News

Contributed Article Analysis by Xtera’s Chief Operating & Sales Officer, Leigh Frame (human) Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a major disruptor, sparking stock market excitement, corporate collaborations, and infrastructure advancement. The growing enthusiasm for AI, exemplified by models like ChatGPT, has driven companies such as Nvidia to frothy valuations (bigger than Alphabet or Amazon?) and spurred partnerships between tech giants and AI startups. However, amidst this fizzing...

News California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed billions of dollars in cuts to broadband expansion programs across the state in an effort to address a budget shortfall By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities The California Alliance for Digital Equity is calling on policymakers in California to reconsider proposed cuts that the organization has claimed would jeopardize the future local broadband projects. The organization, which describes itself as a community-based coalition that advances...

Telecoms and broadband giant BT (EE) has this morning announced a revision to its timetable for moving all customers off the old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and onto digital landlines (Digital Voice), which follows last week’s confirmation (here and here) that the deadline for migration had been extended from Dec 2025 to 31st Jan 2027. BT’s Consumer division officially re-started the migration process for certain customers in April 2024 (details below), which followed an...

The North Wales Economic Ambition Board (NWEAB) has approved the business case for their new 4G+ project, which is more widely investing £8.9m from the North Wales Growth Deal in order to improve the availability of mobile voice and data services, as well as full fibre broadband, to key commercial sites and transport networks. The 4G+ (Connected Key Sites and Corridors) project forms part of the North Wales Growth Deal’s Digital Programme, which back in 2022 worked with FarrPoint to conduct a...

Sources have informed ISPreview that broadband ISP EE (BT) appears to have started inviting customers, specifically only those on one of their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) products, to take part in a new “Hub Enhancement Trial“. This is testing “new technology that’s designed to provide a coverage boost/enhanced Wi-Fi experience in the home“. The trial will involve “new equipment“, which will be sent to successful applicants free of charge. The mobile and internet provider has also pledged to...

News  Australian subsea cable company SubCo has announced an upgrade to the capacity of its SMAP subsea cable system that connects Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth (S-M-A-P) The cable spans roughly 5,000km, was supplied by Alcatel Submarine Networks, and was installed by Optic Marine Systems.  SMAP was originally designed with twelve fibre pairs, but SubCo has now upgraded the system to a sixteen fibre pairs, increasing the total capacity of the system by 33%.  “This increased investment...

News US House of Representatives passed bipartisan bill to reauthorize NTIA and modernize its role On Wednesday 15 May, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for the first time since 1992. The goal of the bill is to “update the mission and functions of the agency” due to the extensive evolution of the NTIA since its last reauthorization. New Street Research analyst Blair Levin said...

News Both KPN’s fixed and mobile networks have been using green energy since 2011    Dutch telco KPN has announced the signing of a 15-year deal to source green energy from Eneco.   Eneco is currently deploying around 88,000 solar panels at its existing windfarm in Kabeljauwbeek.   From 2025, this solar–wind farm will provide renewable electricity to KPN’s fixed and mobile networks.  Every year, KPN will purchase over 47 GWh (gigawatt hours) of electricity from the solar farm, as well as 200...

News The study, conducted by Dialog Consult on behalf of the Internet industry association VATM, shows the fibre rollout accelerating across Germany but was critical of the incumbents methods  This week, a new study from Germany’s Verband für Telekommunikation und Mehrwertdienste (VATM) has shed light on rapid progress being made in Germany’s fibre market. The study shows that the country’s fibre rollout continues at a steady pace, with nearly 19 million households – almost half of the German...

New research from Ofcom, which surveyed 1,104 UK adults aged 18+ during November 2023, has suggested that 83% of UK people who had looked for information about debt support ended up turning to their broadband, landline and or mobile provider for it. More often than not, they found what they were looking for. The regulator typically keeps a close eye on levels of debt in the UK telecoms market and monitors how vulnerable customers are treated by providers. For example, last year Ofcom found...