News

Telecoms networks and broadband communications

• January 28, 2019 28 Jan'19

  Openreach to recruit 3,000 apprentices to support UK-wide full-fibre network deployment

  New recruits from “all walks of life” will be trained at one of 12 educational facilities Openreach is set to open across the country

• January 25, 2019 25 Jan'19

  Vodafone suspends use of Huawei hardware

  Vodafone’s UK CEO has said the operator will ‘pause’ its use of Huawei hardware for the foreseeable future

• January 25, 2019 25 Jan'19

  Chinese government grants BT new powers

  Enhanced operating licences improve telco’s ability to work with customers in China

• January 23, 2019 23 Jan'19

  MPs challenge Huawei over spying allegations

  The chair of the cross-bench Science and Technology Committee has written to Huawei seeking answers over its activities in the UK

• January 23, 2019 23 Jan'19

  Vodafone and O2 will ‘share’ 5G networks

  Vodafone and O2 have agreed non-binding heads of terms that will extend their 4G network-sharing agreement to 5G when it becomes available

• January 22, 2019 22 Jan'19

  XL Axiata teams up with Tibco in data science initiative

  The Indonesia telco’s data scientists will be provided with data science tools from Tibco to uncover customer insights and improve network planning, among other goals

• January 22, 2019 22 Jan'19

  Scottish Police Authority awards £21m mobile services deal to EE

  EE will oversee a three-year deal to transform police mobile capabilities in Scotland, alongside Motorola Solutions, Samsung and BlackBerry

• January 22, 2019 22 Jan'19

  Broadband divide persists across the UK, says Which?

  Latest statistics from Which? show the UK’s broadband divide persists, with many areas still missing out on high-speed services despite industry tub-thumping

• January 15, 2019 15 Jan'19

  O2 powers customer-centric network with Nokia AI

  Mobile operator O2 claims Nokia’s AI-driven Service Operation Center platform will help it anticipate its customers’ problems before they know they have problems

• January 14, 2019 14 Jan'19

  Mobile and broadband markets fail digitally excluded groups

  Financially vulnerable people, disabled and mentally ill people and elderly people all face significant challenges in accessing appropriate communications services, according to a new Ofcom report

• January 14, 2019 14 Jan'19

  Australia’s Optus dials into 5G

  Australia’s second largest telco Optus makes the country’s first 5G data call, paving the way for a fixed wireless service by the first half of 2019

• January 10, 2019 10 Jan'19

  Roadside 4G mobile signal availability improves across UK

  4G mobile network coverage along the UK’s motorways has seen substantial improvement, with Greater Manchester’s urban M60 having 100% availability and the Birmingham to Carlisle M6 seeing the greatest growth in coverage

• January 10, 2019 10 Jan'19

  Fife Council upgrades WAN to offer ultrafast broadband services

  Public sector sites across Fife in Scotland are to receive a transformational upgrade to their broadband speeds

• January 10, 2019 10 Jan'19

  BT faces tussle to keep EU contracts after Brexit

  The European Union will likely re-evaluate its telecoms contracts with BT following Brexit, and cancelling them altogether is a real risk in a no-deal scenario, according to leaked documents

• January 08, 2019 08 Jan'19

  First 5G smartphones may have massive price premium

  Android smartphone brands are already preparing to launch their first 5G handsets, but new technical requirements means they won’t be cheap to build, according to analysts at TrendForce

• January 07, 2019 07 Jan'19

  Equinix to open fourth Singapore datacentre in 2019

  The latest investment by Equinix in Singapore comes as datacentre operators look to fill vacant real estate arising from intense market competition between 2017 and 2018

• January 02, 2019 02 Jan'19

  SMEs urged to get on board with Network Services 2 framework

  Suppliers have until the end of January 2019 to sign up to the new government network services purchasing framework

• January 02, 2019 02 Jan'19

  Huawei aims to be more resilient in 2019 amid challenges

  Huawei’s rotating chairman Guo Ping outlines the firm’s priorities to optimise its product portfolio, empower employees and build a more resilient business structure

• December 28, 2018 28 Dec'18

  Top 10 mobile stories of 2018

  As 5G moves from theory to practical reality, we look back at Computer Weekly’s biggest mobile stories from the past 12 months

