BT pledges £4m to help support UK apprentice schemes
News A key focus of the fund will be on enhancing the digital skills of young people UK incumbent BT has launched a £4 million Apprenticeship Fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), charities, and public sector organisations across England. The funds will be delivered over the next four years, helping these organisations to recruit and train apprentices. Since 2017, companies in the UK with an annual wage bill over £3 million have been required to pay an ‘apprenticeship...
Data centre boom a “big opportunity”, says Netceed
Interview We caught up with Netceed’s Director of Telecoms, Steve Doddington, at this year’s Connected Britain to discuss how the UK telecoms market is rebounding from a slow year and how AI-fuelled data centre growth is a major opportunity for suppliers. Check out our full interview...
Broadband ISP Gigabit Networks Appoints Insolvency Practitioner
Leicester-based UK broadband ISP Giganet Networks has today confirmed to ISPreview that, despite putting their best efforts toward attempting to refinance the business, the provider was ultimately unsuccessful and recently appointed a licensed insolvency practitioner to help navigate the situation. The confirmation probably won’t come as too much of a surprise to our readers, given that the provider had already shifted their residential customer base over to the Telecom Acquisitions Group...
Vodafone Idea strikes $3.6bn deal with Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung
News The deal includes the supply of both 4G and 5G network equipment over the next three years This week, Vodafone Idea has concluded a $3.6 billion telecoms equipment deal with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung. The deal will see the trio of vendors provide Idea with equipment over the next three years. Idea will use this equipment to expand its 4G population coverage from 1.03 billion to 1.2 billion, as well as launching 5G in selected markets and expanding existing capacity. Idea says this will...
Sam Wang, general manager of Huawei ADN solution: AI for network, ushering in L4 new era
Viewpoint [Singapore, September 17, 2024] At the FutureNet Asia 2024 Summit in Singapore, the General Manager of Huawei ADN Solution, Sam Wang, delivered a keynote speech titled “AI for Network, Ushering in L4 New Era.” Sam Wang, General Manager of Huawei ADN Solution delivers the keynote speech As communications service providers (CSPs) worldwide strive towards network automation, Autonomous Networks (AN) have become an industry consensus. The AN Level 4 industry blueprint, released jointly...
Leading tech firms urge EU for regulatory cohesion on AI
News “AI’s potential to drive economic growth and scientific progress is enormous, but Europe’s fragmented decision-making is putting it at risk of being left behind,” reads the open letter published in the Financial Times A coalition of major tech companies, researchers, and institutions has issued an open letter calling on European regulators to provide clear, consistent rules for AI development to ensure the EU remains competitive in the global race for AI supremacy. The letter, signed...
BT Group Launches New £4m UK Apprenticeship Fund
Telecoms and broadband giant BT, which is already in the process of recruiting another 500 UK apprentices and graduates for 2024 (here), has today committed £4m to support a new Apprenticeship Fund that is designed to support SMEs, charities and public sector organisations across England by providing access to funding over an initial 4-year period. Since 2017, companies with an annual wage bill of more than £3m have been required to pay the “apprenticeship levy“, using the funds to recruit and...
“Regulation is working”: The broadband market is more competitive than ever, says Openreach
Interview At Connected Britain 2024, we spoke with Openreach’s chief commercial officer, Katie Milligan, to discuss the company’s latest Project Gigabit contracts, sustainability progress, and how Sky’s new deal with CityFibre will affect competition in the retail market. Check out the full interview...
O2 UK to Withdraw Inbound 2G and 3G Roaming on 1st October 2025
The business division of mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) has today confirmed that, as part of their plan to switch-off 2G and 3G services across the United Kingdom, they’ll also be withdrawing inbound roaming services on both of those older mobile networks from 1st October 2025. Just to recap. Last year saw VMO2 become the final operator to reveal their plan for switching off their 3G mobile (mobile broadband) network (here), which will begin in 2025 and the withdrawal will then...
Guernsey Mobile Operator Cleverly Disguises Tower as a Yacht Mast
Mobile operator and broadband ISP Sure has successfully managed to improve the 4G and 5G signal across the north of Guernsey (English Channel Island) by hiding a new mast in plain sight, which was achieved by deploying the new infrastructure in a marina and making it look like a tall white yacht mast. Trying to hide or disguise large mobile masts is rarely an easy task. Over the years we’ve seen various attempts at concealment, some of which work better than others (e.g. painting them to blend...