F5.5G 10Gbps all-optical broadband ushers in the intelligent era: Huawei successfully holds the all-optical access innovation forum
Viewpoint [Paris, France, October 9, 2024] During Network X 2024 — Broadband World Forum (BBWF), Huawei teamed up with carriers and Informa to hold the All-Optical Access Innovation Summit, bringing together heavyweight analysts, carrier customers, and Huawei experts. They discussed a range of frontier topics such as the launch of 50G PON for 10Gbps, 10G PON true gigabit experience, FTTR scale-up, Wi-Fi 7 2+2 industry generation guidance, network construction with optimal TCO, and premium...
Virgin Media UK Sees Take-up of Smart Support Reach 200,000 Customers
Broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2) has issued a brief update on the gradual roll-out of “Smart Support”, which is a new service that aims to boost the reliability of internet connections by proactively identifying and tackling issues remotely at no extra cost. Some 200,000 customers have now benefitted from this (up from 50k in July), with 150k more to join by the end of 2024. Just to recap. The Smart Support service is built on technology from Cisco’s ThousandEyes (formerly SamKnows) platform...
Openreach Name Next 79 UK Areas for Copper to FTTP Switch – Tranche 18
Openreach (BT) has released the next batch of 79 exchanges (Tranche 18) in their “FTTP Priority Exchange Stop Sell” programme, which reflects areas where over 75% of premises are able to get full fibre lines and will thus stop selling copper based analogue phone and broadband products (i.e. FTTP becomes the only product option). Currently, there are two schemes for moving away from old copper lines and services, which can sometimes criss-cross. The first starts with the gradual migration of...
UK and US join forces to improve children’s online safety
News The new agreement creates a joint working group to address the risks posed by children’s interactions with social media and emerging technologies The UK and US have signed a new agreement aimed at improving online safety for children, led by UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The agreement will create a joint working group to research and develop ways to protect children more effectively in the digital world. The working group will focus on...
Hexatronic: Innovation will be needed to reach rural customers
News As the UK’s fibre network rollout continues to push ahead, operators are increasingly seeking to deploy in more challenging environments, particularly in rural areas. In this interview at Connected Britain 2024, Asa Malone, Sales Director at Hexatronic UK discusses how the company is building bespoke solutions for customers and investing heavily to make these hard-to-reach areas more accessible. Watch our full interview here Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by...
EU lines up €865m funding tranche for digital projects
News The funds will be awarded to projects related to 5G and European backbone networks This week, the European Commission has announced the start of the second phase of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital programme, which will provide €865 million in funding to various digital infrastructure projects from 2024 to 2027. This latest round of funding will be awarded to projects focusing on the further deployment of 5G and backbone networks – including quantum communication networks and...
Ofcom Probe Gigaclear Over Failure to Provide UK Caller Details to Emergency Services UPDATE
The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has launched an investigation into rural broadband ISP Gigaclear over a possible failure to “provide accurate and reliable caller location information to emergency organisations“, which could have made it more difficult for the police, fire and ambulances to find callers. The network operator, which is principally owned by Infracapital (together with Equitix and Railpen), has so far built a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP...
Voneus Claims Walney Island Wireless Broadband Build was Fastest in the World
Rural broadband ISP Voneus has today announced the completion of their effort to roll-out a new “Gigabit Wireless Broadband” (FWA) network across 4,700 homes on Walney Island in Cumbria (England), which they say took only 12-weeks to complete and is thus the “fastest ever deployed worldwide.” The new network, which involved the deployment of Voneus’ kit on top of local council-owned lighting columns (i.e. avoiding disruptive street works), is said to be capable of 1Gbps (symmetric) speeds and...
Virgin Media Becomes First Big UK ISP to Adopt Apple Pay and Google Pay
Broadband, TV and phone provider Virgin Media (O2) this morning claims to have become the first major UK telecoms provider to enable digital payment systems, Apple Pay and Google Pay, for recurring contract payments. The hope is that this will provide a “convenient alternative to traditional direct debits“. The provider is known to have been conducting trials of this for a little while, but at launch it’s currently only available to new customers who sign-up for their service. Virgin Media...
Three Men Arrested in N.Ireland for Theft of Openreach’s Broadband Cables
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), which were investigating the recent theft of copper broadband and phone cables from Openreach (BT) that was said to be worth “six figures“, have just arrested three men (aged 36, 38 and 60) on suspicion of related theft and criminal damage. Over the past few weeks’ there have been a number of cable thefts on Openreach’s network from locations in Armagh and Dungannon, which are known to have disrupted the operator’s internet and phone services...