• December 19, 2018 19 Dec'18

  CMA acts on super-complaint over broadband, mobile charges

  The Competition and Markets Authority is to crack down on communications services providers who ‘penalise’ loyal customers over new ones

• December 19, 2018 19 Dec'18

  Top 10 broadband stories of 2018

  The networking industry swung firmly behind full-fibre broadband in 2018, with encouraging signs that the gold-standard of broadband service delivery technology is at long last taking off in the UK

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  Ancient Britain comes to life at Bath’s 5G testbed

  The West of England Combined Authority is running a 5G Smart Tourism project at Bath’s world-famous Roman spa

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  Broadband coverage improved through 2018, says Ofcom

  Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations report reveals that the number of people who cannot receive a 10Mbps broadband connection has halved

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  Ofcom fires starting gun for new mobile spectrum auction

  Mobile spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands will be put up for auction either late in 2019 or early in 2020

• December 14, 2018 14 Dec'18

  Ofcom tells ISPs to be upfront about better broadband deals

  Telecoms regulator is rolling out a range of measures to make the broadband market serve the interests of consumers better

• December 12, 2018 12 Dec'18

  Finland’s IT sector recovers after break-up of Nokia

  Finnish government plays vital role in helping IT sector recover from the shock of Microsoft taking over the country’s biggest company

• December 11, 2018 11 Dec'18

  Slow action on broadband and 5G risks UK’s economic future, CBI warns

  A report from the CBI has called for the government to fast-track legislation to guarantee access to ultrafast network services

• December 10, 2018 10 Dec'18

  Vodafone’s 4G network goes underground

  Operator will roll out small 4G and 5G-ready antenna to boost network coverage over short distances in areas of dense usage, using manhole covers, among other things

• December 10, 2018 10 Dec'18

  BT upgrades InLink street kiosks for deaf, speech-impaired people

  BT has added a next-generation text service to its InLink street kiosks to make the service more accessible to people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired

• December 10, 2018 10 Dec'18

  O2 expected to pursue Ericsson for compensation over 24-hour stoppage

  Mobile network operator could seek up to £100m in damages from its supplier, which failed to update expired software certificates, causing a day-long outage

• December 10, 2018 10 Dec'18

  Port of Rotterdam uses floating lab to learn about automation in harbour

  A ship will soon be converted to a floating laboratory to test automation technologies at the Netherlands port

• December 07, 2018 07 Dec'18

  O2 outage highlights importance of software certificate audits

  A major outage on the O2 4G mobile network was caused by an expired certificate and could easily have been avoided, it has emerged

• December 06, 2018 06 Dec'18

  BT and KCOM named broadband USO suppliers

  Ofcom has named BT, and in East Yorkshire, KCOM, as the designated providers for the incoming broadband universal service obligation

• December 06, 2018 06 Dec'18

  China demands release of arrested Huawei CFO

  The Chinese government has called for the release of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who was detained in Canada at the weekend

• December 06, 2018 06 Dec'18

  Software failure paralyses O2’s 4G network

  O2 is racing to fix a major outage on its 4G network that has left millions of mobile subscribers without access to data services

• December 05, 2018 05 Dec'18

  BT moves to strip Huawei kit from EE’s network

  Telco will remove Huawei’s networking equipment from the core of EE’s 4G mobile network

• December 04, 2018 04 Dec'18

  As commercial 5G nears, small cells generate interest

  Interest in small cells as an element of commercial 5G mobile networks is growing, particularly in countries with supportive regulatory environments. Meanwhile, a UK trial of wholesale small cell infrastructure has kicked off in London

• November 27, 2018 27 Nov'18

  Billions missing out on digital society as internet use soars

  As global internet usage continues to soar, billions of people around the world are missing out on the potential benefits of getting online, according to Cisco

• November 27, 2018 27 Nov'18

  Poor Wi-Fi connectivity damaging to home life, say UK consumers

  A study for BT has revealed a substantial proportion of UK families feel they are being let down by poor in-home Wi-Fi networks

• November 27, 2018 27 Nov'18

  Openreach extends Gfast roll-out to a million more homes

  Copper-based ultrafast broadband roll-out continues at pace

• November 23, 2018 23 Nov'18

  O2 and Nokia partner up on 5G-focused Massive MIMO trial in London

  Mobile network operator O2 is carrying out an investigative trial involving Massive MIMO technology in Kings Cross and Marble Arch, London to ascertain how best to ready its network for an uptick in 5G-induced data usage

