Virgin Media UK Start Phase 2 of Smart Support to Boost Broadband Reliability
Broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2) has begun the second phase of their effort to deploy the new “Smart Support” service, which aims to boost the reliability of internet connections by proactively identifying and tackling issues remotely at no extra cost. So far only 50,000 users have benefitted from this since its April 2024 launch (here), but new customers will now join them. Just to recap. The Smart Support service is built on technology from Cisco’s ThousandEyes (formerly SamKnows) platform...
Possible Broadband Boost as New UK Gov Looks to Unblock Planning
The new UK Government is off to a rapid start this week and has already appointed Peter Kyle (MP) to be the new Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which oversees many of the country’s public broadband and mobile infrastructure projects. But bigger news on planning is expected from the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, today. Just to recap. The Labour Party’s 2024 General Election Manifesto (here) stated that the previous (Conservative) government’s...
2024 H1 – UK Gigabit Broadband Coverage Tops 83 Percent
ISPreview’s latest biannual UK summary of fixed broadband coverage for H1 2024 has found that “full fibre” (FTTP) ISP networks have grown to reach 67.68% of premises (up from 60.54% in H2 2023) and 83.39% are within reach of “gigabit” speeds (up from 79.86%). Continue on to see details for England, Wales, Scotland and N.Ireland. Practically all the new gigabit-capable (1000Mbps+ or 1Gbps+) class connectivity added during 2024 so far have come from Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based network...
ISP Hey! Broadband Offer 900Mbps Plan at £1.99 Monthly for Six Months
New customers looking to join UK ISP Hey! Broadband, which caters for areas covered by F&W Networks‘ new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines, may like to know that the provider is currently offering their top 900Mbps (symmetric) package for just £1.99 per month for the first size months of service on a 24-month term (£28 thereafter). The package, which also commits to making “no price increase during the length of your contract“, includes a wireless router and free installation. But take...
Vodafone Invests £120m in AI Chatbot ‘SuperTOBi’
News The chatbot is an upgrade to the pre-existing ‘TOBi’ Vodafone has announced the rollout of SuperTOBi, its new virtual assistant powered by Generative AI (GenAI), across Europe. Built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI, SuperTOBi is designed to handle complex customer inquiries more effectively than traditional chatbots. After successful launches in Italy and Portugal, SuperTOBi will be available to customers in Germany and Turkey this month, with more countries to follow later in the year. This...
Nokia, BT Group and Qualcomm achieve enhanced 5G SA downlink speeds in European first
Press Release Nokia, BT Group and Qualcomm achieve enhanced 5G SA downlink speeds in European first 5G Carrier Aggregation with Five Component Carriers BT Group becomes first European operator to achieve 5G 5CC carrier aggregation, boosting 5G standalone (SA) performance ahead of network launch later this year. Combines three FDD and two TDD carriers with 150 MHz total bandwidth, delivering greater capacity and downlink speeds in areas of high demand. Follows 5G SA downlink 4CC carrier...
Virgin Media O2 UK Offers Free Calls to Help with Hurricane Beryl
Customers of mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) may like to know that the operator has just responded to Hurricane Beryl, which is wreaking havoc across the Caribbean, by crediting back charges on calls and texts from the UK to several of the affected territories from 3rd to 9th July inclusive. The territories able to benefit from this currently include Jamaica, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Cayman Islands....
EE UK Pushes 5G Standalone Mobile Broadband Test to 1.85Gbps
Mobile operator EE (BT) claims to have achieved a “European first” with Nokia and Qualcomm in the UK by trialling Carrier Aggregation (CA) on 5G Standalone (5G SA) mobile technology with Five Component Carriers (i.e. 150MHz total bandwidth), which boosted their mobile broadband download speeds to 1.85Gbps. The majority of most UK 5G network today are Non-Standalone (NSA), which means they’re still partly reliant on older and slower 4G infrastructure. But SA networks are pure end-to-end 5G that...
Three UK Cause Confusion with Broadband Termination Letter in Swindon
Customers of Three UK’s wireless (4G and 5G) home broadband service in Swindon (South West England), which hails from the old ‘Relish’ wireless service that was acquired from UK Broadband Ltd. in 2017 (here), were recently left in a panic after the operator incorrectly informed them that their service would “no longer be available“. The confusion stemmed from a letter that was sent out to customers by Three UK last month, which stated: “Due to technical changes in your area, your current Home...
Virgin Media and Nexfibre’s FTTP Reaches 20,000 Extra Yeovil Homes
Network operator nexfibre, which shares some of their parentage with UK broadband ISP partner Virgin Media (O2), has today announced that they’ve added 20,000 additional homes in the Somerset (England) town of Yeovil to the coverage of their new 2Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband network. The roll-out should give a boost to the town, but it’s worth noting that Yeovil is already well covered by full fibre lines from Openreach and Jurassic Fibre (All Points Fibre). A...