Internet infrastructure

UK government approach to space industry lacks coherence and investment

As satellite broadband industry rockets, report from Commons Science and Technology Committee criticises government’s failures in key technical areas and continues to question value to taxpayer of OneWeb joint venture Continue Reading

Networks division stars as SES shows solid Q3 2022

Global satellite operator continues to benefit from its pivot away from video and to business connectivity, reporting a positive third quarter but continued revenue decline for its video business Continue Reading

BT sees fibre and 5G advances in H1

After ‘building and connecting like fury’, UK incumbent telco claims to be remaining on the front foot in current turbulent times and nears nine million mark in fibre deployment Continue Reading

Shadow digital secretary outlines Labour’s tech priorities

Labour’s digital and technology plans focus on reining in the power of the tech giants, boosting connectivity across the UK, and improving online safety Continue Reading

Can crypto recover from the crash of 2022?

What does the crypto wipeout of 2022 mean for an increasingly turbulent economy and can crypto bounce back in the months and years ahead? Crucially, how will regulators react? Continue Reading

Truespeed invests £22m into South-West full-fibre roll-out

With the addition of 12 new areas to its gigabit broadband network, Bath-based UK altnet expands full-fibre network access to parts of home city and regions of South Gloucestershire and North Somerset Continue Reading

Report reveals ‘clear gaps’ in UK’s broadband safety net

Latest update on progress of broadband roll-out guarantees from April to September 2022 shows worrying signs that as the cost-of-living crisis rolls on, swathes of the UK population could be priced out of gaining acceptable broadband Continue Reading

CityFibre furthers gigabit in UK Midlands and claims £283m Blackpool boost

Warwick and Leamington Spa added to growing list of gigabit broadband-enabled communities covered by UK’s largest independent full-fibre platform Continue Reading

Tearing down the barriers to full digital connectivity

Millions of households rely on good connectivity for work, study or leisure. But how much has fast and consistent broadband connectivity spread across the UK? Continue Reading

Virgin Media O2 trials 5G drone in Snowdonia

Comms operator trials new 5G drone technology to increase safety for millions of visitors at North Wales national park, delivering network coverage to remote areas and helping emergency services to respond to distress calls better Continue Reading

Government ups cyber support for elderly, vulnerable web users

DCMS announces a funding boost to help the elderly, disabled and other vulnerable groups stay safe online and avoid being misled by disinformation Continue Reading

Meta tightens purse strings as it spends on Reality Labs

Facebook’s parent company is betting the business on a long-term strategy to move social media into the metaverse Continue Reading

Putting metaverse concerns into perspective

All breakthroughs in technology have come with downsides, so what risks and concerns are there with the advent of the metaverse? Continue Reading

Dutch lawyers raise human rights concerns over hacked cryptophone data

Dutch defence lawyers say in an open letter that there is a risk of unfair trials unless they are allowed to test the reliability and legitimacy of hacked cryptophone evidence Continue Reading

Germany: European Court of Justice asked to rule on legality of hacked EncroChat phone evidence

Berlin’s Regional Court has asked the European Court of Justice to answer questions about whether the use of hacked EncroChat phone evidence complies with European law Continue Reading

Rural-urban broadband connectivity gap persists in UK

Research from UK communications regulator finds widespread use of video streaming and other bandwidth-intensive services mean people are demanding more of their broadband connections, but accessibility to ultra-fast connectivity is dependent on location Continue Reading

Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Cisco collaborate for inclusive, digital region

Networking tech giant and local council unveil region-wide, secure, digital infrastructure to underpin transformation of public services in social innovation programme designed to boost digital skills, innovation with SMEs and access to services Continue Reading

Did Truss authorise ‘war risk’ provocation over Black Sea?

A UK Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint spy plane was ordered to approach Russian territory in a Cold-War-style provocation just days after Liz Truss’s mini-budget collapsed Continue Reading

Broadband majors, altnets respond to cost-of-living crisis

With latest UK inflation figures set to see comms contracts rise, industry reacts to mitigate against worst effects of price rises for customers and staff Continue Reading

NBN selects Nokia 5G mmWave FWA technology for connectivity refresh

Much-criticised Australian national broadband infrastructure sees first large-scale, long-reach 5G mmWave FWA deployment in urban, suburban and rural environments Continue Reading

XR applications are already changing businesses

Many still regard the metaverse as a technology looking for an application. Yet company leaders would be surprised to learn how commercially usable augmented and virtual reality applications already are Continue Reading

