News

Voice networking and VoIP

April 05, 2011 05 Apr'11
Broadband boycott threat comes as no surprise

It can hardly have surprised communications minister Ed Vaizey (pictured) and BT CEO Ian Livingston that would-be competitors to BT would find the terms, conditions – and prices – of access to BT's poles, ducts and other infrastructure unacceptable.
April 04, 2011 04 Apr'11
Cloud contracts stalled by existing support/maintenance

A survey of 200 IT directors within large enterprise organisations has found that IT directors are worried about the potential management headaches of cloud computing.
April 01, 2011 01 Apr'11
Ofcom budget cuts reduce costs to stakeholders

Communications regulator Ofcom is to slash 170 jobs as it seeks to cut its budget from almost £150m to £116m for 2011/12.
April 01, 2011 01 Apr'11
Walsall council embarks on public sector network project

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council has embarked on a project to connect all its assets with its own PSN

April 01, 2011 01 Apr'11
TfL halts plans for tube mobile network in time for the Olympic games

Transport for London (TfL) has shelved plans to install a mobile network on London's underground in time for the Olympic games in 2012.
March 31, 2011 31 Mar'11
Ofcom to cut Openreach prices up to 9% in real terms

Ofcom proposes to impose real cuts of up to 9% on the wholesale price of a range of BT Openreach's products.
March 30, 2011 30 Mar'11
Windows Phone 7 will take second place behind Android by 2015, says IDC

Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 OS is set to surge to second place in the OS market behind Google's Android by 2015, according to a research firm.
March 30, 2011 30 Mar'11
Firefox 4 now available for Android phones

Mozilla's Firefox 4 web browser is now available for smartphones running Google Android.
March 24, 2011 24 Mar'11
Include community broadband networks, Vaizey urges counties

Counties anxious to roll out broadband networks may be able to get matched funding from government via a new process by the end of the year.
March 23, 2011 23 Mar'11
Firefox 4 now available to download

Mozilla has made Firefox 4 available to download for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Mozilla released...

March 23, 2011 23 Mar'11
Amazon Android app store set to shake up status quo, say analysts

Amazon has launched an online app store for Android-based mobile phones and tablets in competition with Google's own Android Market
March 22, 2011 22 Mar'11
Ofcom proposes cap to amount of spectrum for 4G licensees

Ofcom has released long-awaited proposals for the 2012 auction of 800MHz and 2.6GHz frequencies, the so-called 4G or LTE spectrum, to create more capacity on the UK's mobile networks and possibly extend high-speed mobile broadband to more rural ...
March 11, 2011 11 Mar'11
AOL to axe 900 jobs

AOL is to cut 900 jobs, about 20% of its global workforce, following the completion of its $315m (£196m) Huffington Post acquisition.
March 09, 2011 09 Mar'11
Businesses set to exploit SMS messages to reach customers

SMS text messages are set to take off as a channel for business to communicate with their customers, research by analyst group Ovum Research reveals.
March 08, 2011 08 Mar'11
UK 'dangerously reliant' on GPS sat nav

The UK could be dangerously dependent on satellite radio navigation systems such as GPS, warns the Royal Academy of Engineering.
March 07, 2011 07 Mar'11
3UK offers unlimited data service to pay-as-you-go customers

Mobile phone service 3UK is to launch a £15 per month 'all-you-can-eat' data service for pay as you go customers.
March 07, 2011 07 Mar'11
Libya internet blackout continues

Libya's internet service is still down following a weekend of blackouts, according to Google's Transparency Report.
March 04, 2011 04 Mar'11
Osborne starts race for £50m broadband prize

Chancellor George Osborne has opened the bidding for an initial £50m for high-speed broadband projects as part of a four-year, £530m plan to extend broadband to rural areas of the UK
March 04, 2011 04 Mar'11
Azure propels Southampton's Windows Phone 7 balloon above the clouds

Microsoft Azure is helping Southampton University to reach above the clouds in a first-of-its-kind experiment to probe the stratosphere using an unmanned vehicle.
March 04, 2011 04 Mar'11
Europeans store sensitive details on mobiles despite losses, survey shows

