News

Network operator Openreach (BT) has named Exeter engineer Mari Owen (40), who installs full fibre (FTTP) broadband around Devon and Cornwall in South West England, as their ‘Engineer of the Year 2024‘ for her “outside the box” approach to problem-solving and ability to tackle “some of the most complex and diverse jobs“. Mari Owen, who only started as a trainee with the UK’s biggest broadband network provider in 2020, won Openreach’s highest engineering award at the company’s annual Shining...

News  The news comes just weeks after the company inked deal with Indian telco Vodafone Idea  Sweden’s Ericsson has won a new multi-billion dollar 5G equipment contract with Bharti Airtel according to an exclusive Reuters article published this week, citing people familiar with the matter.  Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but according to Reuters, the newly secured contracts are expected to boost Ericsson’s revenue for 2025, after a fall in contracts from India in the...

Business focused UK broadband ISP, IT and Cloud solutions provider FluidOne has today become the latest operator to harness G.Network’s new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in Central London via a new wholesale agreement, which follows similar deals with other ISPs like Spitfire and Cerberus Networks. The news comes only a few months after G.Network secured an additional investment of £85m from long term equity investor USS to support their “next phase of growth“ (here),...

Alternative network operator and ISP Connect Fibre, which aims to cover 100,000 premises across the East of England with their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband network, has this morning announced that they will be the first UK internet provider to deploy TP-Link’s co-branded Wi-Fi 7 routers to customers. A new 2Gbps package is also being launched. The provider, which is backed by investment from the Foresight Group (here), is currently rolling out their new open access (wholesale)...

Business ISPs Redcentric and Talk Straight (aka – Schools Broadband) have today announced that they’ve joined the Fibre Cafe‘s (Strategic Imperatives) connectivity aggregation platform, which with both combined should bring an additional 24,500 business connections to the platform. Fibre Cafe’s platform was designed to tackle the integration and automation challenges for broadband ISPs when onboarding new networks (e.g. common processes, a national availability checker, alternative network...

Interview   At Connected Britain this year, we sat down with Rob Gilbert, VP of UK and Ireland  at HFCL to discuss his thoughts on market consolidation from a manufacturer’s perspective, the next big breakthroughs in fibre technology, and sustainability within the fibre supply chain.   Watch the full interview...

Network operator Openreach (BT) has today announced that the rural village of Llanbrynmair in Powys (Wales) can lay claim to being the “first telephone exchange area in the UK” on their network to have 100% Full Fibre broadband coverage, meaning every single home and property in the village can now access their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines. The village itself, which is home to a population of around 1,000 (or over 500 premises), appears to have been upgraded with financial support from...

Some 10,000 premises in Nottinghamshire (England) have suffered a disruption to their broadband and phone services after Openreach’s (BT) network was “maliciously damaged” by criminals. The details are currently unclear, although the fact that the operator has to replace around 700 metres of cable suggests copper theft may be the cause. The incident is believed to have begun on Sunday night near to Trent Bridge (many people only began to notice it this morning), although most of the impacted...

News  The move is set to bring increased private investment to the country Ethiopia is set for the historic launch of its first stock exchange this week, the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX). The first listing will be operator Ethio Telecom, the country’s largest telco, which will sell a 10% stake this week.  The move is part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s plans to open up the country – which is heavily controlled by the state – to more private investment. Ethio Telecom’s listing represents...

News  Discussions between the two companies first began in July last year  Australia’s Vocus has announced a binding agreement to acquire TPG’s Enterprise, Government, and Wholesale (EG&W) fixed business and fibre network assets for AU$5.25 billion (US$ 3.35 billion). The acquisition will position Vocus as a digital infrastructure operator in Australia, boosting its ability to serve enterprise, government, and wholesale customers.  The deal will significantly extend Vocus’ reach, adding...