News

Network hardware

• January 27, 2021 27 Jan'21

  UK broadband customers count cost of quietly expired contracts

  Almost three million UK high-speed broadband customers – a third of those whose deal ended in the past year – say they were not informed when their contract ended, as mandated by the UK comms regulator, costing around £90 per household

• January 26, 2021 26 Jan'21

  Barratt enlists UK network leaders to install full-fibre broadband across all new homes

  At a time when the country has never been so dependent on fast and reliable home broadband, leading house builder has teamed with UK broadband leaders to ensure new builds are in the digital fast lane

• January 26, 2021 26 Jan'21

  Telia takes Ericsson 5G to transform industrial inspection as Project Reindeer runs

  New partnership will benefit Swedish industry by performing livestream industrial inspections via drones, while more details are released on Ericsson’s EU-funded 6G initiative

• January 26, 2021 26 Jan'21

  Virgin to enter UK 5G fray but regulator delays 5G spectrum auction

  UK operator marks ‘milestone’ moment in its history with 5G offer to add to gigabit broadband, but Ofcom puts on hold the process to gain mid-band frequencies

• January 22, 2021 22 Jan'21

  Vodafone unveils ‘instant’ Wi-Fi

  Telco targets digital households and small businesses with new mobile router for use cases including support for video calling, streaming and online learning

• January 22, 2021 22 Jan'21

  BT connects Dutch diplomatic missions

  New software-defined network services designed to enable secure collaboration and support digital transformation of network supporting Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• January 20, 2021 20 Jan'21

  Orange announces submarine cable linking US East Coast to France

  Global telco claims significant reinforcement of connectivity and resilience on what it says is the most important submarine route in the world, with two next-generation transatlantic submarine cables

• January 20, 2021 20 Jan'21

  Hybrid working a reality but business leaders not yet giving up on the office

  Research finds C-suite executives and business leaders will primarily split their workforces between on-site and remote work, with markedly small numbers looking to adopt exclusive on-site or remote working practices

• January 19, 2021 19 Jan'21

  AE Aerospace claims 5G landmark in transforming manufacturing productivity

  Leading UK manufacturing business and partners trial 5G to pioneer productivity improvements and drive recovery in key sector hit hard by Covid

• January 18, 2021 18 Jan'21

  Hyperoptic offers free broadband packages for home schooling

  Full-fibre broadband provider helps to address issues facing UK schoolchildren in digital poverty who lack a reliable Internet connection for home learning

• January 18, 2021 18 Jan'21

  Community Fibre to supply free 50Mbps broadband for vulnerable London households

  Fibre altnet looks to address growing problem of the digital divide and ensure continuity of education in UK capital

• January 18, 2021 18 Jan'21

  Airband to supply full-fibre broadband across rural Cheshire

  One of the UK’s largest UK rural connectivity providers wins £4.5m project to provide ultrafast full-fibre broadband to rural and hard-to-reach areas of Cheshire

• January 15, 2021 15 Jan'21

  Private LTE/5G market set to reach £4.2bn in 2024

  Research firm predicts sales of private LTE/5G infrastructure to show 43% CAGR from 2019 to 2024, potentially worth an estimated $5.7bn (£4.2bn)

• January 15, 2021 15 Jan'21

  Google Cloud, Nokia accelerate readiness for cloud-native enterprise 5G solutions

  Cloud platform provider and comms tech supplier announce plans to jointly develop cloud-native 5G core solutions for communications service providers and enterprise customers with cloud capabilities to the network edge to accelerate enterprise ...

• January 15, 2021 15 Jan'21

  Hong Kong Airport Authority takes off with upgraded IP/MPLS network

  Next-generation network to offer key regional hub migration of legacy applications to support increased passenger capacity, reliability and ease of expansion

• January 14, 2021 14 Jan'21

  Qualcomm announces Nuvia acquisition plan

  Mobile chip giant makes strategic acquisition to augment technology roadmap to redefine compute performance for next-generation devices

• January 13, 2021 13 Jan'21

  BT eyes up next-gen services with digital unit

  In what it says is an important statement of intent following a 2020 with a number of innovations, incumbent telco announces new division designed to deliver next-gen digital platforms and services

• January 12, 2021 12 Jan'21

  Community Fibre ups ante with fibre-based entertainment service

  London-based fibre altnet uses growing gigabit network to offer first entertainment service based on full-fibre broadband

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  ‘Litany’ of UK government failures in gigabit broadband roll-out

  Second UK MPs’ report in matter of weeks slams government for dismal failure and lack of sufficient progress in meeting already scaled-back benchmark for gigabit-capable connectivity by 2025