About one third of European smartphone users store credentials to access personal and corporate e-mail on their mobiles, a survey has revealed.
March 02, 2011 02 Mar'11
Broadband users are not getting the speed they pay for, says Ofcom

The average broadband access download speed UK users experienced rose 5% to 6.2Mbps, but this is less than half the average headline speed they pay for,...
February 28, 2011 28 Feb'11
UPDATE: Stolen network equipment causes Vodafone UK network outage

The theft of specialist equipment has prevented thousands of users from accessing the Vodafone network.
February 28, 2011 28 Feb'11
Communications charity TSF helps Libyan refugees

Emergency telecommunications charity Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) is providing aid to Libyan...
February 28, 2011 28 Feb'11
Mllions affected as Vodafone UK stalls

As many as 3.2 million Vodafone users may have been unable to make calls due to a UK-wide network outage.
February 25, 2011 25 Feb'11
Intel rolls out high speed cable 'Thunderbolt'

Intel has rolled out a high-speed PC connection technology named Thunderbolt, in collaboration with Apple.
February 24, 2011 24 Feb'11
Cost opacity puts off unified comms uptake

More than nine out of 10 communications managers want a unified communications infrastructure, but most worry about being able to identify and manage the...
February 22, 2011 22 Feb'11
Lufthansa and Deutsche Telecom offer in-flight broadband

Deutsche Telekom and Lufthansa have stolen a march on BT and British Airways by becoming the first operators to offer up to 5Mbps broadband access in flight.
February 22, 2011 22 Feb'11
Middle East governments stepping up internet control, study shows

The internet has proved to be a powerful tool for rallying social and political change, but Middle East governments have also recognised their capability to disrupt communications
February 21, 2011 21 Feb'11
Nokia confirms future of Qt platform

Nokia Qt Frameworks has set out its formal position in the wake of its parent company entering into a so-called "broad strategic partnership" with Microsoft to develop a new global smartphone ecosystem.
February 21, 2011 21 Feb'11
Northern Ireland to get more fibre broadband

BT says it will speed up the provision of fibre to the cabinet in Northern Ireland, boosting the number of lines connected from 54% to 88%.
February 21, 2011 21 Feb'11
Indian government puts pressure on telcos to intercept Blackberry e-mails

The Indian government is putting pressure on the country's telecom service providers to give it access to e-mails sent and received on Research In Motion's...
February 17, 2011 17 Feb'11
Mobile payments will change UK banking, says Barclaycard

The launch of the first mobile payments system in the UK will cause a shift in the traditional model of banking, according to Barclaycard.
February 17, 2011 17 Feb'11
Broadband speed is key to Virgin Media results and future

Heavy consumer demand for high-speed broadband helped push Virgin Media's (VM) sales up 5.8% to a record £3.8bn for 2010, as average revenue per cable user (ARPU) rose almost 5% to £47.51.
February 14, 2011 14 Feb'11
France Telecom-Orange and Deutsche Telekom collaborate on network access

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom-Orange plan to explore ways to increase co-operation in ways that could lead to a European super-telco.
February 10, 2011 10 Feb'11
UK businesses set to buy more low-cost smartphones

More low-cost smartphones could be used within enterprises as an entry-level market emerges in the UK, according to research.
February 08, 2011 08 Feb'11
US communications authority calls for broadband subsidy

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering subsidies to fund universal broadband internet.
February 04, 2011 04 Feb'11
Vodafone protests Egyptian government propaganda on network

Vodafone has described the Egyptian authorities' use of its network to send pro-government texts as unacceptable.
February 03, 2011 03 Feb'11
Broadband boosts BT profits to £531m

An early return to positive cash flow at Global Services helped BT to produce earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation 7% higher on sales that fell 3%
February 02, 2011 02 Feb'11
Ofcom lets mobile network operators trade frequencies ahead of 4G auction

Communications regulator Ofcom is to allow mobile network operators to trade their existing rights to frequencies for others they would like to use.
February 01, 2011 01 Feb'11
Rural broadband upheaval as Wooster quits JON

Community broadband spokesman Adrian Wooster has resigned from the Joint Open Networks Exchange (JON), citing differences of opinion over the speed with which it should attack the UK market.
February 01, 2011 01 Feb'11
Google and Twitter join forces to beat Egyptian internet blackout

Google and Twitter have joined forces to enable Egyptians to tweet using the phone to bypass a government-imposed internet blackout.
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
Google Android overtakes Nokia Symbian as top smartphone platform

Google's Android operating system has overtaken Nokia's Symbian platform to become the world's leading smartphone platform.
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
Network operators must find new partners for LTE, says analyst

Network operators should seek new partners to make the most of high-speed mobile transmission technology, according to a market analyst.

