Streetwave UK Launch Map of Mobile Coverage and Speeds in Brent
Network analyst firm Streetwave, which is currently conducting various UK surveys to study the coverage and speed of 4G and 5G mobile broadband networks using bin lorries and private vehicles, has published another free and interactive visual map of their results – this time for the London borough of Brent. Just to recap. Streetwave have spent the past year harnessing waste (bin / refuse) collection lorries to map mobile network / broadband coverage and speeds in various parts of the UK,...
Broadband ISP Zen Internet UK Now Offering 2.3Gbps Package
Rochdale-based UK ISP Zen Internet appears to have Finally begun to make their long-awaited top tier Full Fibre Max package available over CityFibre’s national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, which means you can now take symmetric speeds of 2.3Gbps for just £55 per month. Just to be clear about this, the new package is currently only available via parts of CityFibre’s network that have been upgraded to support XGS-PON technology (here) and that means availability is quite...
Rights Holders Move Closer to Imposing Website Blocks on VPN Providers
Rights Holders, having recently succeeded in forcing even some third-party public Domain Name System (DNS) resolvers to block websites that have been found to facilitate internet copyright infringement (piracy), are now turning their attention to major Virtual Private Networks (VPN) like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, ProtonVPN, and others. For those out there who may still be unfamiliar. A VPN essentially encrypts and routes your internet traffic through a different protocol and server (i.e. a private...
First Hints of New UK Gov Measures to Tackle Broadband Pole Complaints
The UK Government will shortly attempt to deliver on their pledge to “end the deployment of unnecessary telegraph poles” (here) by publishing an updated Code of Practice for broadband operators to follow, which will set out new guidance on the divisive issue. We now have a good idea of what that new code will include. Just to recap. The deployment of poles (usually made of wood or metal) to run overhead fibre is a common practice (over 4 million have already been built). This is because...
Confusion on the Falkland Islands Over Status of Starlink’s Broadband
Good news, SpaceX’s global Starlink broadband network is currently listed as finally coming to the poorly served Falkland Islands, which is a British Overseas Territory, sometime in 2025. Bad news, the service is already being used by hundreds of local customers and the company has just started to cut them off. At present there are about 3,700 people living and working on the largely self-governing and self-sufficient Falkland Islands, where all of the fixed line (phone, broadband) services...
TalkTalk Become First Major UK Broadband ISP to Harness Kraken Platform
Internet service provider TalkTalk has today become the first major UK ISP to sign a deal that will see them adopting the cloud-based Kraken platform (part of Octopus Energy Group). The move is said to be part of the provider’s “ambition to become the most recommended Wi-Fi provider in the UK” (they obviously really mean broadband provider). Kraken is a kind of overall management platform, which uses machine learning and the cloud to help utilities firms both run their business and interact...
Iliad once again eying Italian consolidation with TIM
News The French telecoms group has informed the Italian government that it is once again exploring a potential tie-up, according to reports Iliad Italia is once again looking for potential tie-ups with Italy’s incumbent operator TIM, according to reports by local Italian news agencies Corriere della Sera and La Stampa. The reports say that Iliad has this week informed the Italian government of its intentions to pursue dealmaking with TIM. The Italian government has likely been informed due to...
UK invests £16m for satellite communications advancements
News The UK Space Agency has pledged up to £160 million to drive innovation in the satellite mega-constellation market The investment, which is part of the UK Space Agency’s Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme, will support technological advancements over the next four years to bolster the UK’s position in the global space industry. As part of this broader commitment, £16 million has already been allocated to two key projects aimed at advancing satellite communications. This...
Eutelsat connects one million Sub-Saharan Africans to satellite
News The company’s Konnect Wi-Fi hotspot solution is playing a major role in shrinking the digital divide in Africa Eutelsat has announced that it has successfully delivered on its Partner2Connect Digital Coalition commitment to provide one million people in Sub-Saharan Africa with affordable, high-speed internet via satellite, two years ahead of schedule. The Partner2Connect Digital Coalition aims to accelerate global digital inclusion, particularly in regions where traditional broadband...
Netflix Hikes Prices for UK Customers of its Video Streaming Service
As expected, Netflix, the popular broadband-based Movie and TV video streaming service, this week updated their website to hike the monthly prices across all three of their plans for customers again. New customers will see the change immediately, while the timing for existing customers will depend upon your billing date (it usually follows 30 days’ after notification). In short, ‘Standard with Ads‘ will go from £4.99 to £5.99 per month, while ‘Standard‘ jumps from £10.99 to £12.999 and...