News

Internet infrastructure

• 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 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 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

  Openreach extends Gfast roll-out to a million more homes

  Copper-based ultrafast broadband roll-out continues at pace

• November 19, 2018 19 Nov'18

  Top IT predictions in APAC in 2019

  Edge computing, data management and microservices will play a bigger role in the Asia-Pacific region in 2019 as enterprises reshape their technology architectures to become ‘digitally determined’ organisations

• 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 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 07, 2018 07 Nov'18

  Lloyds Banking Group shaking up its workforce to reflect digital times

  Lloyds Banking Group is revamping the roles of thousands of staff as it becomes digital

• 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

  Hammond’s digital services tax is a big risk, say experts

  The tech industry is not impressed with the chancellor’s plan to tax web giants, saying it can stifle innovation, while tax lawyers warn that it is a very risky move that could lead to US retaliation

• 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

  Nordic banks target SME customers with fintech services

  Traditional Nordic banks are slimming down workforces as they turn increasingly to technology-based service delivery, and some are linking up with small fintech companies to deliver online products.

• 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 24, 2018 24 Oct'18

  SMEs use fintech in fight against online giants, but fears remain

  Online SMEs are turning to financial technology to help them make payment processes easy for customers as they try to compete with online giants

• October 19, 2018 19 Oct'18

  Russians using less cash after accelerated use of electronic payments

  Russians are increasingly using electronic payments rather than cash, a recent study by Sberbank has found

• 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 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 16, 2018 16 Oct'18

  UK faces 10 cyber attacks a week as hostile states step up hacking, says NCSC

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has thwarted more than 1,600 attacks over the past two years – many by hostile nation states

• 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

  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

  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 28, 2018 28 Sep'18

  Finland’s e-retail sector driven by international growth

  Finland has a fast-growing e-retail industry as a positive consequence of the huge job cuts at Nokia

• 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

  MI5 admits to ‘unlawful’ spying on Privacy International

  The UK's intelligence agencies acted unlawfully by intercepting communications data on NGO, Privacy International, the UK's most secret court ruled.

• 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 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 20, 2018 20 Sep'18

  Asda outsources app development to support digital future

  Supermarket chain Asda is outsourcing its application development to HCL to access and build skills and experience in agile development methods

• September 19, 2018 19 Sep'18

  EU-backed bid to cap idle energy use by datacentre servers moves closer

  Move to improve the energy efficiency of datacentres by capping idle energy use by servers by 2020 comes one step closer, despite opposition from IBM, HPE and Dell-EMC

• September 19, 2018 19 Sep'18

  Santander plans UK tech hub in Milton Keynes

  Santander is opening a UK tech hub in Milton Keynes that will have 5,000 staff

• September 19, 2018 19 Sep'18

  BMW innovation lab bears fruit with insurtech deal

  BMW has struck a deal with one of the tech startups that participated in its innovation incubator

• 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 17, 2018 17 Sep'18

  Middle East hungry for digitisation, says GE’s Bill Ruh

  The Middle East is among the most enthusiastic regions in terms of applying digital business models to traditional industries

• 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

  Autumn Budget 2018: Guarantees sought over future funding of national quantum computing programme

  The chair of the Science and Tech Committee has written to the chancellor Philip Hammond to demand assurances that more funding for the UK's quantum computing efforts will be forthcoming in the Autumn 2018 budget

• September 12, 2018 12 Sep'18

  Gartner claims pure-play IaaS providers could be sidelined as enterprise attitudes to cloud mature

  Gartner's latest public cloud services market tracker shows demand for IaaS is booming among enterprises, but providers whose cloud proposition does not feature a PaaS component may lose out in future

• 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

  The fintech startups to watch in the UK

  Tech Nation’s choice of fintech companies to back reflects the changes expected to hit financial services IT

• 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 29, 2018 29 Aug'18

  IT leaders at a crossroads as they grapple with digital technology

  CIOs have the opportunity to influence their company strategy as digital technology reshapes business. A survey of CIOs across 70 countries charts a path for IT leaders through emerging technologies

• 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

• August 20, 2018 20 Aug'18

  Superfast broadband brings £9bn extra turnover for UK SMEs

  Local businesses in areas covered by the government’s superfast broadband roll-out are making more money than ever before, according to a report

• August 16, 2018 16 Aug'18

  New broadband network builder British Fibre Networks starts roll-out

  Recently established full-fibre broadband network builder BFN has ambitions to connect new-build homes to ultrafast services

• August 14, 2018 14 Aug'18

  Scottish property developer picks Hyperoptic full-fibre broadband

  New-build developments in Glasgow set to receive gigabit full-fibre broadband connections

• August 13, 2018 13 Aug'18

  EE best for UK mobile performance, study finds

  Users of EE’s 4G mobile network receive the best overall experience in the UK, according to RootMetrics’ latest study

• August 08, 2018 08 Aug'18

  Infinity SDC sells Here East Olympic Park datacentre to fund development of Romford facility

  The colocation provider continues to scale-back its datacentre footprint in London, with the news it has exited its much-hyped facility in the former Olympic Park in Stratford

• August 07, 2018 07 Aug'18

  In-flight Wi-Fi availability drives passenger loyalty

  A report published by Inmarsat appears to suggest that airlines which make on-board Wi-Fi more easily available are seeing more loyal customers as a result

• August 06, 2018 06 Aug'18

  Highlands and Islands broadband roll-out extended

  The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband roll-out is targeting 25,000 additional homes and businesses in the Highlands and Islands region

