4G Mobile Cover Extended to More of the UK London Underground
Mobile network operators can now deploy 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) connectivity across more stations and tube lines on the London Underground, which comes after the ongoing network roll-out was extended to include Paddington, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf and Woolwich on the Elizabeth line. Just to recap. Boldyn Networks (formerly BAI), using kit from Nokia, currently holds a 20-year concession deal with Transport for London (TfL), which was signed in June 2021 (here) and allows them to build...
“Perfect storm”: Wildfires knock out services in the Yukon
News The wildfires damaged communication infrastructure on May 10, disrupting access to emergency services Last week, ongoing wildfires in Canada’s Yukon territory severed critical fibre lines, leaving customers in parts of the Yukon, British Columbia, and the Northwestern Territories leaving customers unable to communicate or access emergency services. Two separate fires damaged cables operated by local telco Northwestel simultaneously, leaving customers without access to mobile, internet, or...
Virgin Media O2 UK to Expand Streaming Services via Single Subscription
Broadband, TV, digital phone and mobile provider Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) look set to expand their existing multi-platform streaming services, which appears set to include a new range of streaming, gaming, health, lifestyle and security services for UK customers. Virgin Media’s customers can already access a variety of streaming services and features via their existing TV products and platforms, such as Virgin TV 360 and their newest STREAM box. But a new deal with Israeli software company...
Nexfibre UK Target FTTP Broadband for 40k Premises in Durham
Network operator nexfibre, which shares some of the same parentage as Virgin Media UK (VMO2), has announced that they expect to cover 40,000 premises across Durham during 2024 with their new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network – most of which (over 30,000 premises) will be in the Sedgefield constituency. The company has already covered 1 million premises across the UK with their new full fibre network, and they’re currently in the process of investing another £1bn...
CityFibre Completes UK Fibre Broadband Acquisition of Lit Fibre
Gigabit broadband builder CityFibre has today announced the completion of their recent share-based acquisition deal for alternative network provider and UK ISP Lit Fibre (here), which adds another 220,000 premises to their existing full fibre coverage (i.e. a predicted total of c.3.8 million or c.3.5m RFS) – rising to 300k once existing builds complete in 2025. At present CityFibre’s wider ambition remains to cover up to 8 million UK premises (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and...
Customers of 1p Mobile Suffering Network Connectivity Problems
Several thousand of 1p Mobile’s customers in the UK are currently suffering from network connectivity problems, which appears to have started yesterday morning and remains ongoing today. At the same time, the operator’s website reports that they’re also having “issues with our customer service telephone system” (probably due to high demand). The issue initially only affected a small portion of 1p Mobile’s customer base, hence why we didn’t cover this yesterday. But we’ve observed that this...
Curved Light Beams May Boost 6G and WiFi Wireless Network Speeds
Future wireless broadband and home networks, using technologies such as 6G or WiFi in the higher frequency mmW and sub-TeraHertz (THz) bands (i.e. between around 24GHz and 300GHz), could be set for a significant speed boost after researchers discovered a way to curve light beams around objects. The 6G standard is currently still in the early R&D phase, and the first commercial builds aren’t due until around 2028/30. But it is roughly aiming for theoretical peak data rates of up to 1Tbps...
Broadband ISP Octaplus Refreshes its UK Branding and Website
Hull-based UK broadband and Pay TV provider Octaplus, which sells services to consumers over various full fibre (FTTP) networks (e.g. MS3, CityFibre and FullFibre Limited), has this morning announced that they’ve given their brand identity a new lick of paint and launched a new website. The new website is said to be more mobile friendly and has been designed to ensure a “seamless and more efficient booking process, allowing our customers to connect and manage their services effortlessly on the...
1p Mobile UK Offers 500GB Data SIM for GBP25 Per Month
Several of our readers have spotted that mobile operator 1p Mobile are stealthily offering a 500GB data (4G / 5G mobile broadband) SIM with unlimited UK calls and texts, which doesn’t appear alongside their main plans but costs just £25 per month on a regular rolling monthly term. The special 500GB plan appears to be hidden away on 1p’s website, although much like their regular plans it includes the usual commitments to “no annual price rises“, support for Wi-Fi & VoLTE calling, support...
Broadband ISP Ogi Sees Wales Full Fibre Customers Reach 20,000
Broadband ISP Ogi, which is currently deploying a multi-Gigabit capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to premises across parts of South Wales, have this morning revealed that their network has now signed-up “one in every five premises” covered (c.20,000 customers) and has so far completed two thirds of its planned Phase 1 rollout. The network operator has so far covered a total of 100,000 premises (Ready for Service) with their new full fibre network – most of them residential – in...