News

Telecoms networks and broadband communications

May 18, 2020 18 May'20
Worldwide comms services industry projected to take limited hit from Covid-19

Coronavirus pandemic has changed some trends in the global telecom services market, but operators have adapted quickly and temporarily pushed aside some earlier priorities, says IDC
May 15, 2020 15 May'20
BT reported to be in talks to sell off Openreach to fund full-fibre roll-out

Report suggests Openreach sale could raise £20bn as BT announces £12bn build programme to extend FTTP network
May 15, 2020 15 May'20
Covid-19: NHS reveals comms network strain as virus spread

Patients hit the web and phone lines for coronavirus assessments, with demand peaking as lockdown was announced, says health service
May 14, 2020 14 May'20
US maintains ban on Chinese tech firms as Huawei, ZTE make 5G leaps

White House extends executive order that effectively bans US companies from using comms equipment made by firms posing a national security risk, while Huawei and ZTE reveal new 5G advances

May 14, 2020 14 May'20
Vodafone aids Covid-19 fight with added capacity for NHS Scotland, and introduces IoT thermal camera

Comms tech to the fore in assisting key workers at temporary coronavirus facility in Glasgow, while heat detection camera combining thermal imaging and IoT capability will help facilitate people’s return to work
May 14, 2020 14 May'20
SK Telecom brings quantum security to the masses

The South Korean telco is readying the world’s first 5G smartphone equipped with a quantum random number generator chipset
May 13, 2020 13 May'20
Telcos’ enterprise ambitions at risk from private network operators, private spectrum

Research finds a rising number of spectrum initiatives underpinning strong momentum for private cellular networks within enterprises
May 13, 2020 13 May'20
Comms tech firms eye partnership opportunities with provider community

In latest example of growing trend, Virgin Media Business signs strategic partnership with integrated cloud communications platform to extend voice and unified communications portfolio
May 13, 2020 13 May'20
European comms bodies set up standards group, call for vigilance on contact-tracing apps

New ETSI group will develop standardisation framework for secure smartphone-based proximity tracing systems, helping to break Covid-19 transmission chains
May 12, 2020 12 May'20
Vodafone shrugs Virgin move as it posts steady financial year

UK operator claims to have defied the odds and bucked the market in last financial year but warns of impact of Covid-19 on business

May 12, 2020 12 May'20
Details released of second UK contact-tracing app development

Contractual documents show Zuhlke Engineering receiving an official start date of 6 May to supply a managed delivery team to support and run proximity mobile application and services for the UK
May 11, 2020 11 May'20
Ericsson bullish on 5G despite Covid-19

Comms tech company’s chief highlights the importance of connectivity during times of crisis and unprecedented surge in network traffic
May 11, 2020 11 May'20
Contact-tracing app hits teething troubles as minister confirms changes could be made

UK contact-tracing saga continues as UK government releases details of impact assessment on the app and admits that adaptations and even total change in form are not off the table
May 11, 2020 11 May'20
Coronavirus: SMEs in the UAE forced to digitally transform

The UAE, like the rest of the world, continues to be heavily impacted by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, and technology is helping to lead the fight
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
UK said to be on verge of major technology shift for Covid-19 contact-tracing app

Technology community awash with reports of potential sea change in much-publicised and much-criticised app away from controversial centralised database
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
BT claims positives amid challenging fiscal year

BT reports tough 2019/20, leading to major restructuring plan to go forward to meet major fibre-to-the-premises targets
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
UK comms market set for shake-up as O2 and Virgin Media confirm merger

Coming-together of leading fixed-mobile provider and cable network provider will create genuine competition to BT/EE
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
Brits expected to call time on office life after lockdown

O2 Business study reveals currently displaced workers see a permanent change to their company’s approach to flexible working
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
Industry 4.0 transformation reaches communications inflection point

Survey finds huge potential for investment in advance 4G and 5G technology among industrial organisations
May 06, 2020 06 May'20
UK comms experts continue to question contact-tracing app

Academics and comms industry experts challenge UK government scientists on their defence of NHS contact-tracing app, in particular the issue of centralised data gathering
May 06, 2020 06 May'20
Telcos lose out in early enterprise 5G business

Research reveals that industries and enterprises are ready to reap the benefits of 5G, but warns that service providers need to learn how to satisfy this demand
May 05, 2020 05 May'20
Singapore to test 5G in Industry 4.0 trial

Trial, spearheaded by IMDA, IBM, Samsung and M1, will test the use of 5G, along with AI and IoT technologies, in manufacturing
May 05, 2020 05 May'20
T-Mobile US claims ‘significant’ 5G standalone architecture firsts

US operator partners with comms technology leaders to achieve world’s first milestones for standalone architecture 5G
May 05, 2020 05 May'20
UK contact-tracing app developers hit back at effectiveness and privacy doubts

Pre-eminent scientists continue to defend NHS contact-tracing app from criticism of its effectiveness and the use of centralised data gathering
May 04, 2020 04 May'20
SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom form joint venture to combat coronavirus

Telecoms giants extend working relationship to expand global 5G ecosystem by accelerating 5G deployment in Europe and exchange their respective technological expertise once the situation with Covid-19 improves
May 04, 2020 04 May'20
No silver bullets and ‘bumps in the road’ likely but UK contact-tracing app development gathers pace

UK scientific experts address doubts on contact-tracing app’s effectiveness, particular regarding data privacy, but admit that its nature may have to evolve as the roll-out scales up
May 04, 2020 04 May'20
Research institutes warn of necessity for UK contact-tracing app to link to testing

