a £50 goodwill gesture for the airtime side of his plan – remained far from happy. “The issue is the device plan cannot be reinstated to its original state, and now I have to setup an arrangement with them to pay them in full due to ‘Agent Error’ and have AP markers on my credit file,” said Sam.

The goal was to try and agree a longer repayment plan than just 12 months and to find a solution that doesn’t involve Sam being left with damage done to his credit file, which might have otherwise prevented him from upgrading or taking out any new services in the future, all through no fault of his own. Thankfully, O2 has since agreed to waive the outstanding amount owed, so there’ll be no negative impact to Sam’s credit file.

The above now serves as a cautionary tale, albeit one with a happy ending after several long days of stressful turmoil and many hours spent on the phone. We would always recommend, when attempting to renegotiate a new plan, that consumers list down the key points of what they expect that plan to include and run through them on the call once an agreement is proposed, just to confirm that everything is satisfactory, before giving consent.

Many of us often make the mistake of assuming that customer support teams will automatically be competent and know to retain key features of existing bundles/plans in such a situation, but that isn’t always the case. Ofcom is separately understood to have recently warned O2 not to tell customers – those in a similar situation to Sam’s – that they have to pay off the handset in full and should instead allow them to “keep paying off your handset in instalments“.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said: “We’re concerned about people being confused by the information O2 has given about device plans. We’ve told O2 to change this so it’s clearer.“

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The UK government has furnished ISPreview with a brief update on their progress toward finding a solution for Project Gigabit’s stalled full fibre broadband upgrades for rural parts of the Derbyshire Peak District and West Herefordshire. Both areas ran into difficulty (here) earlier this year after FullFibre Ltd “mutually agreed to terminate” their publicly funded contracts.

Just to recap. The network operator originally secured both the £23.4m West Herefordshire and the Forest of Dean (Lot 15) contract – aiming to cover 7,900 rural premises – and the £10.7m Peak District (Lot 3.01) contract – aiming to cover 4,400 premises – back in April 2024 (here). The first properties under this were originally due to be connected by the end of 2024, but that never happened.

Instead, a spokesperson for the government’s Building Digital UK agency confirmed, during May 2025, that: “BDUK and FullFibre have mutually agreed to terminate the Project Gigabit [contracts] … BDUK is now moving swiftly to put in place alternative plans with other suppliers to connect premises that were due to be covered by this contract.” Meanwhile, FullFibre Ltd declined to comment.

One possible option might have been to roll one or both of these contracts into Openreach’s cross-regional framework, much like occurred after Voneus dropped out of a similar contract for Mid West Shropshire (here). But the latest update from BDUK states that they’re still in the process of reviewing different options for these premises to ensure impacted premises receive gigabit-capable broadband coverage as quickly as possible.

The agency does state that they’ve launched discussions on some of these options, but are not yet at the stage of having reached a formal agreement. In fairness, it did take about 9 months to find a solution for the Mid West Shropshire contract and so it’s not unreasonable to expect that we may have to wait a few months longer (around spring 2026) before the same can be said about Lot 15 and Lot 3.01.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The boss of venerable UK broadband and phone provider Zen Internet, Richard Tang, has backed the Government’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Liz Kendall, in her alleged “call for an ‘outright ban on absurd’ mid-contract telecoms price rises“. But it remains unclear whether Ofcom will go that far.

The remarks came after the Government reacted angrily to O2’s recent decision to increase their annual mid-contract price rises beyond what customers agreed to when they signed-up (here). Ofcom said they were “disappointed” by the change, which went “against the spirit of our rules which are designed to ensure greater certainty and transparency for customers when they sign up” (here).

In response, Liz Kendall called on Ofcom’s CEO, Dame Melanie Dawes, to “look at in-contract price rises again“ and suggested that the regulator instead “consider the possibility of adopting a similar regime to those such as insurance, where new and existing customers need to be offered the same deal“.

Richard Tang, CEO of Zen Internet, said:

“I fully support Liz Kendall’s call for an ‘outright ban on absurd’ mid-contract telecoms price rises, and would urge Ofcom to seriously consider imposing such a ban. To do so would offer consumers the best protection and certainty over what they will pay.

It’s all very well saying that consumers have the ability to terminate their contracts early without penalty when they are caught by surprise by unexpected price hikes, but the telecoms companies know full well that only a proportion of people will take that action, particularly on the run up to Christmas.