International...
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
Six-year project could make internet 100 times faster

The internet could be 100 times faster than it is today if a new £7.2m six-year research project, the Photonics Superhighway, is successful.
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
Vodafone restores services to Egypt after mobile shutdown

Mobile operator, Vodafone, has restored mobile phone services in Egypt after a 24-hour shutdown.
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
Rocky road ahead for mobile market

Device technology is advancing so fast that legislation and network infrastructure are falling behind. The mobile landscape resembles the seabed moments before the tsunami hits: as the uptake wave sucks back the water, it reveals the rocks and reefs...
January 28, 2011 28 Jan'11
Global smartphone shipments rocket 75%

Global shipments of smartphones reached 94 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of 75% compared to the same period in 2009, according to Strategy Analytics.
January 28, 2011 28 Jan'11
Ecosystem war in mobile market, says Nokia CEO

The game has changed from a battle of devices to a war of ecosystems, Nokia CEO Steve Elop said, as Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, reported a 9% decline in operating profits to €3.2bn from €3.5bn, despite a 4% rise in sales to ...
January 28, 2011 28 Jan'11
Tesco rolls out in-store mobile phone network

Supermarket Tesco is rolling out a converged fixed and mobile voice network across its stores based on GSM technology. Cliff Saran finds out how the rollout is progressing.
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
Virgin supplies London schools with 10Mbps fibre optic broadband

Virgin Media's business division is to supply a managed fibre optic network to London's Grid for Learning that will replace a broadband network supplied by Symmetrix, a Capita company.
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
PC industry grew 19% on tablet sales and corporate upgrades

The PC market grew 19% in the fourth quarter of 2010 after a surge in tablet sales, an acceleration of corporate PC upgrades and increased demand for servers and storage, according to research.
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
O2 to offer free access to its Wi-Fi network

UK mobile network operator O2 plans to build its own Wi-Fi network, aiming to double the number of premium Wi-Fi hotspots currently offered by BT Openzone and The Cloud combined by 2013.
January 25, 2011 25 Jan'11
MP Rory Stewart welcomes Cumbria broadband progress

MP and rural broadband campaigner Rory Stewart says the goal of superfast communications across Cumbria - one of the key regions for assessing the progress of rural broadband access - has taken a step forward after three recent announcements.
January 24, 2011 24 Jan'11
Microwave technology could accelerate rural broadband access

Start-up French wireless communications company Bluwan has previewed microwave technology that promises to cut the cost of providing high-speed broadband to rural areas.
January 21, 2011 21 Jan'11
Rackspace launches system administrator app

Rackspace has launched an app that allows a CIO or system administrator to dial up or take down servers and storage moment by moment.
January 21, 2011 21 Jan'11
Many SMEs don't understand cloud computing

Despite predictions that the cloud is likely to have its biggest uptake with small businesses, many SMEs still don't what the term means, according to a survey.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
Iran gets access to Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome

Google has announced that Iranians are to be able to download Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome, available for the first time following the easing of US export controls.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
Microsoft blames third party for excessive Windows Phone 7 data charges

Microsoft has pointed the finger at a "third-party solution" for unexplained Windows Phone 7 (WP7) data charges after receiving complaints from users.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
Amazon buys Lovefilm movie service

Online retail giant Amazon has agreed to buy rental-by-post movie and streaming company Lovefilm.