BCS and Cass Business School call for proposed UK contact-tracing app not to be launched without alignment to testing and warns that without this link, NHS will not be able to “big data” its way out of “no data” situation
May 01, 2020 01 May'20
5G on the ropes as Covid-19 set to land $51bn blow on global mobile services industry

Research predicts mobile revenue will drop 4.1% worldwide because of pandemic, with European operators taking a particular heavy hit
May 01, 2020 01 May'20
Pre-owned device values stay strong amidst coronavirus pandemic

More than half a billion dollars returned to US consumers in Q1 2020 as used and new mobile device markets stabilise after Covid-19 disruption
April 30, 2020 30 Apr'20
Stark digital divide in US internet speed amid Covid-19 crisis

Over a fifth of connections in lower income brackets in the US do not have ‘acceptable’ internet performance for work and school during the coronavirus lockdown, but ISPs’ expansion of available bandwidth for these communities noticeably improves ...
April 30, 2020 30 Apr'20
Coronavirus: Young employees struggle with remote working

Communications tools identified as key pain point and hindering productivity for young UK workers
April 29, 2020 29 Apr'20
IMDA to issue 5G spectrum to Singtel and StarHub-M1 venture

Singapore’s telco regulator will award 5G spectrum to major operators whose proposals have exceeded its requirements in some cases
April 29, 2020 29 Apr'20
IT Priorities 2020: SD-WAN soars as collaboration and communications no longer on back burner

At the start of the year, networking professionals looked likely to invest in monitoring, converged architectures and WAN technologies, while unified communications was in decline and collaboration of minimal interest
April 29, 2020 29 Apr'20
Nokia closes capacity and customer experience tech deal with Bharti Airtel

Third-largest telco in the world’s second-largest telecoms market takes up Nokia Single Radio Access Network to enhance capacity and improve 5G readiness
April 28, 2020 28 Apr'20
Ericsson scores further 5G RAN win with True Corporation Thailand

Thai comms operator engages the Swedish technology provider to enable smooth, fast and cost-effective 5G network evolution in three regions
April 28, 2020 28 Apr'20
Adtran initiates software-defined access network project, advances the smart home experience

Partnerships with Orange and Plume will evaluate and test SDN-based programming for next-gen fibre access networks, and boost customer experience management of Wi-Fi-enabled services
April 28, 2020 28 Apr'20
APAC edge computing market set to grow

China and Japan will account for the lion’s share of Asia-Pacific’s edge computing market as more organisations in the region look to streamline processes and improve productivity
April 27, 2020 27 Apr'20
Potential near £70bn boost to British economy from gigabit broadband

Research shows that delivering ‘Gigabit Britain’ could provide over £50bn gross value added to the economy in five years, growing to £68.8bn in 2030, but suppliers warn that more must be done to turn broadband ambition into reality
April 24, 2020 24 Apr'20
Wireless stakeholders cheer ‘historic’ FCC Wi-Fi 6GHz spectrum allocation decision

US broadcast and telecoms regulator confirms proposal lauded as a milestone moment that will no less than supercharge connectivity
April 24, 2020 24 Apr'20
European fibre roll-outs speed up

European fibre-to-the-home and fibre-to-the-building coverage maintains a positive growth trend, with subscribers increasing by 15% since September 2018
April 23, 2020 23 Apr'20
Coronavirus: RAF flies in for UK contact tracing app test

NHS announces test at air base of app designed to alert users of the close proximity of those carrying or having symptoms of Covid-19
April 23, 2020 23 Apr'20
Public authorities set to receive expanded surveillance powers

UK government wants to extend the number of public authorities able to obtain communications data using mass surveillance
April 23, 2020 23 Apr'20
ABB Power plugs into Ericsson 5G tech to increase factory productivity

Ericsson gears up for the post-coronavirus world with confidence in 5G and reveals project for its 5G-ready Industry Connect with global leader in power technology
April 23, 2020 23 Apr'20
Coronavirus: Surge in Wi-Fi upload traffic shows need for advanced Wi-Fi adoption

Prolonged home working will see home networks, based on older Wi-Fi technologies rather than the likes of Wi-Fi 6, put under intolerable strain, warns analyst
April 22, 2020 22 Apr'20
Cisco, Google Cloud plan application-centric multicloud networking fabric

Tech giants unite to address current systems’ perceived lack of capability to signal service level requests dynamically and offer full WAN application integration with cloud workloads
April 22, 2020 22 Apr'20
Application performance for remote workers becomes primary network issue for businesses

When it comes to WAN, cost diminishes in importance, while dealing with complexity increases, as more firms spread reach to more locations
April 22, 2020 22 Apr'20
Coronavirus: German networks take the extra strain from social distancing

Network performance and customer experience monitoring firm finds German networks coping with masses of online home users despite some degradations since the start of social distancing and stay-at-home policies
April 21, 2020 21 Apr'20
Covid-19 outbreak sees first-quarter revenues flatten for Huawei

Chinese networking mega-firm endures tough first quarter, but pledges that it will ride out the coronavirus storm
April 21, 2020 21 Apr'20
Collaboration and communications get richer as Covid-19 ushers in new working reality

Covid-19 lockdowns bring about collective rethink in the way we work, with remote video becoming normalised and a potential change in the way effectiveness is measured
April 20, 2020 20 Apr'20
INCA: UK gigabit broadband progress more important than ever

Trade body for independent network providers calls for progress toward the delivery of ultrafast broadband to all parts of the UK to continue despite the current Covid-19 lockdown conditions