Telecom Acquisitions and KCOM sign strategic partnership
News The agreement is set to come into effect on November 19 Telecom Acquisitions Limited (TAL) has announced the signing of a wholesale partnership with KCOM, the main broadband provider in Hull, East Yorkshire, and North Lincolnshire. Through the deal, TAL’s Eclipse Broadband brand will now offer services on KCOM’s expanded fibre network in these areas. Eclipse, originally a KCOM brand acquired by TAL in 2021, will complement KCOM’s services, enhancing customer choice, the companies said. ...
Virgin Media and Nexfibre Add 9,000 Chelmsford Homes to UK FTTP Network
Broadband network operator nexfibre, which shares some of their parentage with UK ISP partner Virgin Media (O2), has announced that they’ve extended their 2Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) network to cover 9,000 additional homes in the Essex (England) city of Chelmsford. The city itself is now well covered by both Virgin Media and nexfibre’s combined gigabit broadband networks, although it’s worth noting that it’s also home to several other full fibre networks with strong...
Bell expands into US market with $7 billion Ziply Fiber acquisition
News The deal extends Bell’s fibre reach across North America, targeting millions of new connections Bell Canada Enterprises, Canada’s largest telecom company, is making its first move into the US fibre market. Bell Canada, a subsidiary of BCE, has agreed to acquire Ziply Fiber, a fibre internet provider in the Pacific Northwest, for CAD 7 billion ($5.1 billion). The deal involves CAD 5 billion ($3.6 billion) in cash and the assumption of CAD 2 billion ($1.5 billion) in Ziply’s debt,...
Indosat accelerates monetization efforts and streamlines time-to-market with Ericsson
Press Release Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Ericsson proudly announce the successful deployment of the world’s first full-stack Digital Monetization Platform (DMP), marking a significant milestone in Indonesia’s digital transformation journey for telecommunications. This collaboration aligns with Indosat’s larger purpose of empowering Indonesia by raising digital telecommunication standards, supporting economic growth, and enabling real-time monetization and flexible service development to...
FullFibre Ltd Boosts UK FTTP Internet Security with Gigabit IQ Solutions
Network operator FullFibre Limited (Fibre Heroes), which has already built their open access Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 380,000 UK premises, has today announced that they’ve improved their internet security features by adopting Gigabit IQ’s FamilyGuard+ and CyberGuard+ services. The announcement, which somewhat confusingly came via retail ISP BeFibre, requires some additional context because Gigabit IQ is also the new name of alternative rural broadband ISP...
Altnets Gain Ability to Replace Openreach Copper Lines with Fibre on Poles
Network operator Openreach (BT) has announced that engineers working for alternative UK broadband networks (altnets) have finally gained a limited ability to replace existing copper drop wires with fibre optic lines on their telecoms poles. Previously, altnets had to wait on the incumbent’s own engineers before this work could be done. One of the problems with poles is that they can only handle so many cables and related kit before weight becomes a problem (example), which can create a...
KCOM Make Amazon eero 6+ Routers Available to Broadband Users
Macquarie-backed telecoms operator and UK ISP KCOM, which is deploying a gigabit broadband (FTTP) network across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, has today become the latest internet provider to announce that they will “shortly” be adopting Amazon’s eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi routers for their service. According to KCOM, the eero 6+ devices that they will be making available to their customers in Hull and beyond should deliver “world-class connectivity, enhanced broadband experience, new...
Mobile Operator iD Mobile Tops 2 Million UK Subscriptions
Low-cost mobile operator iD Mobile (Currys), which harnesses Three UK’s national 4G and 5G network via a virtual operator (MVNO) partnership, has today celebrated another significant milestone by reaching a total of 2 million subscribers (up by 488,000 in the year) and ahead of its original projections. Despite facing some calls from Curry’s investors who want to see the mobile operator sold (here), iD Mobile has continued to pick up various awards over the past year for their budget offerings...
Virgin Media O2 UK Switches on First 5G Standalone Small Cells
After launching their commercial 5G Standalone (SA) mobile network during February 2024 (here), O2 (Virgin Media) has today followed that up by claiming to have become the “first UK operator to switch on 5G standalone small cells“. Customers in Birmingham city centre will be the first to benefit from the faster mobile broadband kit (up to 300Mbps). Small cells are like mini shoebox sized mobile (radio) base stations, which have been designed to deliver limited coverage (usually up to around...
Mobily and Telecom Egypt to deploy Red Sea submarine cable
News The two companies first signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the cable in 2022 Saudi Arabian telco Mobily has partnered with Telecom Egypt to launch the first submarine cable connecting Saudi Arabia and Egypt through the Red Sea. The new cable, which will be wholly owned by Mobily, aims to improve connectivity and meet the growing demand for internet services in both countries. The cable will land at two stations: Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and Duba in Saudi Arabia. The connection...