The metaverse’s developing industry structure

Challenges to create seamlessly working metaverse solutions exist not only on the technology side, but also on the business and partnership side. But the developing commercial landscape has not yet gelled. Small players, startups and even individuals have the opportunity to carve out profitable niches, perhaps even create the next big players Continue Reading

Work in the metaverse: A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In this special edition of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, we speak to Wipro CTO Subha Tatavarti about the business metaverse Continue Reading

BT reveals role of robotics, IoT to transform and automate agriculture

First fruits revealed of leading UK telco’s dedicated telecoms civil engineering robotics test facility, designed to help fibre network development Continue Reading

Skype’s legacy and the rise of the ‘new Nordics’

Estonia and other Baltic states could be part of a ‘new Nordics’ of technology innovation Continue Reading

Vodafone, Altice create a fibre-to-the-home joint venture in Germany

A 50/50 joint venture partnership aims to build on operator’s next-generation network with broadband firm’s industrial expertise and proven fibre-to-the-home construction capabilities, enabling gigabit connectivity to customers in Germany Continue Reading

Neos Networks announces business-grade managed dedicated internet access

UK fibre connectivity supplier announces launch of the managed variant of its dedicated internet access service, providing businesses with fully managed, enterprise-grade, fibre-optic internet connectivity Continue Reading

GBI taps Nokia to enhances optical network capacity between Middle East and Europe

Cloud, connectivity and content enabler undertakes optical network capacity upgrade between key markets to scale wavelength speed by a factor of x4 to offer high-speed connectivity across subsea cable and terrestrial network links Continue Reading

CW Middle East: Qatar strengthens cyber defences ahead of FIFA World Cup

Being the first Arab country to host the World Cup is pressure enough on Qatar, but there is also a massive cyber security challenge associated with any event of this magnitude. Read about its preparations. Also in this issue, find out about the unique challenges of hiring IT professionals in Saudi Arabia. Continue Reading

UK gigabit broadband expansion rolls on for CityFibre, Hyperoptic

Deployment in South Yorkshire adds to largest independent provider’s estate as part of £8bn development plan, while fibre provider announces internal and external milestones as it clocks up 11 years in business Continue Reading

Indonesia’s NeutraDC outlines global ambitions

Formed from the consolidation of Telkom’s infrastructure assets, NeutraDC has set its sights on being a global player in datacentre and connectivity services Continue Reading

Qualcomm unveils next-gen MR, VR devices based on Snapdragon platform

New premium-tier extended reality platform is said to deliver 50% higher sustained power and 30% improved thermal performance to enable more immersive metaverse experiences in smaller, lighter form factors Continue Reading

French Supreme Court rejects EncroChat verdict after lawyers question secrecy over hacking operation

France’s Supreme Court has sent a case back to the court of appeal after police failed to disclose technical details of EncroChat hacking operation Continue Reading

Meta presents vision for business metaverse

How can hybrid teams collaborate seamlessly? Meta believes virtual reality tied to business applications is the way forward Continue Reading

ICO selectively discloses reprimands for data protection breaches

Data protection experts question ICO’s selective approach to publishing formal reprimands for contravening the law, after FoI request reveals the Cabinet Office was among the organisations reprimanded Continue Reading

Community Fibre secures £985m finance facility

London and South East-based gigabit connectivity provider announces massive cash injection Continue Reading

Wayfair shutters datacentres and ends hybrid cloud strategy with Google Cloud move

Online home furnishings retailer Wayfair has completed a 16-month datacentre shutdown project that has seen it migrate all its applications and workloads to the Google Cloud Continue Reading

Small businesses bask in broadband benefits as UK full-fibre reaches 11 million homes

As more SMEs shift towards hybrid working, better broadband becomes a priority. Studies from research firm and UK comms regulator show full-fibre availability is on the increase, with almost two in five able to access services Continue Reading

Nokia launches SaaS for fixed networks portfolio

Comms tech giant intros software as a service for fixed networks portfolio line-up covering broadband and Wi-Fi controller, as well as operational tools Continue Reading

Private investors back innovators to boost African connectivity

Local operator research finds nearly four out of five VC and private equity firms believe innovation in connectivity will drive expansion in Africa, despite infrastructure issues Continue Reading

EU rolling out measures for online safety and AI liability

The European Council has approved the passage of the Digital Services Act to protect people’s rights online, while the European Commission has announced proposals to help those negatively affected by artificial intelligence to claim compensation Continue Reading