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  EXFO forms full-fibre testing initiative with Openreach

  BT broadband provision division to deploy permanent full-fibre monitoring technology to assist in programme to deliver broadband across UK homes

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Five million UK households paying £804m more than they should for broadband

  Significant number of UK householders won’t switch broadband networks for fear of losing their connection or the perceived hassle of switching, but many are left paying too much, research shows

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Vodafone announces free data schemes for small business

  As research shows the strain on business from Covid, UK communications operator announces programme to offer free high-speed connectivity

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Jeremy Darroch steps down as Sky Group chief executive

  Exec who transformed former satellite TV provider into Europe’s largest multi-platform communications provider with mobile, telephony and FTTH steps down after 13 years

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Iskratel top of the world with Potosí fibre-optic deployment

  GPON broadband network deployed to meet the needs of thousands of residents in the highest city in the world

• January 05, 2021 05 Jan'21

  euNetworks rounds on The Loop Manchester

  Bandwidth infrastructure company enhances footprint with unique routes, extra capacity and flexibility with dedicated high-speed fibre-optic network in northern powerhouse

• January 05, 2021 05 Jan'21

  Qualcomm expands 5G capabilities of Snapdragon 480 mobile devices

  Enhanced mobile platform line claimed to be able to accelerate global 5G commercialisation and deliver ‘series-defying’ features to mass-volume smartphone segment

• January 04, 2021 04 Jan'21

  Openreach takes the strain as broadband usage more than doubles in 2020

  In what it says is a year like no other, BT broadband provision division reveals added infrastructure pressures from “new normal”

• December 31, 2020 31 Dec'20

  Top 10 networking stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 networking stories of 2020

• December 24, 2020 24 Dec'20

  Digital infrastructure flourishes in 2020

  Study from co-operative trade association for next-generation broadband services notes increased industry investment and roll-out growth, marking a significant year for network infrastructure

• December 22, 2020 22 Dec'20

  UK parliamentary committee slams government broadband targets as unrealistic

  Report highlights missed targets and overpromising in gigabit infrastructure roll-out and urges government and national regulator to take bolder, faster action to address the causes of costs and delays

• December 22, 2020 22 Dec'20

  Top 10 remote working stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 remote working stories of 2020

• December 21, 2020 21 Dec'20

  Openreach announces massive job creation plan for gigabit network deployment

  New green fleet for engineers as BT broadband provision aims to create 2,500 new roles in its own organisation and about 2,800 with partners to supporting full-fibre network build-out

• December 21, 2020 21 Dec'20

  Gigabit proliferates as UK’s fixed and mobile networks take the strain from Covid

  The UK’s fixed and mobile networks take the strain of remote working and increased online entertainment uptake

• December 17, 2020 17 Dec'20

  CityFibre, PQMS expand network construction training partnership

  Former altnet brings online two new training centres in Bury and Pulborough alongside existing site in Coventry

• December 17, 2020 17 Dec'20

  SSE strengthens Scotland’s digital infrastructure with next-generation connectivity

  High-capacity 100Gbps connectivity services delivered into datacentre intended to future-proof Scotland’s businesses and public sector organisations

• December 17, 2020 17 Dec'20

  EY: Coordinated action vital to meet Gigabit Britain network deployment targets

  With gigabit connectivity crucial to supporting the UK’s ‘levelling up’ agenda and plugging the digital divide, an EY study shows half of UK SMEs believe investment in gigabit connectivity is vital for the economic development of their region after ...

• December 16, 2020 16 Dec'20

  Networking infrastructure issues peg back firms adapting to Covid-19 new normal

  Survey shows inadequate infrastructure is preventing businesses from meeting challenges around remote working and omni-channel customer demand and holding them back from embracing more innovative technologies

• December 16, 2020 16 Dec'20

  UK offering relatively poor value for broadband services

  Low absolute pricing is among the region’s best, but lower average speeds compared with much of Europe makes the UK one of the continent’s laggards when it comes to broadband value for money

• December 14, 2020 14 Dec'20

  Standards alliance adds to membership as NEC opens new Open RAN lab

  Japanese tech giant establishes Open RAN laboratory in India to complement centre of excellence in the UK, where Southampton University spin-off joins O-RAN Alliance

• December 10, 2020 10 Dec'20

  Deloitte: Cloud, intelligent edge and telemedicine set to accelerate in 2021

  Global market for intelligent edge computing will expand to $12bn in 2021, with more than 400 million video visits to doctors worldwide across the year

• December 07, 2020 07 Dec'20

  Ericsson, TIM, Qualcomm, claim 5G FWA speed milestone

  Although fixed wireless access has not yet gained as much publicity as other use cases for the next-generation infrastructure, its potential in connecting those in remote areas to 5G is vast and a consortium of technology vendors and leading Italian...