At Zen Internet, we’ve never imposed mid-contract price hikes on our consumer customers. Following our “Happy customers” mantra, we believe consumers deserve the simplicity of having the same fixed price throughout the length of their contract. The approach works commercially – we’ve been doing it for 30 years and have grown every year. We also believe it’s unethical to impose massive price hikes when customers go out of contract – a practice adopted by most of our competitors.”

However, it is worth pointing out that Liz Kendall herself never specifically spoke the words “outright ban on absurd” mid-contract price rises, which instead seems to have been accidentally conflated with the entirely separate remarks of a commercial price comparison site via LBC (here).

Kendall did suggest that the regulator should “consider” whether providers could adopt a similar scheme to insurance companies, “where new and existing customers need to be offered the same deal“. But there are different ways of interpreting such a suggestion, including one that isn’t necessarily akin to an outright ban on mid-contract price rises – something we would also support as the simplest and clearest approach.

Zen naturally have a vested interest above in promoting their own virtues as part of this debate, but equally the more industry voices that speak in favour of such an approach, the better. At the end of the day, it remains to be seen what changes Ofcom will actually make, although we remain sceptical about the chances of them adopting an outright ban. History tends to suggest that they often favour compromise solutions.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

Amazon Leo will face fierce competition from SpaceX’s Starlink, which has a considerable headstart, both in terms of satellites launched and commercial partnerships

With Amazon inching ever closer to its commercial satellite service launch, the company has this week rebranded its satellite initiative from Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo.

The new name finds its origin in the low Earth orbit (LEO) in which its operational satellites will sit, discardng the original codename “Project Kuiper,” which was a nod to the Kuiper Belt, a distant asteroid region beyond Neptune.

According to Amazon, Project Kuiper was always intended only as a working title during the early development phases of their satellite programme, which began back in 2019. Since then, Amazon Leo has launched 153 satellites into orbit, with plans for over 80 further launches and a target constellation size around 3,000 satellites.

The company has completed six launches, with three notably using its rival SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. United Launch Alliance (ULA) has also played a crucial role, successfully launching the first 27 operational Kuiper satellites aboard an Atlas V rocket back in April 2025, a significant step marking the beginning of full-scale deployment for Amazon’s satellite array. Amazon also contracts with Arianespace and Blue Origin.

Amazon has said roughly 578 devices will be required to achieve global coverage, with commercial services expected to be launch in five markets – the UK, France, Germany, Canada and the US – by the end of Q1 next year.

Once deployed, these satellites will be used to provide broadband services to unserved and underserved communities, as well as backhaul for mobile operators and enterprise connectivity.

Amazon Leo will be a direct competitor of SpaceX’s Starlink, which has already launched roughly 8,800 satellites and serves millions of users globally. Despite this, Amazon remains bullish on its prospects, highlighting the strength of its R&D.

“Our long-term mission remains the same, and we’re making good progress against it,” said Rajeev Badyal, Vice President of Amazon Leo in a company blog post. “We now operate one of the largest satellite production lines on the planet. We’ve invented some of the most advanced customer terminals ever built, including the first commercial phased array antenna to support gigabit speeds. And we now have more than 150 satellites in orbit, and customers and partners like JetBlue, L3Harris, DIRECTV Latin America, Sky Brasil, and NBN Co., Australia’s National Broadband Network operator, already signing up to deploy the service.”

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Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Starlink (SpaceX) internet service, which reflects a mega constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), recently introduced a new residential package for consumers – currently only available in the USA (but it may yet come to the UK) – that caps download speeds at 100Mbps, but drops the monthly price to just $50 (c.£30).

Starlink currently has around 8,940 satellites in orbit (c.5,400 are v2 / V2 Mini) – mostly at altitudes of c.500-600km. Residential customers in the UK usually pay from £75 a month, plus £299 for hardware (currently free for many areas) on the ‘Standard’ unlimited data plan (kit price may vary due to different offers) directly from Starlink, which promises UK latency times of 26-33ms, downloads of 116-277Mbps and uploads of 17-32Mbps. Cheaper, albeit more restrictive (data capped), options also exist for roaming users (e.g. £50 per month for 50 GigaBytes of data).

Suffice to say that one of the obstacles to Starlink’s wider adoption by home users in the UK has been the relatively high price point of their unlimited data service. As above, you can get cheaper roaming options, but these aren’t really intended for homes and would only really work well as a backup solution or for those with low usage requirements. Ofcom states that the average monthly data usage per UK broadband connection is now 531GB (GigaBytes) across “all technologies“ or 766GB for full-fibre lines.

