LINX Surpasses 725Gps of Traffic at Manchester UK Internet Exchange
The not-for-profit London Internet Exchange (LINX), which handles a large chunk of UK and global data traffic through their switches via around 900 members (broadband ISPs, mobile operators etc.), has today announced that their regional internet exchange in Manchester has hit a new “record maximum traffic peak” of 725Gbps (Gigabits per second). The exchange states that LINX Manchester has seen consistent growth in traffic, rising by an average of 100-200Gbps throughout 2024. At least part of...
Fibrus CEO Apologises for Lengthy Broadband Outages in Northern Ireland
The CEO and Co-Founder of UK ISP Fibrus, Dominic Kearns, has apologised to the several thousand premises in Northern Ireland that are still without access to their full fibre broadband network following Storm Éowyn (pronounced ‘Ay-oh-win’), which struck nearly three weeks ago. But most of their customers are now back online. The storm, which was the result of explosive cyclogenesis (aka – a weather bomb), struck parts of the United Kingdom on Friday 24th January 2025 (here and here) and...
Virgin Media O2 Switches on 5G Standalone for UK Businesses
After launching their first commercial 5G Standalone (SA) based mobile broadband network for consumers in February 2024 (here), mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has today expanded the service’s availability to include large enterprise, public sector, and SME (business) customers on eligible tariffs. Just to recap. 5GSA networks are pure end-to-end 5G that can deliver ultra-low latency times, greater energy efficiency, better speeds (particularly uploads), network slicing, improved support for...
Vodafone UK Send Mixed Messages Over Static IP Availability for Broadband
Mobile operator and UK ISP Vodafone has today confirmed to ISPreview that customers of their fixed line consumer broadband packages, which are supplied over Openreach and CityFibre’s national networks (FTTC and FTTP), should still be able to request a Static IP (Internet Protocol) address. But this is despite some support staff telling users the opposite. Most home broadband users will either have a changeable (Dynamic) or shared (CGNAT etc.) IP address, while a ‘Static’ (or ‘Fixed’) IP...
Vodafone and Three UK Confirm New Leadership Team for Merger
Mobile network operators Vodafone and Three UK (CK Hutchison) have this afternoon announced their newly formed General Management Team for the future merged company. The new appointments followed a selection process and were approved by the MergeCo Governance Board, with representatives of both operators as shareholders of the new entity. Just to recap. The merger, which was approved by the CMA in December 2024 (here) and is said to be worth £15bn+, will see Vodafone retain a 51% slice of the...
CityFibre turns a full-year profit for the first time
News UK altnet CityFibre has announced its 2024 annual results, reporting its first full year of profitability, with a 34% revenue increase to £134 million The company’s consumer revenue rose by 73%, while it added 181,000 net new customers, bringing the total number of live customers to 518,000. CityFibre’s fibre network now covers 4.3 million premises, with 4.1 million Ready for Service (RFS). CityFibre’s involvement in the Project Gigabit initiative also delivered £865 million in...
New Gov Action Plan Supports Vulnerable Users in UK Digital Phone Switchover
The UK government has published its revised Telecare National Action Plan (TNAP), which will require major UK broadband and phone providers (e.g. BT, Virgin Media, Vodafone and Sky Broadband) to go further with protecting vulnerable telecare users when upgrading legacy phone lines to new digital (IP based) networks. Just to recap. The industry-led shift to digital landlines is partly being driven by the looming retirement of copper telecoms lines in favour of full fibre (FTTP) broadband, as...
French energy giant EDF offers up land for data centre projects
News Four sites have been identified by the utility company, with two more targeted by 2026 France’s state-owned utility company Electricite de France (EDF) says it has identified four locations on its land that could be ideal for data centre deployment. The energy giant says each site could host a data centre campus with 2GW of capacity, with the benefit of already being connected to the electricity grid. “For digital companies who wish to do so, EDF will also offer personalized support for...
Mobile Operator Spusu Launch New 5GB SIM Only UK Plan for £4.90
Mobile provider spusu, which holds a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement via BTWholesale to harness EE’s national 4G and 5G network, today claims to have launched its “most affordable plan yet” at just £4.90 per month. As above, the spusu 5 plan costs £4.90 per month on a rolling monthly term and for that customers will get 5GB of data (mobile broadband), as well as unlimited calls and texts, 500 free international minutes and free EU roaming (roaming data is capped to just 3GB)....
Connected America 2025 is now less than one month away
News Connected America 2025, scheduled for March 11-12 at the Irving Convention Center in Texas, is officially one month away By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities Tickets remain available for Connected America 2025, an event next month that will bring together communications service providers, the public sector, enterprise verticals, and suppliers. The event, now in its third year, kicks off March 11 at the Irving Convention Center in Irving, Texas, just outside of Dallas. Also featured...