Business ISP York Data Services Acquired by Communicate
Business connectivity provider York Data Services, which obviously focuses upon serving firms in Yorkshire (England) via their full fibre network, has been acquired by Communicate, a similar provider of cybersecurity and network infrastructure solutions, for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which is the company’s fourth acquisition since partnering with private equity investor Rockpool Investments in June 2024, forms part of Communicate’s strategic expansion effort and should “significantly...
Huawei Tong Wen: 6G Needs Real Innovation to Reshape Mobile Industry
Viewpoint Dr. Wen Tong, CTO, Huawei Wireless At the IEEE PIMRC conference held on September 4, 2024, Dr. Tong Wen, Huawei Wireless CTO, presented his views on the development direction of the 6G industry. Titled with “The Architectural Framework for A-RAN and A-Core”, Dr. Tong Wen pointed out, “6G will not be a simple upgrade of 5G, it should integrate AI revolution for the past 20 months, so to reshape the wireless industry and take it to the next height.” 5G is a success and 6G is on track....
Trial to Run Fibre Optic Cables via the UK Water Mains Has Stalled
The UK Government’s (DSIT) c.£6.2 million “Fibre in Water” trial (Project TAWCO), which aimed to test the deployment of fibre optic (FTTP) broadband cables through a live water mains (used for drinking water), has still not progressed to Phase 2 after a decision was taken to “stop the live build trial” due to several key obstacles. The original trial (details), which started in 2022 and was due to run for 2-3 years, planned to run fibre through 17km of live drinking water mains between...
Tesco Mobile UK Extends Free EU Roaming Again to 2026
Mobile operator Tesco Mobile has once again extended their Home From Home (HFH) EU roaming offer for another year, until 2026. Customers can thus continue to tap into their UK minutes, texts and data (mobile broadband) allowances, at no extra cost, when travelling around 48 destinations in the EU and beyond. The move isn’t surprising as the provider is a virtual operator (MVNO) on O2’s (Virgin Media) network, which has long opted to retain free EU roaming. But Tesco Mobile goes a bit further...
AT&T signs new deal with Nokia for fibre network kit
News The companies say that the deal will “accelerate future-ready fibre broadband growth” across the US Nokia has signed a multi-year deal with AT&T to help upgrade and expand its fibre network. Over the next five years, Nokia will supply AT&T with fixed broadband equipment to improve its current infrastructure and support future network growth. Nokia’s solutions will also help automate AT&T’s network operations. “Fibre plays a crucial role in providing the foundation for the...
Telia to slash 3,000 jobs in cost cutting drive
News The company has cut 455 jobs this year already Swedish telco Telia is set to cut 15% of its workforce, around 3,000 jobs, in an effort to cut annual costs by $253 million. The company currently employs around 18,000 people across five markets. The move, according to Telia, is part of its strategy to streamline decision-making processes, improve commercial execution, and better align its operations with local market needs. “This is a tough decision, but one that is necessary to...
Powys and Ceredigion Locals Get New Mobile Coverage Checker
The Growing Mid Wales (GMW) programme and network analyst firm Streetwave have today launched a “groundbreaking coverage checker” for 3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks in the region, which uses the data they’ve been collecting on mobile broadband coverage and speeds by harnessing waste collection vehicles (bin lorries). The use of bin collections to map mobile network coverage and data performance recently became quite popular (here, here, here, here and here). In this setup, refuse collection...
Eutelsat and Softbank sign multi-year satellite deal for Japan
News The deal will see Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation provide satellite communications for Japanese businesses and government agencies Eutelsat and Softbank have signed a multi-year partnership to enable Softbank to use Eutelsat’s OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity services in its communications offering. Eutelsat’s OneWeb currently has 634 satellites in orbit around the Earth, providing global coverage of low latency satellite services. The deal will allow Softbank to...
Ofcom Predict 98 Percent of UK Covered by Gigabit Broadband in May 2027
The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published the third edition of their forecast for Planned Network Deployments, which predicts that full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP lines are on course to cover 95-96% of all UK properties by May 2027 (29 million premises) – rising to 97-98% for “gigabit-capable” networks (i.e. FTTP and Cable). According to the regulator’s latest data to January 2024 (here), some 62% (18.7m) of UK homes are currently within reach of a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP)...
Ofcom Partially Delays New UK Broadband Switching Process by 6 Weeks
The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today acknowledge that their already much delayed new One Touch Switch (OTS) system for faster consumer broadband ISP migrations won’t be 100% ready for launch on 12th September 2024. But rather than delay it, again, they’ve instead ordered providers to retain the old system for a further 6 weeks. Just to recap. The new approach expands the existing Gaining Provider Led (GPL) migration system to work across alternative networks (the old system was mostly...