Hybrid working: Preventing damage to company culture

The hybrid working model is still a work in progress, and most employers are at an early stage in learning and finding their way towards achieving its benefits Continue Reading

UK a broadband laggard as altnets grab share from incumbents

Ookla overview of UK broadband market reveals that while fibre development is accelerating throughout the country, median fixed broadband download and upload speeds compare badly with global market Continue Reading

BT Group sees network gains through AI Accelerator

Telco announces new platform to orchestrate, accelerate and monitor artificial intelligence model deployments developed by its data community and to drive efficiencies Continue Reading

Three-quarters of business professionals want to embrace the metaverse

Study from networking systems, services and software company reveals business professionals’ interest in metaverse pointing to utilising more immersive and connected digital applications in the workplace Continue Reading

Hyperoptic, Community Fibre take gigabit highway to Islington

Inner London local authority signs deal so that more than 90% of homes and businesses will be connected to gigabit by August 2025, including 50 community hubs Continue Reading

UK government rolls out Project Gigabit to rural Teesdale

£6.6m contract granted in north-east England as part of national programme to upgrade broadband for hard-to-reach premises, with GoFibre engaged as principal contractor for build out Continue Reading

Online Safety Bill needs complete overhaul, say rights groups

Civil society groups write to new digital minister to challenge various aspects of the upcoming Online Safety Bill, which they say threatens rights to privacy and freedom of expression Continue Reading

Neos Networks to connect Viking Wind Farm to SSE Renewables HQ

Business connectivity provider constructs communications links between wind farm being built on Scottish island and headquarters on mainland more than 300 miles away with machine-to-machine network to control and monitor performance of wind turbines remotely Continue Reading

Telefónica, Qualcomm collaborate to build XR, metaverse systems

Partnership designed to grow metaverse and extended reality ecosystem using Snapdragon Spaces as well as upskilling Telefónica’s internal teams and external innovation programmes in XR hardware and applications Continue Reading

Businesses see fixed broadband charges rise as average bandwidth increases

Latest roundup of global fixed broadband arena shows residential consumers reaping speed and cost rewards of fibre proliferation, while B2B subscribers see little improvement in bandwidth versus monthly charges Continue Reading

Ofcom turns its attention to the hyperscalers

The regulator sees its role expanding into emerging areas of communications technologies and public cloud services Continue Reading

Privacy Pledge signatories dream of alternative internet

A group of privacy-focused organisations have come together to establish a set of principles for taking the internet back from big tech and surveillance capitalism Continue Reading

American Express recruiting thousands of tech professionals

Amex will add 5,000 IT professionals to its workforce in 2022 as digital products and services become the staple of the finance sector Continue Reading

A gold medal performance for networking

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how the IT team behind the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham delivered a winning performance. We also look at how the centuries-old London insurance market is going digital, thanks to Lloyd’s of London. And we find out how low-cost high street stores succumbed to the inevitable and are going online. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Flex muscles up 5G SA private wireless, Industry 4.0 in advanced manufacturing

Leading comms tech provider teams with multinational electronics company to combine 5G SA private wireless and Industry 4.0 expertise for advanced manufacturing services in Brazil Continue Reading

WBA unveils ‘world-first’ combination of Wi-Fi 6E, OpenRoaming

Trial of combined wireless technologies at Polytechnic Institute of Viseu said to showcase the future of higher education, including 8K video and interactive experiences in classrooms Continue Reading

Linksys lines up deals with UK gigabit ISPs for Wi-Fi 6 mesh solutions

Business Wi-Fi networking solutions firm partners with growing UK full-fibre gigabit broadband ISPs to offer mesh wireless network systems claimed to deliver four times faster coverage across the home Continue Reading

New networking era imminent as global internet bandwidth rises 28% in 2022

TeleGeography’s Global Internet Geography research service shows continuing return to ‘normal’ following the pandemic-generated bump of 2020, as demand looks to quickly transcend terabyte measure Continue Reading

Verizon VRAN velocity gains as fibre pushed to almost half of cell sites

Communications giant takes advantage of extensive fibre broadband network to support mobile infrastructure, which is seeing significant push into virtualised radio access network technology in cell sites Continue Reading

Gigaclear selects EXFO fibre monitoring to assist rapid network expansion

Developer of test, monitoring and analytics services engaged by UK ISP for remote fibre testing and monitoring offering to improve efficiency of deployment and fault identification Continue Reading

