News

Telecoms networks and broadband communications

• March 26, 2019 26 Mar'19

  BT switches on quantum network link at Adastral Park

  BT has opened its quantum network link between its Adastral Park research base and the UK Quantum Network node at the University of Cambridge

• March 25, 2019 25 Mar'19

  Full-fibre broadband startup toob gets £75m funding round

  Broadband startup toob has received a £75m funding injection to begin a full-fibre roll-out

• March 25, 2019 25 Mar'19

  UK’s largest broadband suppliers failing on customer service

  Consumers say they’re unimpressed with BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media, and fast-growing Vodafone has seen its customer satisfaction levels slump

• March 22, 2019 22 Mar'19

  UK government at odds over Huawei threat

  The chair of the Science and Technology Committee has criticised the government’s vague response to concerns about Huawei’s activities in the UK

• March 21, 2019 21 Mar'19

  Towards a full-fibre Britain: the view from inside Openreach

  Openreach chairman Mike McTighe discusses progress on the national full-fibre broadband roll-out, the impact of Brexit, how to better engage with the CSP community, and why dark fibre isn’t the cure-all they might want it to be

• March 21, 2019 21 Mar'19

  Openreach calls on CSPs to help formulate full-fibre strategy

  Openreach has opened a six-week consultation seeking views from the industry on how best to upgrade consumers to full-fibre broadband

• March 20, 2019 20 Mar'19

  Colt picks Cisco to simplify 5G backhaul services

  Colt is to deploy Cisco’s segment routing and Ethernet VPN-based architecture on its IQ Network for mobile operators

• March 20, 2019 20 Mar'19

  Network Homes signs Hyperoptic broadband deal

  Expansion of Hyperoptic’s ultrafast network targets 20,000 properties in London and the south east

• March 20, 2019 20 Mar'19

  Bournemouth and Northampton next in line for CityFibre broadband upgrade

  A £75m investment will see thousands of residential properties hooked up to full-fibre broadband services

• March 19, 2019 19 Mar'19

  Salisbury to get ‘universal’ full-fibre broadband

  Every residential and business property in Salisbury will be able to access full-fibre broadband in 12 months, claims Openreach

• March 13, 2019 13 Mar'19

  Shetlands get broadband upgrade to support local NHS services

  Shetland Islands Council is to receive £1.91m of funding to expand full-fibre broadband expansion to NHS sites on remote islands through the government’s Local Full-Fibre Networks initiative

• March 12, 2019 12 Mar'19

  Openreach exploring options for copper network shutdown

  Openreach has begun to assess how and when it might be able to shut down its copper broadband network

• March 09, 2019 09 Mar'19

  Malaysia takes broad base approach to 5G security

  The country’s telco regulator is taking a industry-wide look at security implications of 5G, preferring not to target any particular supplier

• March 07, 2019 07 Mar'19

  Vodafone defends its use of Huawei as 5G trials go live

  As Vodafone begins trials of a live 5G service in Bristol, Cardiff and Liverpool, the operator’s CTO and general counsel have defended their use of Huawei equipment in Vodafone’s network and challenged its detractors to produce evidence of spying

• March 07, 2019 07 Mar'19

  US government ban unconstitutional, says Huawei

  Huawei’s lawsuit accuses Washington of violating the US Constitution by banning it from government contracts

• March 05, 2019 05 Mar'19

  US doubles down on Huawei fears as Chinese prepare to sue

  US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has reinforced his attacks on Huawei as the firm apparently prepares to sue the US government over its federal-level ban

• March 04, 2019 04 Mar'19

  Australia ramps up on 5G – telcos and banks among the first to benefit

  Australia has been touted as a leader in 5G, although the promises of the technology supporting the use of autonomous vehicles will not be realised for now

• March 04, 2019 04 Mar'19

  UK among most expensive countries for mobile data

  The UK ranks 136th in the world for the average cost of 1GB of mobile data, according to new statistics

• March 04, 2019 04 Mar'19

  Fresh data analytics tool slashes Openreach’s Ethernet delivery times

  Openreach discusses its work with analytics partner Qlik, which is giving its teams new insights into Ethernet and enterprise fibre network service delivery data, and says it has seen significant service improvements in doing so

• March 01, 2019 01 Mar'19

  New broadband speed regulations come into force

  Internet service providers must now tell consumers how fast their broadband service will be before they sign a contract, under new Ofcom rules

• February 27, 2019 27 Feb'19

  China Mobile and Singtel team up on IoT

  Two major telcos in the APAC region, China Mobile and Singtel, are working together to help enterprises deploy the internet of things across China and Singapore

• February 26, 2019 26 Feb'19

  MWC 2019: 5G driving telcos into the cloud, says VMware CEO

  At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger explained how the requirements of 5G mobile networks are helping to push more telcos into the organisation’s arms

• February 26, 2019 26 Feb'19

  Over 100 rural primary schools to get gigabit broadband

  Primary schools could become high-speed broadband hubs for rural communities if government plans reach fruition

• February 25, 2019 25 Feb'19

  Australia, Singapore say hello to 5G

  Singtel and its Australian subsidiary Optus have made one of the first 5G video calls in the Asia-Pacific region