• December 07, 2020 07 Dec'20

  UK Space Agency awards £7m for space innovation projects

  A range of ‘high risk, high reward’ projects have been awarded a total of £7m from the Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme, aiming to make the UK a world leader in space technology

• December 04, 2020 04 Dec'20

  FTTH Council Europe slams misleading advertising for fibre networks

  Fibre broadband trade body study shows consumers are confused about marketing and performance of broadband-access technologies, recommending a ‘fibre-ready’ label should be introduced for new buildings and major renovations

• December 03, 2020 03 Dec'20

  Nova casts light on streaming network issues as energy demands soar

  So-called industry-first solution brings new revenue opportunities, reduces churn and differentiates offer for video providers as they struggle to cope with energy surge in providing services

• December 03, 2020 03 Dec'20

  Openreach claims UK first as it moves from copper to full-fibre in Salisbury

  Salisbury takes a step closer to becoming the UK’s first ‘fully digital’ city with full-fibre deployment

• December 03, 2020 03 Dec'20

  IT teams’ challenges ramp up in maintaining high-quality network video experience

  Companies providing streaming services have seen huge growth in demand, which has meant providing an optimal user experience while managing surging user traffic

• December 02, 2020 02 Dec'20

  RingCentral notes unified communications gains with PCCW Global private network

  Global infrastructure provider implements private network to enable unified collaboration and contact centre systems firm to augment and scale networks to accommodate rapid growth and spikes in demand

• December 02, 2020 02 Dec'20

  Three continues UK 5G roll-out

  UK operator now offers 5G in 154 towns and cities serviced from over 800 sites across the UK and announces partnership with Ericsson that includes roll-out of 5G and improvements to 4G network

• November 30, 2020 30 Nov'20

  UK government ploughs £3m into 5G test facility

  Harwell Campus 5G research facility gets financial boost to assist development of advanced communications for terrestrial and satellite-based broadband networks

• November 30, 2020 30 Nov'20

  Faster-than-predicted growth for 5G with 3.5 billion subs forecast by 2026

  Despite uncertainties caused by Covid-19, new research from Ericsson reveals that the pace of introducing new 5G functionality has increased in 2020

• November 30, 2020 30 Nov'20

  Orange unveils plans for French 5G roll-out

  Two years after gaining spectrum for 5G services in its home territory, the mobile network operator reveals first French cities for 5G deployment using 3.5GHz frequencies

• November 27, 2020 27 Nov'20

  Linius aims to add magic to video conferencing with Whizzard

  New product for the conferencing and enterprise collaboration markets offers the ability to transform hours of video footage into bite-sized pieces of content and increase knowledge sharing

• November 26, 2020 26 Nov'20

  Broadband access drives New Zealand remote working to be permanent fixture

  Covid-19 crisis pushes Kiwis to do more online and the changes are sticking, according to research from ANZ telco and media research and consulting firm

• November 26, 2020 26 Nov'20

  UK broadband industry ‘confused’ by government funding claims

  National broadband suppliers and trade bodies express surprise and lack of enthusiasm for Spending Review claims of providing positive outcome for gigabit roll-out across the country

• November 24, 2020 24 Nov'20

  UK telecoms industry gives guarded welcome to Telecommunications Bill proposal

  New legislation aims to provide a basis to strengthen the security framework for technology used in 5G and full fibre networks, including the electronic equipment and software at phone mast sites and in telephone exchanges

• November 24, 2020 24 Nov'20

  Vodafone teams with IoT.nxt to take enterprise IoT to new levels

  UK operator looks to open up new markets for internet of things growth with a new range of services designed to make it easier for UK businesses to adopt technology to track, monitor and manage assets, giving them data, insight and control

• November 24, 2020 24 Nov'20

  Nokia enables global enterprise IoT connectivity for China Mobile

  Comms tech giant and leading Chinese operator reach strategic agreement to provide IoT global connectivity services for both China and international customers based on Worldwide IoT Network Grid managed service, expanding operator’s capability

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  Telcos could face huge fines under new security laws

  Government boasts of unprecedented powers to boost the security standards of the UK’s critical national infrastructure

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 launches unleash UK network traffic surge

  Game console launches show network providers need to upgrade their infrastructure and invest in the latest networking technology to ensure reliable, resilient and robust performance

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  OneWeb emerges from bankruptcy, prepares for 17 December launch

