Red Sea cable repairs delayed as Yemeni govt probes AAE-1 consortium
News The government will not grant repair ships access to the cables until the investigation is concluded This week, reports suggest that the Yemeni government has contacted members of the AAE-1 (Asia-Africa-Europe 1) submarine cable consortium, informing them that they are being probed with regard to ties to the nation’s Houthi rebels. The consortium, which includes the likes of Etisalat, Omantel, Ooredoo, Reliance Jio Infocom, and Telecom Egypt, also notably includes TeleYemen, Yemen’s...
US mobile customers harmed by T-Mobile’s Sprint purchase according to report
News Rewheel figures show that T-Mobile’s purchase of Sprint has helped keep US mobile prices high According to a new report from Rewheel, T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint in 2020 has contributed to the exorbitant mobile prices in the US. “Five years on, the Sprint / T-Mobile 4-to-3 mobile merger made the US one of the most expensive mobile markets in the world,” the firm wrote in the report. “While monthly prices were falling and continue to fall across mobile markets and while the same was...
Spanish regulators clear Zegona’s acquisition of Vodafone Spain
News The deal was first confirmed last October This week, Zegona’s acquisition of Vodafone Spain has received approval from Spanish regulators. The Spanish government’s Council of Ministers has approved the deal “in respect of foreign direct investment into Spain,” said UK-based Zegona in a press release this morning. Back in October, Vodafone announced that it had entered into a binding agreement with Zegona to sell 100% of their stake in Vodafone Spain for €5 billion. “The sale of...
CityFibre Complete Primary FTTP Broadband Rollout in Kettering
Network operator CityFibre, which have so far deployed their 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 3.6 million UK premises (3.3m RFS), has today announced that they’ve completed their “primary” £17m deployment across the North Northamptonshire (England) town of Kettering. The original build, supported by local contractor Granemore Group, officially got underway in April 2022 (here) and was due to reach completion by 2024. The good news is that, broadly...
O2 Deploys 150th 4G Mobile Site Under UK Shared Rural Network
Mobile network operator O2 (VMO2) has today revealed that they’ve now rolled out enhanced 4G (mobile broadband) coverage across 150 rural sites (up from 100 in mid-Feb 2024) as part of their commitment under the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, which aims to extend geographic 4G cover (aggregate) to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025. The industry-led SRN – supported by £500m of public funding and £532m from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain...
EXA Infrastructure continues expansion in North America with new route between Ashburn and Atlanta
Press Release EXA Infrastructure, the leading digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe to North America, has today announced a further step in enhancing its infrastructure presence in North America with a new route connecting Ashburn and Atlanta. Atlanta is emerging as a key data center hub, and is the fastest-growing data center market in the US, according to the CBRE North America Data Center Trends H2 2023 Report. Data center projects under active construction in Atlanta increased...
Opensignal Examines the Impact of Virgin Media UK Going Wholesale
Network benchmarking firm Opensignal has published a new report that attempts to analyse the “user experience” impact of Virgin Media’s (VMO2) decision to open up their existing fixed broadband ISP network to wholesale (here) via a new business (NetCo), which is expected to be introduced during the second half of 2025. Just to recap. Virgin Media’s existing gigabit-capable broadband network covers a shade over 16 million UK premises via a mix of different fixed line technologies, albeit...
Broadband ISP WightFibre Secures ISO 27001 Certification
Network builder and ISP WightFibre, which operates a gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across the Isle of Wight – just off the South Coast of Hampshire in England, has managed to secure the ISO 27001 certification for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). Related certifications are a seal of approval from a recognised third-party body, which represents a series of global standards developed and published by the International Organisation for Standardisation...
Gov Expanding Gigabit Broadband Vouchers to UK Urban Areas
Sources have informed ISPreview that the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has decided to extend the availability of their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) to include urban areas. The scheme has, until now, only offered grants to help rural properties get a 1Gbps capable ISP connection installed. The GBVS currently offers grants worth up to £4,500 to rural homes and businesses to help them get a gigabit-capable broadband service installed, which is available to areas with...
UK’s fastest supercomputer switched on
News The computer is officially the most sustainable supercomputer in the UK The UK’s fastest and most powerful supercomputer, known as Isambard-AI, has been switched on at the University of Bristol this week. The Isambard-AI supercomputer was first announced by the government last March alongside a £225 million investment. The facility has been built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and contains over 5,000 NVIDIA superchips, allowing it to complete 200 quadrillion calculations per second. ...