Market commentators have speculated that the deal...
January 14, 2011 14 Jan'11
Riverbed keeps Devon cops on the beat

A Riverbed wide area network optimisation project has allowed Devon and Cornwall police in remoter areas to spend more time out in the communities they protect.
January 14, 2011 14 Jan'11
Vodafone Australia sacks employees over data leak

Vodafone Australia has sacked several people after four million customer records were exposed in a privacy leak
January 13, 2011 13 Jan'11
Android’s growth set to double in 2011

Android will continue to grow at more than twice the rate of its closest smart phone competitors this year, despite concerns over platform fragmentation, according to analyst firm Canalys.
January 13, 2011 13 Jan'11
O2, 2E2 combine to attack £7bn outsource market

Businesses of all sizes could cut up to 30% off their combined IT and communications costs following the establishment of a joint venture between mobile...
January 13, 2011 13 Jan'11
BT to give 41 more towns 40Mbps broadband access by Spring 2012

Forty-one market towns with around 300,000 businesses and consumers will get broadband access of up to 40Mbps from spring next year as part of the next phase...
January 12, 2011 12 Jan'11
Cash-strapped schools will use pupils’ mobile phones and Xboxes

Mobile phones, iPods, and Xboxes will become part of the teaching tool-kit, according to a survey of education professionals from industry body Intellect.
January 11, 2011 11 Jan'11
Cambridge village competes with South Korea on broadband speeds

Residents of Broughton have become among the first UK consumers to get access to 1Gbps broadband speeds
January 10, 2011 10 Jan'11
Microsoft forced to investigate Windows Phone 7 data bug complaints

Microsoft is investigating data usage by Windows Phone 7 devices after internet forums have been flooded with complaints about unidentified data use charges
January 07, 2011 07 Jan'11
Skype to boost video calling quality with Qik acquisition

Internet telephony company Skype has agreed to acquire Qik, a provider of mobile video capturing and sharing software and services.
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
Ofcom frees spectrum for better data, internet access

From Thursday UK mobile network operators will be allowed to offer data services over their 2G networks, giving consumers better indoor and outdoor access...
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
CES 2011: Late UK launch could hinder Blackberry tablet success

Research in Motion (RIM)'s delay in launching its tablet device, Blackberry Playbook, in the UK until later this year could damage its success in the tablet market, an analyst has warned.
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
Most people who sell their old mobiles don't clear personal data

Just over three quarters of the UK population have sold on old mobile phones, but only 31% wiped all personal information before selling, a survey has revealed.
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
International callers ditch telcos for Skype

Skype, the voice over IP telephony service, will add more than double the number of international call-minutes than all other network operators combined.
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
CES 2011: Steve Ballmer heralds new era of technology

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer highlighted that the next version of Windows will be the first to run on ARM processors in his keynote address at the opening of the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
January 05, 2011 05 Jan'11
RIM reacts to Indian Blackberry data interception reports

Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) says there will be no change to the security model of Blackberry Enterprise Server.
January 04, 2011 04 Jan'11
CES 2011: AMD unveils breakthrough netbook and tablet chip

AMD has unveiled the Fusion family of Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) to power next generation HD netbooks at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
January 04, 2011 04 Jan'11
Skype faces China ban as iPhone debuts video conferencing

Internet voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony service Skype could be banned in China as the government cracks down on what it calls illegal internet telephone providers.
January 04, 2011 04 Jan'11
Microsoft restores lost Hotmail messages

Microsoft says it has resolved the problem that caused thousands of Hotmail users to lose their e-mail messages. Some 17,355 people lost their e-mails...
December 29, 2010 29 Dec'10
2010 Review: Top 10 broadband stories

2010 has been a critical year for UK broadband as a new government comes in with their own ideas about how to ensure roll-out of next-generation superfast services.
December 27, 2010 27 Dec'10
2010 Review: Top 10 social media stories

At the start of the year, social networking and collaboration was put at the top of the agenda for CIOs. Despite privacy risks, organisations embraced the use of social media - even to recruit staff - while other top tech firms were criticised for ...
December 24, 2010 24 Dec'10
2010 Review: Top 10 mobile technology stories

Computer Weekly's top 10 mobile technology stories for 2010.
December 23, 2010 23 Dec'10
Skype supernode meltdown causes major outage