  UK government and Bharti Global confirmed as new owners of low-cost satellite broadband provider, which emerges from financial woes to eye up commercial connectivity services to the UK and the Arctic region in 2021

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  Zen to offer gigabit broadband over CityFibre networks

  Zen Internet becomes former altnet’s third national consumer ISP to offer full-fibre services to consumers with gigabit-speed consumer broadband products

• November 20, 2020 20 Nov'20

  Widespread adoption of WBA OpenRoaming on the cards

  Cross-industry survey reveals rapid uptake and widespread acceptance of wireless broadband standard announced in May 2020

• November 19, 2020 19 Nov'20

  Global networks take the strain in roller-coaster 2020

  Research from network tech provider reveals implications for service providers and internet service delivery chain, with significant growth in video streaming, gaming, video conferencing and DDoS

• November 19, 2020 19 Nov'20

  Nokia, Elisa and Qualcomm claim 5G speed record with 8Gbps connectivity in Finland

  Combined speeds from two devices hit 8Gbps on a commercial 5G network on mmWave spectrum, showing support for low-latency, high-bandwidth services such as high-speed video downloads and virtual and augmented reality

• November 19, 2020 19 Nov'20

  £165m gigabit broadband boost for Northern Ireland

  NIE announces connectivity deployment scheme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure to more than 76,000 premises in hard-to-reach places across province

• November 18, 2020 18 Nov'20

  Cato collects $130m investment to extend SASE proposition

  New funding round for SASE pioneer Cato, the largest to date for the company, brings total financing to $332m, leading to what the company calls a unicorn valuation demonstrating leadership of SASE market

• November 17, 2020 17 Nov'20

  Huawei unveils solutions for 1+N target 5G networks

  Chinese comms giant launches new network technology to enable operators to tap into what it says will be huge potential for delivering 5G at greatly reduced per-bit costs

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  5.5G on the way as Huawei predicts golden decade for advanced comms

  Huawei chiefs predict bright times ahead for 5G market with evolved standard imminent offering improved real-time interaction experiences for individual users and new scenarios

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  NHS completes transition to HSCN

  All 950 NHS, social care, private sector and local authority organisations have migrated from the legacy N3 network to the Health and Social Care Network

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  BT taps VMware to launch global SD-WAN services

  Incumbent UK telco aims to ensure global customers can benefit from flexibility and choice as they optimise networks for cloud services

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  IT Priorities 2020: ‘Benestrophe’ for networking as UK IT departments come to terms with new normal

  As 2020 ends, all traditional bets are off as Covid-19 completely changes the landscape of IT, with secure connectivity and cloud emerging at the core of enterprises’ needs for the foreseeable future

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  NTT DATA and Continual collaborate to deliver in-vehicle mobility experiences

  Consulting and IT services and cloud-based analytics firms announce Tier 1 mobile operator is already implementing combined in-vehicle system

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  Vilicom, BT, UK academia gain funding to spearhead 5G and AI research

  Strategic network consultancy teams with incumbent UK telco and universities in all-new scientific research project based on advanced communications

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  Orange strengthens West African connectivity with first regional network

  Global telco and subsidiaries commission and make commercial launch of the first pan-African backbone covering eight major countries in the region

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  Mobile is failing over two-thirds of frontline workers

  New data shows frontline workers are experiencing a global increase in mobility problems which negatively impact their work and their company

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  Ericsson and Telstra take enterprise cloud to the edge

  After successful 5G edge computing trial with financial institution in 2019, Australian telco and comms tech supplier develop enterprise solution with an extension into the hybrid cloud space

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  SK Telecom furthers Deutsche Telekom partnership to advance in-building 5G

  Latest cooperation between leading German and Korean operators aims to create what companies believe will be major innovations, starting with improving 5G experiences

• November 09, 2020 09 Nov'20

  Nokia partners with A1 Austria to enable LTE, 5G campus networks

  Three-year deal between tech firm and operator covers services for all existing and new private LTE and 5G enterprise campus network deployments in Austrian market, piloting network slicing

• November 06, 2020 06 Nov'20

  Mobile device trade-ins return to rise in value in Q3

  HYLA Mobile study reports strong trade-in values amid the Covid-19 pandemic – with the value of devices at trade-in maintaining an upward trend in the third quarter

• November 06, 2020 06 Nov'20

  CityFibre awards £1.5bn to fund full-fibre construction across 27 towns and cities

  Broadband provider signs contracts to create over 3,750 local network construction jobs in three-year recruitment and training programme to provide up to 10,000 people with jobs to develop fibre network

