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...
Carlos Slim buys another £175m slice of BT
News The move sees the billionaire’s total stake in the UK incumbent rise to 4.3% This week, a regulatory filing has revealed that Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has upped his stake in BT by 1.1% to 4.3%. The £150 million investment comes via Slim’s family business Inbursa and related subsidiaries. Slim first acquired a stake in BT back in June, spending around £400 million to buy a 3.2% stake. At the time, analysts viewed the investment as a vote of confidence in BT’s new CEO Allison Kirkby, who...
Netmore to Hook Up Yorkshire Water Meters to LoRaWAN Wireless Network
Global network operator Netmore has signed a contract with Yorkshire Water in England that aims to upgrade and connect 1.3 million water meters across the Yorkshire region (i.e. those that are reaching the end of their operation life) to their Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN). Fixed wireless LoRa networks harness only a small slice of lower frequency radio spectrum (usually in one of the sub-1GHz bands like 868MHz or 915MHz) in order to support relatively slow, but extremely low power,...
Sky UK Confirm Phasing Out Sky Q Triple Play and Lite TV Packages
Sky (Sky Broadband) has confirmed that they will, from today, be “phasing out” their old satellite-based Sky Q Triple Play packages, which means they’re “no longer available for purchase on Sky.com“. Existing customers will continue to be supported, but as expected, Sky’s focus is now firmly on their newest internet-based streaming products. The move has been expected ever since Sky pivoted to launched Sky Glass (Sky integrated streaming TV set) and Sky Stream (streaming set-top-box) a few...
UK Tops New G7 Focused Digital Connectivity Readiness Index
Technical consultancy firm FarrPoint has today published their first International Digital Connectivity Readiness Index (IDCRI), which ranks the United Kingdom top against the G7 nations. The index ranks countries by the quality and coverage of their digital infrastructure (broadband, 5G etc.), as well as other areas like digital skills and online security etc. The scores contained within this report are based on key indicators gathered from a series of data sources, such as Ofcom and the...
Room to breathe: TalkTalk secures £400m refinancing deal
News TalkTalk has been struggling with debt for several years, with the total currently standing at nearly £1 billion TalkTalk has announced that it has signed a binding agreement on a refinancing deal that was first revealed last month. The deal saw shareholders – including founder Sir Charles Dunstone, Toscafund, and Ares Management – agree to inject an additional £170 million into the business, in addition to the £65 million invested last month. The deal also included the transfer of assets...