The difficulty with expensive-to-run satellite broadband networks is that it’s hard for them to offer truly mass-market affordable packages and deliver unlimited usage with fast speeds at the same time. But this seems to now have become more viable for Starlink as they expand the capacity of their ground stations, spectrum use and launch more capable satellites into orbit.

The new “Residential 100Mbps” package in the USA is a good example of that, since it offers unlimited data but does obviously cap download speeds at 100Mbps (this is still a good level of performance for most people) in order to hit that attractive $50 (c.£30) per month price point. Upload speeds aren’t throttled, but then they rarely go much above 20Mbps anyway. The other catch is that availability of this plan remains limited to certain parts of the USA (most likely states where capacity is in abundance).

Customers in the USA can alternatively pay $80 (c.£61) per month for “Residential Lite” and speeds up to 250Mbps (this is closest to the UK’s Standard plan) or take “Residential” for $120 (c.£91) and speeds up to 400Mbps. Normally we wouldn’t cover Starlink package changes in other countries as they have different approaches right across the world (reflecting differences in capacity, ground stations, spectrum availability etc.), but we do think there’s a good chance of something similar coming to the UK in 2026.

The reason for thinking this is four-fold. Firstly, Ofcom has recently been granting Starlink access to more spectrum capacity, and on top of that they’ll shortly start launching their first high-capacity GEN3 satellites into orbit. In addition, the recent agreement with BT and EE to launch a rural broadband solution would mark a perfect opportunity to launch such a package (here). Finally, Starlink is about to face more competition from Amazon’s Leo service, so what better way to respond to that than by leveraging the advantages of a more mature network via competitive pricing. Time will tell.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Internet retail giant Amazon has announced that their in-development Project Kuiper constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) has been renamed to Amazon Leo. The first customer connections are also now expected to go live by the end of this year – initially in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and France.

Amazon currently has approval to deploy and operate their own constellation of 3,236 LEO satellites as part of Project Kuiper Amazon Leo (altitudes of between 590km to 630km). The company has in fact already launched over 150 satellites into orbit after a total of six rocket launches, which includes two of their initial prototypes – Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2.

However, despite being known as Project Kuiper – inspired by the Kuiper Belt (a ring of asteroids in our outer solar system) – for the past six years, Amazon said they’re now “ready to share our permanent brand for the program: Amazon Leo, a simple nod to the low Earth orbit satellite constellation that powers our network.” But admittedly, this could get tedious when trying to reference LEO the orbit vs Leo the brand.

In terms of the service itself. Each spacecraft can technically process data traffic at speeds of up to 1Tbps (Terabits per second), albeit shared between many users. The company will also deploy three ground terminals (dishes) to cater for different types of customers (here and here) – Compact (residential and roaming), Standard (residential and business) and Pro (high demand enterprise, telecoms and governments etc.).

Project Kuiper Customer Terminal Specs (GEN1)

Compact

Peak Download Speed: 100Mbps
Peak Upload Speed: 20Mbps
Size: 18cm x 18cm x 2.5cm
Weight: 1Kg
Data & Power Ports: Ethernet/POE
Antenna: Single Phased Array – Shared (Tx/Rx) Aperture

Standard

Peak Download Speed: 400Mbps
Peak Upload Speed: 100Mbps
Size: 28cm x 28cm x 3.3cm
Weight: 2.5Kg
Data & Power Ports: Ethernet/PoE
Antenna: Single Phased Array – Shared (Tx/Rx) Aperture

Pro

Peak Download Speed: 1,000Mbps
Peak Upload Speed: 400Mbps
Size: 50.5cm x 77.8cm x 5cm
Weight: 17Kg
Data & Power Ports: Ethernet (data) + Ethernet (Mgt)
Antenna: Dual Phased Array – (Tx/Rx) Solution

Environmental Operating Specs (all terminals)

Link Availability: >99% in extreme global weather conditions (>99.5% on Pro)

Operating Temperature: -30c to +50c (-22f to +122f)

IPRating: IP66

Storage Temperature (Power OFF): -40c to +60c (-40f to +140f) ETSI EN 300 019-1-1 Class 1.2

Operating Humidity: Relative humidity: 5% to 100%

Storage Humidity: 0% to 100% condensing. ETSI EN 300 019-1-1 Class 1.2

The re-branding announcement also included an update on Amazon’s plan for a commercial launch of their Leo service: “We expect to introduce Amazon Leo service to select enterprise customers by the end of 2025, and will roll out service more widely in 2026 as we launch more satellites and add coverage and capacity to the network“. At present, there are still no details on how much UK consumers will have to pay to get a connection, although it’s likely to be competitive with Starlink.