• August 03, 2018 03 Aug'18

  Advertised broadband speeds dropping across UK

  Since new advertising standards around broadband were introduced in May 2018, most providers have cut the speeds they advertise, or stopped making speed claims altogether

• August 03, 2018 03 Aug'18

  Hyperoptic raises £250m funding to roll out full-fibre broadband

  Broadband supplier Hyperoptic claims its latest round of funding is the largest ever single investment in the UK’s burgeoning full-fibre market

• August 02, 2018 02 Aug'18

  Three-quarters of UK adults have not heard of open banking

  Open banking will struggle to deliver what it promises unless people are made aware of its existence and what it could do for them

• August 01, 2018 01 Aug'18

  Consumers spend less cash on connectivity, but more time online

  The total amount of money consumers are spending on fixed and mobile connectivity services has fallen for the first time in five years

• August 01, 2018 01 Aug'18

  AWS revenue growth slows as competition in the global IaaS market heats up

  Gartner's latest look at the global infrastructure as a service (IaaS) market shines a light on how the great and good of the public cloud supplier community are fairing

• July 27, 2018 27 Jul'18

  Openreach doubles down on full-fibre broadband roll-out

  In its first annual review since splitting from BT, Openreach has recommitted to its targets for full-fibre broadband

• July 27, 2018 27 Jul'18

  BT bounces back in strong first quarter

  After a run of bad news, there were some bright spots in BT’s first quarter financial results

• July 26, 2018 26 Jul'18

  O2 canvasses support from UK Plc to build case for 5G

  O2 CEO Mark Evans is writing to every FTSE 100 boss in the UK seeking to build consensus around 5G use cases, and drum up support for investment

• July 26, 2018 26 Jul'18

  Google brings machine learning data processing to IoT edge environments

  Google is expanding its internet of things data processing offering by extending the ability for enterprises to carry out machine learning tasks in edge environments

• July 25, 2018 25 Jul'18

  Google Cloud gaining ground in APAC

  The cloud supplier claims substantial growth in Asia-Pacific, and is upping the ante on partnerships and infrastructure investments across the region

• July 24, 2018 24 Jul'18

  Ofcom proposes regulatory changes to support broadband investment

  Following the recommendations of the government’s Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, regulator Ofcom has proposed a package of measures to better support investment in full-fibre broadband

• July 24, 2018 24 Jul'18

  Openreach to cut wholesale broadband costs for CSP customers

  Openreach plans to introduce wide-ranging cuts to FTTC and FTTP wholesale prices to get other providers to upgrade their users to faster broadband

• July 24, 2018 24 Jul'18

  MPs call for inquiry into smart meter roll-out

  Government urged to conduct a review of the roll-out of smart meters for electricity and gas, and to intervene to tackle a number of failures

• July 24, 2018 24 Jul'18

  Alphabet shares up after better-than-expected quarter

  Shares in Google’s parent company Alphabet have risen in value after it reported quarterly revenue of $32.7bn, up 26% year on year

• July 23, 2018 23 Jul'18

  BDUK has £200m to kick-start rural full-fibre network build

  Government plans to use money from the BDUK superfast broadband programme to drive the roll-out of full-fibre broadband to underserved rural areas

• July 23, 2018 23 Jul'18

  Full-fibre broadband for all to cost £30bn

  The government has released its Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, setting the stage for the national roll-out of a full-fibre broadband network

• July 20, 2018 20 Jul'18

  Confusion reigns over value of 5G, says report

  An Analysys Mason report commissioned by the Broadband Stakeholder Group has highlighted some of the challenges facing the deployment of 5G mobile networks in the UK

• July 20, 2018 20 Jul'18

  Cisco and UCL to open AI research unit in $100m digital economy boost

  Cisco has extended its ongoing Country Digital Acceleration programme in the UK with a further $100m investment, part of which will go towards a new AI research centre

• July 19, 2018 19 Jul'18

  Orange starts 5G tests in Paris

  After successful trials in Romania, Orange begins testing 5G use cases in its home country

• July 17, 2018 17 Jul'18

  Spectrum costs hit the world’s poorest hardest

  The inflated cost of radio spectrum to support mobile network roll-out is harming the economic and social welfare of billions of the world’s poorest people, says the GSMA

• July 17, 2018 17 Jul'18

  Kcom secures second aggregate HSCN contract

  Network services provider Kcom will supply broadband connectivity over the Health and Social Care Network to 10 health organisations in the north-east of England

• July 17, 2018 17 Jul'18

  UKFast creates subsidiary to support AWS and Azure

  Hosting company UKFast offers its own private and public cloud services alongside Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure support

• July 15, 2018 15 Jul'18

  A quarter of Brits think they already have full-fibre broadband

  CityFibre research commissioned to support its campaign for more clarity in broadband advertising appears to show widespread misunderstanding of what fibre is or what it means

• July 12, 2018 12 Jul'18

  Executive interview: Bill Ruh, CDO of GE

  With a new CEO in the driving seat, we speak to GE’s head of digital, Bill Ruh, about how the company has refined its digital strategy

• July 10, 2018 10 Jul'18

  NIC calls for nationwide broadband plan

  The National Infrastructure Commission has called for a national broadband plan to support full-fibre roll-out

• July 09, 2018 09 Jul'18

  UK slips down broadband speed league table

  Although average broadband speeds in the UK have improved in the past year, other countries are moving faster, according to new data from comparison site Cable.co.uk

• July 09, 2018 09 Jul'18

  Three chooses SSE for 5G fibre backhaul

  SSE Enterprise Telecoms will connect Three’s mobile network into BT’s local telephone exchanges as the mobile operator ramps up its preparation for 5G