Three UK Sees up to 70% Boost in Mobile Network Energy Efficiency
Mobile operator Three UK has announced that they’ve been able to work with strategic supplier Ericsson to improve the energy efficiency of their national 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) network by up to 70% “at selected sites“. This is largely thanks to the deployment of next-generation AI-powered hardware and software solutions. The mobile operator has spent much of the last 18 months delivering a network modernisation programme, which has included various changes. For example, at the end of...
Ofcom to Revoke All Licences for Unpaired 2100MHz UK Mobile Band by 2029
Ofcom has just confirmed that they will revoke the current mobile operator licences – held by EE (BT), Three UK and O2 (Virgin Media) – for the unpaired part of the 2100MHz band (1899.9 – 1920MHz) by 3rd April 2029, which was originally auctioned off in April 2000 to support the rollout of 3G mobile (mobile broadband) networks. All four of the major mobile network operators (inc. Vodafone) already make use of paired radio spectrum in the 2100MHz band (see below). But today’s update on Ofcom’s...
Utility Warehouse Sees 374,792 Take their UK Broadband Services
Energy and communications provider Telecom Plus, which trades as Utility Warehouse (UW), has just published their latest Full Year Results and revealed that their broadband ISP grew its total UK customer base to 374,792 (up by 20.67k in the year) and their mobile base hit 466,216 (up by 72k). As previously reported (here), the company recently passed the 1 million customer milestone (currently 1,011,489, which is up from 886,579 in 2023) and are now setting their sights on “doubling in size to...
Microsoft to invest $7.16 bn in Spanish data centres
News The investment will be spread over the next ten years Microsoft is set to invest €6.7billion ($7.16 bn) in data centre development in Aragon, Northeastern Spain. According to a report from local Spanish newspaper El Heraldo, Microsoft has applied for a construction permit to build its data centres near Zaragoza, in the Northeast of the country. “Microsoft’s new data centre region will provide cutting-edge, sustainable, and secure AI solutions for Spain and the rest of Europe,” said...
Powys County Council Signs Rural Broadband Rollout Deal with BT
The Powys County Council (Cyngor Sir Powys) in mid-Wales has this afternoon announced that they’ve awarded a broadband roll-out contract to the BT Group (Openreach), which will connect 24 “hard to reach sites” to a new full fibre network and will also benefit at least 78 more that are on route to them (possibly rising to as many as 119). The project, which is part of the council’s Digital Powys transformation programme and being funded by public funding from the Welsh Government’s (WG) Local...
Nokia and Google Cloud expand partnership for telco APIs
News The partnership aims to empower developers, drive innovation, and enhance 5G adoption Nokia has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to help developers create new 5G applications more quickly. This collaboration will use Google Cloud’s AI tools, including Vertex AI and Gemini 1.5 Pro, to enhance Nokia’s Network as Code platform. Nokia’s platform, now running on Google Cloud, will provide developers with the tools they need to build 5G apps. These tools include software development...
Virgin Media and Nexfibre’s FTTP Reaches 25,000 Extra Lowestoft Homes
Network operator nexfibre has today confirmed that they’ve expanded their 2Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband network, alongside partner UK ISP Virgin Media (VMO2), to cover an additional 25,000 premises in the seaside town of Lowestof in Suffolk (England). The development marks a significant change in the town from what we saw in 2020, when there was hardly any gigabit-capable broadband coverage in Lowestof. But since then we’ve seen a big expansion of full fibre...
Vietnam suffers three subsea cable outages
News The cause of the outages is currently unknown Three out of five of Vietnam’s international undersea cables are down, the country’s state media has confirmed. The impacted cables include the Intra Asia (IA) connection to Singapore, the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) link, and the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) pipeline. According to the Vietnam News Agency, it is especially difficult for internet users to access services that have servers located abroad, as the three cables connect Vietnam...
Some Brits Rather Live Next to Coastal Erosion Than Suffer Slow Broadband
A new Censuswide survey of 2,004 UK respondents, which was commissioned by Broadband Genie, has claimed that 7.09% of respondents would be willing to live in or around somewhere with “coastal erosion” if it was for their dream home, but only 5.34% were willing to live with “poor broadband“. The survey, which was conducted between 20th to 22nd May 2024, found that 95% of respondents said they couldn’t live in an area with poor broadband (falling only slightly to 93% for poor mobile reception),...
Amdocs Collaborates with Google Cloud for Real-Time Data Insights
Press Release Amdocs now leverages Google Cloud’s unified AI-ready data platform to help service providers evolve with cost effective, scalable, and impactful business insights JERSEY CITY, NJ – June 18, 2024 – Amdocs, a leading provider of software and services to communications and media companies, today announced a collaboration with Google Cloud to accelerate successful data transformations for communications service providers (CSPs) and better provide impactful real-time business...