Full-fibre gathers pace as Lightning strikes across South East while CityFibre looks north

East Sussex-based altnet spreads its wings across coastal regions of southern England with fibre offer into two neighbouring counties, as leading independent provider lands in Hartlepool Continue Reading

Minor League Baseball hits in-stadium connectivity to new level

Cloud networking provider partners with Minor League Baseball to provide in-stadium tech and help its teams and players to become smarter and faster in improving their games and optimising the overall in-stadium experience Continue Reading

ScottishPower charges up connectivity with BT

Leading UK telecoms provider enters into strategic partnership with Glasgow-based integrated energy company in to help connect renewable growth and provide integrated and bespoke telecommunications services to approximately 100 locations across the UK, France, and Germany Continue Reading

Rugby try for full-fibre connectivity as CityFibre reveals value of Wolverhampton gigabit

Warwickshire town named as the next location in line for a multimillion-pound digital full-fibre investment, while data is released showing potential benefits of such infrastructures in Black Country urban environment Continue Reading

Giganet takes Cuckoo under wing to further full-fibre ambitions

Acquisition of full-fibre ISP described as marking a meeting of minds at a time when gigabit broadband consumers deserve more from the internet, while the UK’s largest independent broadband provider claims landmark in fibre delivery in Derby Continue Reading

New connectivity options driven by low Earth orbit satellites

Huge reductions in the cost of building and launching satellites has led to an explosion of interest in space-borne projects and services Continue Reading

IFA 2022: Qualcomm announces Meta partnership as it stakes out connected future

Chip giant unveils plans to embed its connectivity technology – encompassing Wi-Fi 7, 5G and even satellite – within virtual and real-world environments to drive connected experiences Continue Reading

Energie AG, Austria lights up optical transport network

Austrian energy supply and infrastructure company invests in optical transport network spanning 7,000km to improve customers’ experience and gain opportunity to grow by scaling as it broadens customer base Continue Reading

Community Fibre claims UK first with 5 Gbps broadband for businesses

London and South of England fibre broadband provider expands out of consumer-focused sweet spot and claims new benchmark for gigabit business connectivity package Continue Reading

Peeking into the metaverse: Taking a look at VR headsets and AR smart glasses

Extended – augmented and virtual – reality is capturing the imagination of media and investors alike. Use cases abound, and market opportunities proliferate as more and more companies discover applications that might help their operations or serve their customers Continue Reading

Full-fibre roll-out furthers pace in eastern UK and the Midlands

Leading independent carrier-neutral full-fibre platform CityFibre reveals plans to invest more than £14m in network across Northamptonshire town, as Hull-based wholesale fibre company MS3 Networks extends key business partnership to deliver full-fibre broadband services to homes and businesses Continue Reading

NTT, VMware team to develop fully managed Edge+Private 5G offering as a service

Edge-as-a-service offer designed to enable Industry 4.0 to gain instant access to data where it is generated or collected and harness it to drive positive, powerful business outcomes Continue Reading

Project Gigabit broadband plan covers 70% of UK homes, businesses

Project Gigabit contract awarded on UK’s Jurassic coastline, putting more than 7,000 hard-to-reach properties in the broadband fast lane by 2025 Continue Reading

British broadband boosted further by Swish Fibre and Truespeed

Fast-growing UK altnet signals long-term ambition to become a national broadband provider with the launch of a new Yorkshire subsidiary, while Bath-based full-fibre provider claims step-change in its mission to bring the south-west out of the digital slow lane in partnership with Adtran to enhance network with XGS-PON technology Continue Reading

Bristow takes off with Speedcast multi-year connectivity agreement

Communications and IT services provider to deliver technology upgrades and SD-WAN solution to a leading global aviation services provider, connecting more than 40 onshore energy and search and rescue sites Continue Reading

Juniper unveils AI-driven switch and enhanced AIOps capabilities

Network provider announces series of enterprise-grade wired access switches to connect to modern microservices cloud and artificial intelligence platform Continue Reading

Nokia, Furukawa accelerate Optical LAN in Latin America

Leading global communications technology provider strikes up partnership with network cabling specialist to bring benefits of optical local area network connectivity to Latin American enterprise market Continue Reading

Subway puts Zen on broadband menu

Leading UK food chain confirms long-standing ISP as an accredited partner to supply its stores across the country with a bespoke connectivity offering that facilitates a delivery line of service that was not previously possible Continue Reading