• November 16, 2018 16 Nov'18

  EE and Virgin Media fined for breaking consumer protection rules

  Ofcom has imposed fines totalling £13.3m on EE and Virgin Media, saying both providers levied excessive charges on customers who ended their contracts early

• November 13, 2018 13 Nov'18

  Broadband voucher scheme to end early thanks to high demand

  The government has urged small business owners to consider signing up for its ultrafast broadband connection voucher scheme before the available funding runs out

• November 13, 2018 13 Nov'18

  5G will unleash digital transformation for UK enterprises

  Mobile operator EE is working hand-in-hand with its largest enterprise customers to realise the potential of its future 5G mobile network

• November 12, 2018 12 Nov'18

  Government considering dedicated internet regulator, says digital minister

  An upcoming white paper is likely to set out proposals for an internet regulator, a House of Lords committee has been told

• November 08, 2018 08 Nov'18

  Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital has capacity to spare after HSCN upgrade

  University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is unleashing the potential of digital for health after fixing up its internet connectivity with an upgrade to the new Health and Social Care Network

• November 07, 2018 07 Nov'18

  Openreach increasing use of drones to help build fibre networks

  Openreach plans to make greater use of drones to help it bring broadband to remote rural properties it could not previously touch

• November 07, 2018 07 Nov'18

  5G mobile masts bring installation challenges, EE finds

  EE has switched on a fixed wireless access network in central London to test elements of its future 5G mobile service, but faced some challenges setting it up

• November 07, 2018 07 Nov'18

  Investment fund buys into broadband supplier Hyperoptic

  Mubadala Investment Company, the VC arm of the government of Abu Dhabi, is to acquire a minority stake in full-fibre broadband supplier Hyperoptic as the firm brings forward its roll-out

• November 06, 2018 06 Nov'18

  Smart Dubai platform is the backbone of the city's transformation

  Aisha bin Bishr, director general at Smart Dubai Office, talks about the Smart Data platform and soon-to-be-unveiled UAE Pass, a digital ID and signature which is being touted as one of the foundations a city needs to transform

• November 06, 2018 06 Nov'18

  GSMA urges fresh action on 5G mobile spectrum

  Mobile industry body says time is running out to ready enough radio frequency spectrum in the appropriate bands to account for the demands of 5G mobile networks

• November 05, 2018 05 Nov'18

  Openreach launches Fibre First programme in Belfast and Nottingham

  Openreach has named Belfast and Nottingham as the latest cities to benefit from a full-fibre broadband roll-out

• November 05, 2018 05 Nov'18

  TalkTalk makes ‘fair broadband’ promises

  TalkTalk has launched its own Fairer Broadband Charter as research reveals widespread dissatisfaction with some common industry practices

• November 02, 2018 02 Nov'18

  Ofcom has another go at liberalising duct and pole access

  Telecoms regulator is making a new attempt to establish better access to BT’s duct and pole infrastructure for communication services providers

• November 02, 2018 02 Nov'18

  BT makes progress with Global Services restructuring

  Telco sets out plan to get its troubled Global Services business unit fighting fit

• November 01, 2018 01 Nov'18

  Three introduces 4G+ at 2,700 sites

  Mobile operator Three hopes to boost average mobile data speeds by up to 33% through carrier aggregation

• October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18

  Hyperoptic full-fibre network hits public housing milestone

  More than 150,000 publicly owned homes have now been connected to Hyperoptic’s ultrafast fibre broadband network

• October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18

  Ofcom releases BT from 2005 Openreach undertakings

  Following the legal split of the two organisations, telecoms regulator Ofcom has formally ‘released’ BT from the 2005 undertakings set up to manage the Openreach infrastructure business

• October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18

  Budget 2018: No great leap forward for broadband, but no need to panic

  The chancellor set aside £1.6bn for digital technology in the Budget, but broadband services did not draw much attention. Is this a surprise, or a reflection of growing commercial investment in full-fibre, and what should the role of government be?

