Altnet ISP Grain Offers 3 Months of Free Full Fibre Broadband
New customers looking to join Grain‘s (Grain Connect) UK internet service, which has extended their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband network to cover 220,000 premises (RFS), may like to know that the provider is launching an additional discount that offers the first 3 months of service for free. The promotion will run through July 2024 and comes in addition to their pre-existing price discounts. Customers of the new service normally pay from just £19.99 per month for a symmetric...
AbilityNet and Citizens Online merge to help tackle digital divide
Press Release On 1 July 2024 AbilityNet and Citizens Online charities will merge, joining forces to support more digitally excluded people, and create stronger impact. Both charities share a common mission: to bridge the digital inclusion gap and improve lives through technology, especially for disabled people. By combining resources, expertise, and passion, the joint charity will achieve even better results in boosting digital inclusion. A complementary offer Citizens Online charity has...
Virgin Media UK Takes Flak for Automated Removal of TNT Sports
Some customers of broadband ISP and TV provider Virgin Media (O2), such as those who have previously taken one of their ‘Maxit‘ bundles that included access to TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) TV content, have reacted with anger and confusion after the UK provider suddenly removed access to it and with only minimal prior notice. Just for some context. The Maxit bundle was originally withdrawn from sale at the end of last summer (2023) and replaced with the Mega-TV bundle, which among other...
Quickline Win £73m North Yorkshire Gigabit Broadband Rollout Contract
The UK government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme has awarded the £73.47 million (state aid) regional contract for North Yorkshire (Lot 31) in England to ISP Quickline, which will aim to extend their 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) network to almost 40,000 additional premises in hard to reach rural areas. The development reflects another significant win for Quickline, which has previously also secured the Project Gigabit roll-out contracts for both the West Yorkshire and York...
Xavier Niel’s $4.1 billion bid for Millicom is too low, company says
News It was first revealed that Niel was pondering the Millicom acquisition in May French billionaire Xavier Niel has offered to buy out the shareholders of Latin American telco group Millicom, valuing the group at $4.1 billion. Niel already owns a 29% stake in the company though his firm Atlas Investissement. In a press release published today, it was confirmed that Atlas Luxco, a subsidiary of Atlas Investissement, has made an offer of $24 per share, working out at approximately $4.1...
Virgin Media O2 completes first stage of Shared Rural Network
Press Release Virgin Media O2 has completed the first phase of its Shared Rural Network (SRN) rollout, bringing reliable 4G coverage to 227 rural communities across the UK The final partial not-spot site built by Virgin Media O2 is at Glencoe Mountain Resort, which became the highest mobile mast in the UK, standing 1,108 metres above sea level The operator will now turn to the second phase of the programme, bringing 4G connectivity to areas with no existing mobile service Virgin Media O2 has...
Vodafone Join O2 and EE in Hitting First SRN Rural 4G UK Coverage Target
Mobile network operator Vodafone has this afternoon followed both O2 (Virgin Media) and EE (BT) in announcing that they’ve “hit [the] Partial Not Spot (PNS) coverage target of the Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme“, which was achieved by expanding their 4G (mobile broadband) coverage to a total of 400 rural locations. Just to recap. The SRN – supported by £501m of public funding and £532m from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the...
INCA Sets Out Manifesto to Help Next Gov Boost UK Broadband Rollout
The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA), which represents many of the UK’s alternative gigabit broadband providers, has today published a new manifesto. The document sets out the key recommendations that it thinks the next government will need to implement – within the first 100 days in office – to help boost network roll-outs. The United Kingdom will this week (4th July 2024) go through its first General Election since 2019 and, as things stand, the polls appear to be...
Huawei and Chinese Telcos Take Lead In Integrating AI in Networks
Insight Amid the increasing network complexities driven by the growing usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, telecom solutions provider Huawei, in partnership with telecom operators is intensifying efforts to commercially deploy AI across their networks The operators are leveraging 5G-Advanced (5G-A) technology capabilities and AI applications to make the telecom networks intelligent, energy efficient, automated, secure, and adaptive, thus boosting productivity and saving...
2024 Autonomous Networks Summit Releases the Level 4 Industry Blueprint
Press Release [Copenhagen, Denmark, June 19, 2024] The Autonomous Networks Summit was held during DTW 2024. Distinguished guests, including executives and representatives from China Mobile, TM Forum, Vodafone, Telefonica, Huawei, Ericsson, and AsiaInfo, as well as Professor Joseph Sifakis, the winner of the 2007 Turing Award, delivered speeches and engaged in discussions about the Level 4 development path. During the summit, industry partners jointly released the Autonomous Networks Level 4...