Cable Thieves Leave Oxfordshire UK Village Offline for Nearly 2 Weeks
Some 400 homes across the rural Oxfordshire (England) village of Ardington have been left disconnected from their broadband and phone services for almost two weeks, which occurred after criminals stole more than 500 metres of underground copper cable from Openreach’s local network. The community, which is predominantly covered by Openreach’s ADSL and Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / […]
Broadband ISP Virgin Media O2 UK Still Non-committal on IPv6
Seven years have now passed since broadband ISP Virgin Media (VMO2) first informed us that they finally planned to adopt the Internet Protocol v6 (IPv6) addressing standard by mid-2017 (here) and we’re still waiting. Customers of the provider keep asking us for a progress update, but sadly the answer remains unclear. Internet addresses (IP) help […]
Full Fibre Confusion Continues for TalkTalk Users in Rural Cheshire
A few months ago we reported (here) on how residents in two Cheshire villages had been mistakenly been told by UK ISP TalkTalk that their full fibre (FTTP) broadband service – under the old UltraFibreOptic (UFO) platform – was about to be disconnected. But unfortunately, the provider seems not to have learnt its lesson. Just […]
CEO of BeFibre and Digital Infrastructure on UK FTTP Builds and Progress
The recently appointed CEO of full fibre builder Digital Infrastructure (DI) and sibling broadband ISP BeFibre, Paul Daul, has today spoken to ISPreview about how they’re overcoming challenges with growing consumer take-up, limiting overbuild with rivals and the need for more UK government support. The operator, which first launched in 2021 and aims to cover […]
Friday Financial roundup
News A summary of all the essential financial news in the telecoms world this week Huawei announces half year results In the first half of 2023, Huawei generated CNY310.9 billion in revenue, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, and achieved a profit margin of 15%. The increase was the first since 2020, when the firm became subject to major sanctions by the US that would see them cut off from numerous global markets. The ICT infrastructure unit of the company contributed $23.1 billion, its...
Verizon strikes $2.1bn Managed Network Services deal with HCLTech
News The partnership will see HCLTech become Verizon Business’s “primary Managed Network Services (MNS) collaborator” This week, Verizon Business has announced a major partnership with Indian ICT firm HCLTech that onlookers suggest could be worth up to $2.1 billion. The deal will combine Verizon’s networking power and solutions with HCLTech’s MNS capabilities, with HCLTech leading post-sale implementation and ongoing support for Verizon Business customers. This includes helping them...
Cisco to buy-out Telenor from Working Group Two JV
News Cisco is set to pay Telenor $150 million for its 44.6% in the business This week, Cisco has signed a $150 million deal to acquire Norwegian company Working Group Two (WG2) from Telenor Group. Core network software specialist WG2 was spun out as a separate entity from Telenor in 2017, with the Norwegian operator retaining a significant stake in the business. At the time, additional investors included telecoms equipment specialist Cisco and digital infrastructure investor Digital Alpha....
Poland’s ‘largest ever’ broadband subsidy draws 300 applications
News The government hopes to use a combination of public and private funding in order to shrink the nation’s digital divide According to a statement from the Polish Ministry of Digitalisation, 307 applications have been submitted for a portion of the PLN 9 billion ($2.22 billion) of funding available for national broadband projects. Of these, 64 are applications to cover 187 areas of Poland that the government has declared ‘white spots’ – areas that have no internet access at all. ...
One Touch UK Broadband ISP Switching Aims to Go Live March 2024
The industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which has the arduous task of implementing Ofcom’s significantly delayed One Touch Switch (OTS) migration system for broadband ISPs, has today revealed that it is working toward a planned go-live date of Thursday 14th March 2024 – nearly a full year late. In case anybody has forgotten. In […]
Italian government signs MoU to take minority stake in TIM’s NetCo
News The government could take a stake of up to 20% in Telecom Italia (TIM)’s NetCo US investment fund KKR and the Italian government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would allow the Italian treasury to take up to a 20% stake in TIM’s NetCo following any binding offer from KKR. According to sources, the deal would also see the government play a “decisive role” in “defining the strategic choices” of the business. TIM has been planning to spin off its network unit since late...