News

Computer scientist and CEO of full fibre network builder Netomnia (inc. sibling ISP YouFibre), Jeremy Chelot, has today talked to ISPreview about why he’s pushing the boundaries of UK broadband performance, while also touching on the topics of market consolidation, wholesale and the possibility of launching a mobile service. Netomnia currently (Feb 2024) covers over 850,000 premises (up from 730k in Nov 2023), in parts of over 70 towns across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with...

A new newspaper report has claimed that the ongoing work to withdraw BT and Openreach’s old copper-based analogue line services (PSTN phones and WLR), which was due to complete by December 2025, could be facing a delay of up to two years. But the delay may only apply to vulnerable users who remain dependent upon old telecare devices, which often haven’t been updated to function with IP-based digital alternatives. Most people should hopefully be aware that Openreach and BT, much like other...

Broadband providers across the UK are rushing to adopt a new solution for resolving complex customer network faults. Known as KO (Kick Off), the new solution is designed to save ISPs time and money in the process of finding and fixing complex faults, while also avoiding big payments under Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme. The way the new system works is simple enough. Customers who report a fault will, at first, be put through a long phone queue, before later being passed between multiple...

We are today publishing our 2024 summary of the top full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network operators with the greatest share of the UK new build homes market, which is naturally a table that ends up being topped by the market’s largest network access provider – Openreach (BT). But they’re not the only player. At present over 98% of new build homes are already being constructed with support for Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) infrastructure (here), which hasn’t changed much in the past couple of...

A new study from the charity Age UK has claimed that around 4.7 million people aged 65 and over in the United Kingdom are unable to complete all eight of the most fundamental tasks required to use the internet, while 2.3 million of those in the same age group do not use the internet at all (48% of these people are aged 75+). The “fundamental tasks” mentioned above include being able to turn-on devices and enter account logins, use settings and controls on the device, open applications, set up...

Some years ago we examined the electricity costs of running a modern Home Broadband connection (here), which largely reflected the price of keeping your wireless internet router (or modem) switched-on around the clock. Given the issue of energy costs, we thought it might be worth seeing how this has changed. Back in 2017 people were paying around 12 to 20 pence per 1 kWh (1,000 Watts per hour) consumed (daytime) and some setups also applied a cheaper nighttime rate, but to save time our...

News  US-based Keysight Technologies has out bid rival Viavi Solutions on the purchase of Spirent Communications, offering £1.16 billion for the company this week  Earlier this month, US technology company Viavi Solutions made a £1 billion takeover bid for UK-based telecoms testing group Spirent Communications.   At the time, Viavi CEO Oleg Khaykin said that the deal would “deliver enhanced product solutions and applications, accelerate growth in new markets and strengthen innovation through...

News  Founded in 2021 by former Open AI executives, Anthropic is now one of the most well-funded AI firms in the world  Amazon has announced an investment of $2.75 billion in San Francisco-based AI startup Anthropic, as it looks to compete with AI rivals such as Google and Microsoft through its AI chatbot Claude.  The move is Amazon’s largest external investment since it was founded in 1994.  As part of the deal, Anthropic will use Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its primary cloud provider, as...

News A US judge ruled this week that T-Mobile can appeal a pending class action lawsuit that is seeking damages related to T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint This week, Illinois U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin has ruled that T-Mobile can proceed with an appeal of a class action lawsuit that could cost the company billions of dollars in compensation. The class action lawsuit, which is being brough by seven subscribers of AT&T or Verizon, argues that the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile reduced...

Network access provider Openreach (BT Group) is preparing to launch a new service for broadband ISPs, which will optionally allow their customers to choose a Multiport Optical Network Terminal (ONT) device instead of the normal single port unit that is deployed during home installs. But some installs will get it by default. The ONT or optical modem device is usually installed inside your home or office (wall hung), near to where the fibre optic cable physically enters your property, and its...