News

New independent data has revealed that 85.06% of premises across the United Kingdom can now access a gigabit-capable broadband ISP connection (1000Mbps+), which is up from 80% at the end of 2023 and means the first target under the Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme has likely been achieved. The figure drops to 70.84% when only looking at full fibre (FTTP) lines. As usual, it’s necessary to point out that the figure for “gigabit-capable broadband” coverage is currently much...

Interview At Connected Britain this year, we spoke to CityFibre’s CEO Greg Mesch to discuss the company’s recently announced deal with Sky, the current market state, and why he thinks altnet consolidation is inevitable. Watch the full interview...

News   The cash injection makes it one of the most valuable private companies in the world  OpenAI, the AI company behind tools like ChatGPT, has raised $6.6 billion in a new funding round, with giants such as Nvidia and SoftBank as key investors.   The latest investment brings OpenAI’s valuation to $157 billion, nearly doubling from $86 billion in January this year.   The capital injection comes from investors including Microsoft, SoftBank, and Nvidia, who are betting on OpenAI to lead in the...

Mobile network operator 1p Mobile appears to have recently reduced the “minimum spend requirement” period on their classic Pay As You Go (PAYG) plans from at least £10 every 90-days, to £10 every 60-days. But the provider’s Terms & Conditions appear to be confused about when this change was actually introduced. The change, which was spotted by one of our readers (credits to Ben), appears to have occurred sometime over the past few weeks. But a quick look at 1p Mobile’s T&Cs (here),...

The industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) has issued a progress update on its work to support Ofcom’s new One Touch Switching (OTS) system, which started to go live last month and aims to make it easier for consumers to change broadband ISP. A total of 100,000 switch orders have been placed since launch, albeit with only 32,000 successful completions. Progress is clearly being made, with 265 brands (i.e. internet providers and related companies) now live on the messaging platform...

Some of ISPreview’s readers have spotted that internet provider Home Telecom, which is part of the wider Telecom Acquisitions (TAL) group that also has an established strategic partnership with TalkTalk, appears to be selling broadband plans that are “Powered by Virgin Media” (VMO2). But seemingly only in FTTP areas that have been built for nexfibre. Just to recap. Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners originally setup the new £4.5bn nexfibre joint venture in 2022 (here),...

Customers of UK ISP Sky Broadband’s phone (Sky Talk) and Sky Mobile service, including those with a phone service via NOW Broadband (NOW TV), have – due to the current conflict – been given the ability to make free calls and texts between the UK (inc. Ireland) and Lebanon until the end of 2024. “From 4 October 2024 – 31 December 2024, we’ll be crediting Sky Mobile and Sky Talk customers who call and text people in Lebanon from the UK and Ireland. You won’t be charged for any calls and texts...

The Oldham Council in Greater Manchester has ordered broadband operator IX Wireless (supported by UK ISP 6Gi / Opus Broadband) to “temporarily … stop work across the borough” due to “safety concerns“. The operator had been deploying large metal masts for their fibre-fed fixed wireless broadband network, which has recently attracted protests. The company, which holds an aspiration to cover 250,000 UK premises with their new network (here), is currently building their hybrid fibre and wireless...

The Shadow Technology Secretary, Andrew Griffith MP, has warned the new UK Government against a “shocking waste of taxpayers’ money” by potentially shifting public funding, which is currently earmarked for the rural-focused Project Gigabit broadband roll-out, and using it to help upgrade parts of major towns and cities (e.g. central London). Just to recap. The £5bn Project Gigabit scheme aims to help extend 1Gbps (download) capable networks to reach at least 85% of UK premises by 2025 (we’re...

Alternative operator Netomnia, which is currently merging with Brsk (here) and supported by broadband ISP YouFibre, has given an update to ISPreview on their plan to deploy ADTRAN’s cutting edge 50G PON kit across their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. This should start to go live before the end of 2024 and package speeds of 40Gbps will be offered. Just to recap. The combined networks of Netomnia and Brsk currently reach over 1.82 million UK premises as ‘Ready for Service‘ and this is...