• February 22, 2019 22 Feb'19

  US may cut off countries that use Huawei in 5G networks

  US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said America may scale back or cut military and diplomatic ties with countries that use Huawei equipment in national 5G networks

• February 22, 2019 22 Feb'19

  Government not doing enough to address mobile not-spots

  The National Infrastructure Commission has criticised the government for a lack of progress in addressing mobile network not-spots, particularly along key road and rail links

• February 22, 2019 22 Feb'19

  IT Priorities 2019: Security concerns top agenda for network buyers again

  The ability to gain visibility into what is happening on enterprise networks has once again topped the agenda for network managers and buyers, according to the latest Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities survey

• February 21, 2019 21 Feb'19

  MWC 2019: O2 to launch 5G by Christmas

  Ahead of Mobile World Congress, operator O2 has revealed further details of how it is planning for the advent of 5G

• February 20, 2019 20 Feb'19

  MWC 2019: 5G smartphones go live on Vodafone network

  Vodafone has connected three 5G-enabled smartphones to a live network during trials in Spain

• February 20, 2019 20 Feb'19

  MWC 2019: Huawei claims massive lead on 5G readiness

  At a pre-Mobile World Congress event in London, Huawei’s Ryan Ding shared details of the firm’s rapidly expanding 5G mobile portfolio, and laid into his competitors

• February 20, 2019 20 Feb'19

  Huawei faces battle to win Nordic trust

  Nordic countries are investigating the spying allegations made against Chinese networking supplier Huiawei

• February 20, 2019 20 Feb'19

  UK naïve to think China won’t try to exploit Huawei

  A think-tank report has branded the UK government naïve at best, irresponsible at worst, over its use of Chinese networking equipment in critical national infrastructure

• February 19, 2019 19 Feb'19

  MWC 2019: 5G in Europe driven by industrial automation, says Ericsson

  As Mobile World Congress 2019 nears, Sweden’s Ericsson has been expanding, and expounding upon, its plans for 5G mobile networks

• February 19, 2019 19 Feb'19

  Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei: US won’t crush us

  Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei has taken a more combative stance in the ongoing row over the firm’s alleged links to the Chinese intelligence services

• February 18, 2019 18 Feb'19

  NCSC signals UK may take softer line on Huawei

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre suggests Huawei will be allowed to form core elements of the country’s 5G mobile network infrastructure after all

• February 14, 2019 14 Feb'19

  Central Saint Martins hosts Three’s 5G trial for London Fashion Week

  Three’s trial 5G network will enable the world’s first augmented reality fashion show at Central Saint Martins, while consumers can test out a prototype network at its flagship store

• February 14, 2019 14 Feb'19

  Satellite broadband secures Cornish observatory a brighter future

  The Tolcarn Observatory near St Austell in Cornwall is putting its money where its mouth is and using satellite broadband to enhance its research work and educational outreach

• February 14, 2019 14 Feb'19

  Apple Business Chat powers Npower’s smart meter switch

  Energy supplier is using Apple Business Chat to help users through the process of switching onto new smart gas and electricity meters

• February 11, 2019 11 Feb'19

  Vodafone announces winners of Techstarter accelerator

  Vodafone has announced the winners of its startup accelerator programme, aimed at helping young companies developing technology for social good

• February 08, 2019 08 Feb'19

  Brexit is killing full-fibre broadband and 5G roll-outs, says CBI

  A CBI report has warned that Brexit is “sucking the oxygen” out of digital priorities such as full-fibre broadband roll-out and 5G mobile network deployment

• February 07, 2019 07 Feb'19

  Nordic region primed to pioneer 5G

  The Nordic region could pioneer the commercial use of 5G, with Finland and Sweden hotbeds for the technology

• February 07, 2019 07 Feb'19

  Government legislates to bring back roaming charges in no-deal Brexit

  All four UK operators have said they have no plans to reintroduce roaming charges, but EE, O2 and Vodafone have not committed themselves not to do so

• February 06, 2019 06 Feb'19

  Huawei: We are not spying on the UK

  Huawei’s Ryan Ding tells the British government that the company has never, and will never, use its technology to assist the Chinese intelligence services

• February 06, 2019 06 Feb'19

  Virgin Media tests 8Gbps home broadband service

  Fifty residents of Papworth, Cambridgeshire, are trialling an 8Gbps FTTP broadband service using existing fibre infrastructure

• February 06, 2019 06 Feb'19

  Suffolk County Council awards 20-year WAN contract

  MLL Telecom will work with CityFibre to extend Suffolk County Council’s existing WAN to 600 sites and offer them ultrafast connectivity services

• February 01, 2019 01 Feb'19

  BT stockpiles networking kit for no-deal Brexit as Patterson exits

  Outgoing BT boss Gavin Patterson shared some details on the company’s contingency planning for a feared no-deal Brexit as chief executive Philip Jansen formally takes charge of the business

• January 29, 2019 29 Jan'19

  How digital indoor systems can bolster ASEAN’s 5G networks

  Digital indoor systems, already being used at airports and subway systems, will help telcos monetise new digital services on 5G networks

• 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