• October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18

  Government consults on full-fibre for tenants, new-build homes

  Proposed legislation would compel landlords and property developers to offer full-fibre broadband to tenants and customers

• October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18

  O2 extends rural 4G network to 339 communities

  O2 has extended its rural network roll-out, targeting over 300 small communities all over the UK

• October 26, 2018 26 Oct'18

  NGA secures £22m for Bristol-Newport fibre link

  Ultrafast wholesale network builder Nextgenaccess has been awarded funding from the National Digital Infrastructure Fund to improve connectivity in South Wales

• October 26, 2018 26 Oct'18

  Openreach slashes cost of full-fibre to new-build homes

  Property developers will receive a 75% discount on the cost of full-fibre installation

• October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18

  Vodafone claims UK 5G first

  Mobile network operator Vodafone claims the activation of a trial site in Manchester marks the first time mobile data traffic has been streamed to and from the internet exclusively over 5G technology

• October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18

  BT picks fintech leader to succeed Gavin Patterson

  BT has named Philip Jansen, current co-chief executive of global payments services group Worldpay, as the successor to outgoing chief executive Gavin Patterson

• October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18

  CityFibre backers pump £2.5bn into full-fibre broadband

  Network expansion will add 27 towns and cities to CityFibre’s current roll-out to 10 locations in support of a consumer full-fibre service delivered by Vodafone

• October 19, 2018 19 Oct'18

  Competition, not consumer demand, is driving full-fibre roll-out

  Market competition among telecoms operators, not consumer demand, appears to be driving the trend towards ultrafast full-fibre broadband roll-out in Europe

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  Drivers have dangerous misconceptions about self-driving cars

  People seem to be confused about the difference between autonomous and assisted driving technology, with worrying implications for road safety, says Thatcham Research

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  Middle East gears up for 5G

  The race for 5G is well and truly under way, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia are well positioned to be among the first countries in the world to deliver the benefits of this new telecoms protocol

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  Home Office ‘seriously’ considered ESN shutdown

  New disclosures from those responsible for the troubled Emergency Services Network project have revealed that, contrary to previous denials, the Home Office came close to pulling the plug earlier this year

• October 17, 2018 17 Oct'18

  UCaaS supports British Medical Journal’s cloud-first ambitions

  With a growing global business and a CIO intent on doing everything in the cloud, the British Medical Journal turned to unified communications-as-a-service provider RingCentral to make its comms infrastructure fit for the cloud era

• October 16, 2018 16 Oct'18

  Commuter trains may need over 3Gbps of mobile data capacity by 2025

  Ofcom has set out its vision of what will need to be done to meet the government’s goals around data connectivity on the UK’s rail network

• October 09, 2018 09 Oct'18

  Access to full-fibre broadband continues to expand under Vodafone-CityFibre partnership

  Customers in three more towns and cities will soon be able to access ultrafast fibre-to-the-premises broadband service

• October 05, 2018 05 Oct'18

  EE switches on 5G test network at Canary Wharf

  MNO explores high-capacity zone testing for its 5G network roll-out, with the first phase expected to target hotspots such as London’s Canary Wharf

• October 02, 2018 02 Oct'18

  Technology shouldn’t leave anyone behind, says Jeremy Wright

  DCMS secretary of state highlights investment in 5G and superfast broadband, and says no one should be left behind by technology

• October 02, 2018 02 Oct'18

  Openreach extends full-fibre broadband roll-out to Coventry

  Openreach is forging ahead with its Fibre First full-fibre broadband programme and has started to roll out ultrafast services in Coventry

• October 02, 2018 02 Oct'18

  Full-fibre broadband penetration reaches 5%

  The number of UK properties able to access a full-fibre broadband connection has hit a small but significant milestone, according to Ofcom

• September 30, 2018 30 Sep'18

  Openreach completes largest Tupe transfer in history

  More than 30,000 BT employees have transferred across to the quasi-independent Openreach, completing what is thought to be the largest one-off Tupe transfer in history

• September 28, 2018 28 Sep'18

  Citizens Advice makes super-complaint over rip-off phone charges

  Citizens Advice is calling for a fair deal for consumers that it claims are being ripped off by out-of-contract charges by communications services providers and the financial services industry

• September 28, 2018 28 Sep'18

  Brighton’s 5G experiment enters new test phase with focus on virtual reality

  The latest phase of the Digital Catapult’s 5G mobile network testbed in Brighton has begun, with digital businesses from across Sussex taking part in trials of augmented, mixed and virtual reality technology