• November 06, 2020 06 Nov'20

  Samsung, KT complete Korea’s first 5G common core deployment

  Leading Korean operator collaborates with Samsung to prepare for the launch of 5G standalone networks so that enterprises can scale business-specific services such as network slicing

• November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20

  Virgin brings gigabit broadband to London and Northern Ireland

  Nearly three million homes in UK capital and Ulster gain access to gigabit connections with the next-generation infrastructure now in 45% of Virgin’s network across the UK

• November 04, 2020 04 Nov'20

  Community Fibre claims fastest home broadband package in London

  Altnet unveils what it says is a gigabit connectivity industry-first for homes in the UK capital

• November 04, 2020 04 Nov'20

  University of Warwick graduates to BT 5G to accelerate innovation

  BT installs UK’s first dedicated public 5G network for the University of Warwick, aiming to bring new opportunities for research and further enhance students’ learning experience through its EE mobile network

• November 03, 2020 03 Nov'20

  Horiba Mira accelerates autonomous vehicles with Vodafone 4G and 5G

  Expert in engineering driverless technologies partners with leading UK operator to bring 5G to its Nuneaton headquarters with a private mobile network designed to allow vehicles to communicate with each other and surrounding infrastructure, such as ...

• November 03, 2020 03 Nov'20

  Cambridge Consultants takes off with airborne 5G

  5G connectivity takes to the skies as Capgemini division announces what it says is a breakthrough for service which will beam signals through the stratosphere from fleet of aircraft

• November 03, 2020 03 Nov'20

  Industrial IoT connections to reach 37 billion by 2025

  Smart factory concept realised as research reveals smart manufacturing will represent three-fifths of global industrial internet of things connections over next five years

• November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20

  Sky launches new fibre-to-the-home across UK

  Provider aims to install fibre to more than seven million UK households by the end of the first quarter of 2021

• October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20

  UK comms task force leader warns of East v West 5G standards battle

  UK Parliament told of long road ahead to rectify ‘market failure’ of lack of diversity in essential communications technology supply lines and of need to reassert influence in global standards

• October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20

  Victims contest technology firms’ attempt to dismiss cobalt mining deaths case

  Technology companies say they cannot be held responsible for the deaths of children mining for the cobalt used in their products

• October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20

  Comms needs to take ‘giant leap forward’ to address new normal

  Ericsson research finds Covid-19 pandemic has created a tipping point for what workers expect of the future digital office

• October 28, 2020 28 Oct'20

  Ericsson scoops urban part of BT 5G communications network

  Building on the operator’s selection of the comms tech firm’s 5G core solutions earlier in 2020, Ericsson wins deal to upgrade BT’s existing radio access network infrastructure on EE mobile network.

• October 28, 2020 28 Oct'20

  Qualcomm unveils next-generation mesh Wi-Fi networks platform

  New modular architecture designed to bring high-performance, cost-effective Wi-Fi 6E mesh deployment to deliver wireless gigabit speeds throughout connected homes

• October 28, 2020 28 Oct'20

  Belfast Harbour steams ahead to UK and Ireland’s first 5G private network for ports

  5G private network accelerates Belfast Harbour’s ambition to become the world’s best regional smart port, stimulating innovation across transport, logistics, public safety, physical security and sustainability

• October 28, 2020 28 Oct'20

  Corporate WANs and their network providers not meeting new business needs

  Global connectivity firm warns that network providers are letting down firms, with security and service flexibility cited as key issues

• October 27, 2020 27 Oct'20

  Ericsson looks to the cloud for increased RAN flexibility

  Cloud-based radio access network for communications service providers regarded as offering more versatility to network buildouts as a complement to existing purpose-built 5G networks and addressing a variety of 5G use cases

• October 27, 2020 27 Oct'20

  EC green light for Iliad to press Play on Polish mobile acquisition

  As Polish mobile acquisition gets go-ahead, French operator extends partnership with wireless infrastructure and services company to finance roll-out of fixed network in Poland and accelerate roll-out of 4G/5G networks

• October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20

  Nokia chalks up new Finnish 5G win

  Global comms tech provider selected by Finnish joint venture to supply 5G radio network equipment including deployment and managed services

• October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20

  Scotland gets gigabit broadband funding boost

  Agreement will help rural areas get gigabit-capable broadband connections, with first tranche of £6m to connect hundreds of public sector buildings across Angus, Dundee, and Perth & Kinross

• October 23, 2020 23 Oct'20

  Taylor Construction successfully trials 5G for high-tech applications

  5G use cases established for Australian-based construction company claiming 20x the performance of 4G with 5G, making next-gen in-field applications possible