Openreach Make Proactive FTTP Upgrades a Standard Process for ISPs
Network access provider Openreach (BT) has made their “Proactive FTTP Upgrades” a standard process from ISPs. This will take effect from 1st October 2024 and should make it easier for UK broadband ISPs that want to migrate existing customers on slower copper-based ADSL, FTTC (VDSL2) and G.fast lines to faster full fibre (FTTP) ones. A spokesperson for Openreach told ISPreview last year (here): “Proactive migrations arise where a Communications Provider proposes an upgrade to FTTP to its own...
Gov Considers Easier Access to Blocks of Flats for UK Broadband Upgrades
The new UK Government has begun informally consulting with the telecoms industry after network operators called on them to make it easier and cheaper to access large residential buildings (MDUs – blocks of flats or apartments), which could help to upgrade related buildings to gigabit-capable broadband. Easier said than done. The previous government has already done a fair bit of work to improve the situation around access to Multi-Dwelling Units (MDU). One example of this was the...
Ogi Secure £45m Investment to Boost FTTP Broadband Build in Wales
Broadband ISP Ogi, which is building a multi-gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across parts of South Wales (UK), has today announced that they’ve secured a new £45m financing package from Cardiff Capital Region (CCR), alongside ongoing equity investment from its principal shareholder, Infracapital, to support their future growth. The network operator has so far covered a total of 100,000 premises RFS (4th Jan 2024) with their full fibre network – most of them residential – in...
Virgin Media O2 Seeks £1bn to Support UK NetCo Wholesale Venture
Broadband, TV and mobile provider VMO2 (Virgin Media and O2) is reportedly seeking outside investors to raise a further £1bn in order to help fund the company’s plan (here) for opening up their existing fixed line network to wholesale via a new business (NetCo), which is expected to be introduced during the first half of 2025. Just to recap. Virgin Media’s existing gigabit-capable broadband network covers a shade over 16 million UK premises via a mix of different fixed line technologies –...
Vodafone deploys 5G private network at Czech nuclear power plant
News The company says the deployment is the first of its kind for the ČEZ Group Vodafone has launched Europe’s first 5G mobile private network (MPN) at the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant in Czechia. The network, created for the energy company ČEZ Group, is part of a pilot project, currently covering outdoor areas and specific sections of the plant. The new 5G MPN is designed to replace traditional walkie-talkie communications at the plant, and support advanced tools like augmented reality...
Broadband ISP TalkTalk Sign UK Refinancing Deal Agreed in August
Debt plagued UK ISP TalkTalk has this afternoon confirmed that they’ve formally signed a binding agreement on detailed terms of the refinancing package, which was announced on 12th August 2024 (here) and is said to be worth around £400m. This extends the group’s debt maturities to September 2027 and buys them more time to fix the roof. As previously reported, the deal saw TalkTalk’s shareholders – led by founder Sir Charles Dunstone, Toscafund and Ares Management – agree to immediately inject...
Musk’s Brazilian bust up sees Starlink accounts frozen
News Elon Musk’s clash with the Brazilian government over moderation of X (formerly Twitter) has resulted in a government ban on the platform Volatile billionaire Elon Musk’s ongoing clash with the Brazilian government has this week seen his social media platform X banned across the country. In addition, the sanctions appear to extend to SpaceX’s satellite constellation Starlink, with reports suggesting that the company’s Brazilian accounts have been frozen. On April 6 this year, Elon Musk...
UK govt funds smart network for extreme weather prediction
News The network will be the first in the UK that is focused on understanding the impact of extreme weather conditions across the country The UK government has announced a new initiative to provide earlier warnings for devastating floods and droughts. Backed by £40 million, this project will use advanced technology and real-time monitoring to protect communities from the increasing threat of extreme weather. The project, led by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the UK...
New CEO of Rural UK Full Fibre Broadband ISP B4RN Shuns Wholesale
The newly appointed CEO, Tom Rigg, of rural focused full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP B4RN has told Richard Tang, the boss of Zen Internet, in a new interview that their network now passes 27,000 premises in rural areas and is home to almost 14,000 customers. But they have no plans to “split everything off and then try and go wholesale” with the network. Just to recap. B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North) is a registered Community Benefit Society (i.e. they can’t be bought by a commercial...
OFNL Suffer Major National UK Full Fibre Broadband Outage UPDATE
Alternative network operator Open Fibre Networks Limited (OFNL / GTC / BUUK), which typically serves new build homes with gigabit fibre (FTTP) via several of their supporting UK broadband ISPs, appears to be suffering a major national outage this morning that is also making it difficult to access their Incidents Page. The feedback received from some of OFNL’s customers this morning suggests that everything was working well until around 10am, when the service went down. The good news is that...