Skype engineers worked non-stop over several hours yesterday to fix the peer-to-peer IP telephony's site's worst outage.
December 23, 2010 23 Dec'10
Smartphones spoil Christmas for always-on-duty users

One third of smartphone owners will use their devices for work purposes during Christmas and 10% will even do so at the Christmas dinner table.
December 21, 2010 21 Dec'10
Net neutrality: FCC set to legalise traffic management

US communications industry regulator Federal Communications Commission is set to alter the economics of the web in a way that would bias certain types of network traffic, Reuters has reported.
December 21, 2010 21 Dec'10
Nokia-Microsoft alliance could be ‘as scary as Google’

An alliance between Nokia and Microsoft would be complex, desperate and "as scary as Google", an analyst has said.
December 21, 2010 21 Dec'10
Twitter can be used in law courts

Following Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's bail hearing last week, where a London magistrate permitted the use of Twitter, social media is now allowed in court.
December 17, 2010 17 Dec'10
Open source body challenges €189m EC software deal

The open source lobby has challenged the €189m software contract struck by the European Commission last month.
December 17, 2010 17 Dec'10
Nokia escalates Apple patent row with 13 new infringement claims

Nokia's patent war with Apple escalated yesterday, as the Finnish-based manufacturer filed 13 more infringement claims against the technology giant.
December 14, 2010 14 Dec'10
Transport for London routes real-time data to developers via Microsoft Azure

Using Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, Transport for London (TfL) has made its real-time tube travel information available to mobile application developers.
December 14, 2010 14 Dec'10
IT departments must use agile programming properly to reap the benefits

IT departments are failing to reap the benefits of agile programming because they are not using it in the way it was intended, it was claimed today.
December 13, 2010 13 Dec'10
London attack on Sarah Palin’s website attributed to Wikileaks 'hacktivists'

Sarah Palin's website has been targeted by London hackers avenging Wikileaks, the former governor of Alaska has claimed.
December 10, 2010 10 Dec'10
West Wales pilots LTE wireless using digital switchover TV spectrum

Wireless technology is being piloted in the Preseli Mountains, West Wales, which could overcome the issue of dead spots in broadband coverage in rural areas
December 08, 2010 08 Dec'10
Salesforce.com debuts cloud database in competition with Oracle

Salesforce.com, the enterprise cloud computing firm, has introduced a database-as-a-service (DbaaS) product, Database.com at its annual conference, Dreamforce, in San Francisco.
December 07, 2010 07 Dec'10
Study finds businesses unready for risks from new technology

Less than a third of global businesses have an IT risk management programme capable of dealing with the risks related to the use of new technologies, a study has revealed.
December 06, 2010 06 Dec'10
No monopoly on broadband supply, says culture minister

No-one was "writing a cheque to BT," culture minister Jeremy Hunt said on Monday at the launch of the government's broadband strategy in London.
December 06, 2010 06 Dec'10
Rural providers react to government broadband strategy

Communities and non-BT network operators reacted with dismay to the government's new broadband strategy.
December 03, 2010 03 Dec'10
Government to spell out UK broadband plans on Monday; BT offers 90% fibre coverage

Culture minister Jeremy Hunt will set out the government's plans to stimulate investment in UK broadband networks on Monday.
December 02, 2010 02 Dec'10
UK consumers turning to internet access on the move, says Ofcom

Staying connected while on the move is the key characteristic of the UK communications consumer, according to the latest research from Ofcom
December 02, 2010 02 Dec'10
HTC defends HD7 handsets after antenna problems reported

HTC has spoken out against internet reports that claim HTC HD7 handsets suffer from antenna 'death grip' problems, similar to those experienced by Apple's iPhone 4 users.
December 02, 2010 02 Dec'10
Remote working systems help suppliers beat the snow

Ian Gotts, chief executive of software supplier and consultancy Nimbus Partners, was less worried than most company chiefs, when the snow caused major disruption to the country's transport systems this week.
November 30, 2010 30 Nov'10
Communications costs comprise 12% of UK household spending

UK consumers spent more on communications than on alcohol and tobacco as a result of more homes having computers and internet connections, the Office for National Statistics revealed on Tuesday.