• September 27, 2018 27 Sep'18

  Network growth brings management challenges

  As enterprise networks grow, so do the challenges of managing them effectively, says a report compiled by Oracle’s communications unit

• September 26, 2018 26 Sep'18

  Rural business bodies seal new broadband agreement

  The Country Land and Business Association and the National Farmers’ Union have reached an agreement with Openreach to put new wayleave arrangements in place for broadband network builds

• September 25, 2018 25 Sep'18

  Indigo subsea cable lands in Perth

  Cable system will utilise new spectrum sharing technology, so each consortium member can take advantage of technology advancements to support growing demand for bandwidth

• September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18

  Phased roll-out of ESN to start in early 2019

  The government will adopt a phased approach to the roll-out of the new emergency services 4G communications network

• September 20, 2018 20 Sep'18

  Rural areas will be among the first to get Vodafone 5G

  Parts of Cornwall and Cumbria will be among the first locations to get access to Vodafone’s 5G mobile network when it launches in 2019

• September 18, 2018 18 Sep'18

  EU needs clear 5G regulation to guarantee mobile success

  The mobile ecosystem could be worth more than 4% of European GDP by 2022, if the right regulatory actions are taken by the European Union government

• September 17, 2018 17 Sep'18

  ESN delays are leaching vital funds from UK police forces

  Ongoing delays to the Emergency Services Network roll-out are costing the UK taxpayer £330m a year, according to the National Audit Office

• September 13, 2018 13 Sep'18

  No Deal Brexit could mean changes for telecoms industry and mobile roaming

  No Deal Brexit planning guidance documents say there could be changes to the UK electronic communications regulatory framework, and sets EU mobile roaming cap at £45 per month

• September 13, 2018 13 Sep'18

  GCHQ mass surveillance regime was in breach of human rights law, European court rules

  The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that the UK’s collection of bulk interception of communications data lacked adequate oversight and safeguards and was in breach of human rights law

• September 13, 2018 13 Sep'18

  EU mobile roaming charges will not return post-Brexit, says Dominic Raab

  Amid fears that a no-deal Brexit could lead to the reintroduction of EU mobile roaming charges, the government has pledged to set a legislative limit on how much operators can charge

• September 10, 2018 10 Sep'18

  Keppel, Salim Group to build new datacentre in Indonesia

  The facility located on the outskirts of Jakarta is a response to the growing demand for connectivity and data services in Indonesia’s fast-growing digital economy

• September 05, 2018 05 Sep'18

  Nordic states collaborate in Arctic IT projects

  Nordic countries are working together to introduce advanced communications networks in the most isolated Northerly regions

• September 04, 2018 04 Sep'18

  Government confirms West Midlands to become home to UK's first large-scale 5G test bed

  The government has confirmed the West Midlands will be used to carry out the UK's first large-scale test of 5G technology, with trials centred on its use in the health, construction and automotive sectors

• September 03, 2018 03 Sep'18

  NHS organisations in south-east England choose BT for HSCN

  BT will provide broadband services over the Health and Social Care Network to 24 NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in the south-east of England

• August 29, 2018 29 Aug'18

  DCMS has £95m for full-fibre in final round of LFFN scheme

  The government has announced the third and final round of the Local Full Fibre Network Challenge Fund, with £95m remaining to invest in local ultrafast broadband projects

• August 28, 2018 28 Aug'18

  Brussels loans Nokia €500m to fund European 5G research

  European Investment Bank is loaning Nokia half a billion euros to accelerate 5G mobile network R&D

• August 23, 2018 23 Aug'18

  No Deal Brexit papers warn of stark future for UK tech

  The government has published the first of its No Deal Brexit contingency planning notices, containing sobering messages for the UK technology industry

• August 23, 2018 23 Aug'18

  KT shows off 5G’s potential at Asian Games

  The South Korean telecoms bigwig is showcasing a host of 5G applications at the Asian Games in the run up to the commercial launch of its 5G network next year

• August 21, 2018 21 Aug'18

  Windfarm benefit fund helps pay for full-fibre broadband

  A number of communities in the Highlands are using benefit funds established by a local windfarm provider to pay for full-fibre broadband services

• August 20, 2018 20 Aug'18

  Fibre cable break takes Gatwick flight information screens offline

  A broken fibre-optic cable has taken Gatwick Airport’s flight information screens offline, with airport staff forced to use whiteboards to provide information to passengers