When network performance is the name of the Games

Major sporting events are now major IT and networking events. For Aruba, being in charge of networking for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games meant 20 simultaneous major projects - how did it go? Continue Reading

Altice gets regulatory green light for added stake in BT

Despite previous worries by UK government of potential threat to levelling-up agenda on broadband, corporate regulatory probe finds no issue with increase in stakeholding by long-rumoured potential buyer of UK incumbent telco Continue Reading

Giganet taps Neos Networks to drive UK gigabit broadband expansion

UK fibre connectivity supplier provides what it says is crucial back-haul capability to allow growing established internet service provider to offer regional and national high-speed fibre connectivity Continue Reading

Ogi ramps up full-fibre broadband roll-out across south Wales

Leading Welsh broadband provider reveals the latest areas designated for full-fibre connectivity as part of its broadband digital infrastructure programme, bringing the total to 38 Welsh towns and villages Continue Reading

CityFibre looks to power next phase of growth with brand update

Corporate brand refresh is designed to help cement firm’s increasing prominence in UK full-fibre arena, addressing what it says is consumer confusion across the broadband market Continue Reading

Maybe 5G isn’t better: Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In October 1945, Arthur C Clarke wrote a paper, published in Wireless World magazine in the UK, discussing a global communications network Continue Reading

Google employees demand end to collection of abortion data

In the wake of the US Supreme Court rolling back abortion rights, Google employees are calling on the company to stop collecting abortion-related data, so that it can never be shared with police Continue Reading

Freedom Fibre onboards business customers as CityFibre announces Newark net

More momentum in UK fibre market as altnet makes business play and third-largest network company announces expansion in Midlands Continue Reading

Leeds signs Allied Telesis to improve network customer experience

Premier League football team and enterprise IoT and software-defined network solutions provider claim 15 years’ no-fail networking and improved experiences for infrastructure users Continue Reading

Growing MFA use spurs ‘pass-the-cookie’ attacks

The exploitation of stolen session cookies by cyber criminals is once again back on the agenda, thanks to the growing popularity of multifactor authentication tools Continue Reading

Jabra, Lenovo expand collaboration to claim first full Microsoft Teams rooms system

Purpose-built, modular room kit provides enhanced business productivity and collaboration capabilities for companies looking to upgrade their meeting room technology for the hybrid working world Continue Reading

England and Wales councils unprepared for PSTN withdrawal in 2025

Freedom of information act request reveals worrying finding that over half of councils in England and Wales have no strategy for the prospective withdrawal of traditional PSTN communications networks Continue Reading

UK government aims to allow struggling families access to cheaper broadband

New support scheme designed to enable customers to give permission to broadband providers to confirm their eligibility for cheaper deals Continue Reading

Global broadband reaches for the stars to connect the Earth

Despite fears of recession, especially in major economies, there is one thing that people can’t seem to have enough of: high-speed connectivity Continue Reading

CityFibre begins £30m full-fibre build out in Rochdale

UK’s third largest infrastructure provider continues with its cross-UK gigabit fibre rollout in Lancashire town to benefit residents, businesses and services Continue Reading

Sellafield Ltd inks network services contract with BT

UK incumbent telco strikes deal with leading UK nuclear facility to take on network service responsibility across all of its sites with potential for future projects involving technologies such as IoT and 5G Continue Reading

Google Cloud to open three new cloud regions in APAC

New Google Cloud regions in Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand will enable local organisations to maintain low latency and meet data residency requirements Continue Reading

Zzoomm, Jurassic Fibre aim to advance full-fibre gigabit broadband across non-urban UK

Pan-UK full-fibre gigabit broadband provider inks tech partnership to deploy broadband connections offering download speeds up to 10 Gbps while South West-based internet service provider announces start of ultrafast broadband network build in Cornwall Continue Reading

Work-from-home slows in US but remains important part of hybrid workplace

Deloitte survey shows the ways in which people are using connected devices and technology to improve and enhance their lives, in particular dealing with the balance of hybrid work Continue Reading

Reimagining ethical digital technology

With ever-increasing digitisation leading to greater dependence on a range of digital technologies, enterprises need to urgently look at how they can incorporate ethical and social considerations into the tech they develop Continue Reading

Understanding the metaverse

At this year’s South by Southwest in March, many events – not surprisingly – revolved around the metaverse. But what's happened since? Continue Reading