Zzoomm – FTTP Broadband Take-up Exceeds 15 Percent in More UK Towns
Oxfordshire-based network operator and ISP Zzoomm, which have built a 2Gbps full fibre broadband network to cover 202,000 premises (RFS) in England, has today reported that another four of its newer towns have passed the 15% market penetration mark (Penistone, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Sandbach, High Green & Chapeltown). The operator’s network, which is home to over 30,000 customers (15%+ take-up), is currently available across parts of around 29 market towns and small urban communities in...
Ofcom to Take on Regulation of Premium Rate Phone Services in 2025
The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today confirmed that they will be taking on the responsibility for day-to-day regulation of Premium Rate Services (PRS) – effectively transferring them from the Phone-Paid Services Authority (PSA) – on 1st February 2025. Consumers can access a range of interactive services via their broadband-based landline and mobile phones, as well as via computers and digital TV. Where these services are charged for via the customer’s telephone bill, they are...
Historic UK Fibre Tax Case Resurfaces After VOA Criminal Summonses
A historic legal case, which challenged the fairness of the Government’s Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and how it was choosing to tax fibre optic broadband cables between different UK network operators, has reared its head again after several criminal summonses were issued for members of the VOA, HMRC and others for alleged “perjury and fraud“. Complaints against the business rates system are nothing new and in the past a number of smaller network providers (e.g. Vtesse / Interoute),...
Sky Broadband UK Move to Fix Sky Talk Activation Bug on FTTP Lines
Some customers of UK ISP Sky Broadband, usually including those who have just had a new Full Fibre (FTTP) package installed and are using Sky’s latest Max Hub router, appear to be struggling to get their new IP-based phone (Sky Talk) service activated after installation – a situation that can sometimes persist for several weeks. But a fix is on the way. First things first. Home phone services can sometimes go wrong due to all sorts of different reasons, and the move to digital services only...
Community Fibre raises £125m in latest funding round
News The funding will be used to help encourage take-up of the company’s fibre services UK altnet Community Fibre has raised £125 million from a consortium of lenders including JP Morgan, Alpha Bank, Barclays, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), and Sequoia, in its latest funding round. The funds, the company says, will primarily be used to help connect customers within their existing footprint, as well as expanding their network coverage. “Community Fibre has been and will continue to...
Broadband ISPs Brace for UK Traffic Surge on CoD Black Ops 6 Release
Internet service providers across the UK are gearing up for a busy Friday and surge in data traffic, which is once again expected to be fuelled by the release of another ‘Call of Duty’ video game on PC and consoles – Black Ops 6. But despite some frivolous claims that this could cause a “broadband blackout” (here), the event is nothing that ISPs haven’t had to handle before. The concerns about the impact of Black Ops 6 on UK internet connectivity largely stems from older reports, which...
Community Fibre Report UK Revenue Growth and Raise £125m, But Losses Surge
The latest annual accounts from network operator and broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which has deployed a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to 1.32 million UK premises (mostly in Greater London), reveals that their revenue grew by 109% to £41.7m at the end of 2023. But losses before tax surged to £134.6m (2022: £50.4m). The provider, which is currently being backed by a finance facility of £985m, has had somewhat of a rough year due to the rising cost of build, strong market...
Giffgaff UK Boost Some Mobile Data Allowances in Black Friday Deals
Mobile provider giffgaff, which is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) on O2’s platform in the United Kingdom, has today launched some early Black Friday discounts that boost the data (mobile broadband) allowances on some packages and cut the prices on several Smartphone bundles. In terms of giffgaff’s promotions on their 18-month Pay Monthly SIM plans, the operator has boosted their £10 per month plan from 25GB to 60GB (GigaBytes), while the £15 plan goes from 40GB to 120GB and their £20...
New UK Data Use and Access Bill to Aid Utility Maps and ISP Comparisons
The UK government has today unveiled details of their new Data Use and Access Bill (DUAB), which aims to deliver a £10bn economy boost by “unlocking the secure and effective use of data for the public interest“. The measures will also support personalised market comparisons for utility pricing and a new digital map of underground broadband cables and pipes on a “statutory footing“. Improving the sharing of sensitive personal data tends to be one of those hit-and-miss areas for governments,...
Opensignal Compare Vodafone’s UK and Pan European Mobile Performance
Network benchmarking firm Opensignal, which uses crowdsourced data from its app to test broadband and mobile networks, has published a new report that shows how Vodafone’s mobile network performance compares across the UK and nine other European countries in which it operates. The Netherlands ends up being the Group Winner, with the UK placing 7th. The study bases its comparison on their Consistent Quality (CQ) metric, which collects data on several key performance metrics (e.g. download...