Network Operators and UK ISPs Warned of BlastRADIUS Vulnerability
A new critical security vulnerability has been discovered in the popular RADIUS network authentication protocol, which is used by networks across the world to help users connect with their services (i.e. everything from broadband ISPs to VPNs, mobile operators and more) and thus could leave them exposed to Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) style attacks. The vulnerability, which has been dubbed BlastRADIUS by InkBridge Networks (FreeRadius), appears difficult to exploit. But its impact could still be...
Vodafone UK Demo Tested 5G SA Network Slicing at Glastonbury
Mobile operator Vodafone UK conducted another trial of Network Slicing technology on their latest 5G Standalone (SA) powered mobile broadband network at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, which despite heavy network load was able to dedicate a “slice” of capacity to help drink vendors speed up card transactions. Most existing 5G networks in the UK still have some dependencies on 4G, which slow them down and are known as Non-Standalone (NSA). By comparison, 5G Standalone (5GSA) reflects a pure...
EE UK Launch New Scam Guard Add-on to Protect Mobile Customers
Broadband ISP and mobile network operator EE (BT) has today launched a new technology service for Pay Monthly mobile customers called ‘Scam Guard’, which is a network-level security defence that harness AI to better protect users from “nuisance calls, dark web hackers and phishing scams“. But it’s not free. At present EE already uses a degree of AI based filtering in order to identify and block scams and spams. In fact, each month sees EE block around 15 million suspicious calls and texts...
Meta and Vodafone team up for more efficient video delivery
News The newly optimised video delivery is already operational in 11 of Vodafone’s European markets This week, Vodafone and Meta have announced new measures to optimise the delivery of video content and increase capacity on mobile networks. These optimisation measures – which have not been detailed – have reportedly been active in 11 of Vodafone’s European markets since the start of June, delivering a ‘meaningful’ reduction in network traffic without impacting video experience quality for...
Streetwave Maps Mobile Network Speeds in Caerphilly Using Bin Lorries
Mobile network analyst Streetwave has partnered up with the Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) in Wales to harness local refuse (bin) collection trucks in order to map the local network (mobile broadband) performance across the area, which covers services from EE (BT), O2 (Virgin Media), Vodafone and Three UK. The idea of using bin collections to map 4G and 5G mobile coverage is one that has only recently been implemented. In fact, Streetwave are a key partner on a similar scheme (here)...
Vodafone and Meta Boost UK Mobile Network Efficiency for Videos UPDATE
Mobile operator Vodafone has announced that they’ve worked with Meta (Facebook etc.) to trial and deploy a new mobile broadband (4G, 5G) “network optimisation” for “short-form videos” across the UK and 10 other countries, which is said to “free up network capacity” for customers and allows them to “view more high-quality short videos“. The description “short-form videos” typically tends to reflect the kind of short videos you’d find on services like TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and...
Tesco Mobile, UW and Giffgaff Named in UK Customer Satisfaction Top 50
The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) have just published their second biannual UK Customer Satisfaction Index for July 2024, which reveals that three mobile and broadband (telecoms) providers made it into their table of the country’s top 50 organisations – Tesco Mobile (20th), Utility Warehouse (23rd) and giffgaff (32nd). But it’s not all good news. The research typically reflects the results from a large online survey of over 15,000 customers – balanced to be representative of the UK adult...
UKIB Commit £150m to Hyperoptic’s UK Full Fibre Broadband Rollout
City-focused gigabit broadband ISP Hyperoptic, which has now built a full fibre (FTTP/B) network to cover “more than” 1.73 million homes across parts of 64 UK towns and cities (up from 1.6m on 3rd June 2024), has today secured £150m from the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) to help “accelerate” their network expansion. The operator, which is now home to a broadband customer base of 340,000 (up from 300,000 on 5th Oct 2023) and is targeting 500,000 for the future, was previously known to be aiming...
Grain’s New UK FTTP Broadband Network Goes Live in Brighton
Alternative network operator and ISP Grain (Grain Connect), which has already grown their new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 220,000 premises RFS (21st May 2024) and 30,000 customers, has today announced that they’ve put their service live in part of Brighton (East Sussex, England). The operator’s full fibre network can now be found in 59 UK locations (plus over 150 new build housing developments), which includes a lot of small-to-modest sized patches...
New 2.2Gbps Broadband Package Goes Live from Vodafone UK
Customers of mobile operator and UK ISP Vodafone may like to know that the operator has finally introduced their new 2.2Gbps (symmetric) speed home broadband package, which is based off CityFibre’s national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network and includes their premium “Pro II” features. But they also have a 1.6Gbps option on Openreach’s network. Just to be clear on something. CityFibre’s new wholesale tier on their latest XGS-PON powered full fibre network actually offers speeds of 2.5Gbps...