News

Telecoms networks and broadband communications

• January 10, 2019 10 Jan'19

  BT faces tussle to keep EU contracts after Brexit

  The European Union will likely re-evaluate its telecoms contracts with BT following Brexit, and cancelling them altogether is a real risk in a no-deal scenario, according to leaked documents

• January 08, 2019 08 Jan'19

  First 5G smartphones may have massive price premium

  Android smartphone brands are already preparing to launch their first 5G handsets, but new technical requirements means they won’t be cheap to build, according to analysts at TrendForce

• January 07, 2019 07 Jan'19

  Equinix to open fourth Singapore datacentre in 2019

  The latest investment by Equinix in Singapore comes as datacentre operators look to fill vacant real estate arising from intense market competition between 2017 and 2018

• January 02, 2019 02 Jan'19

  SMEs urged to get on board with Network Services 2 framework

  Suppliers have until the end of January 2019 to sign up to the new government network services purchasing framework

• January 02, 2019 02 Jan'19

  Huawei aims to be more resilient in 2019 amid challenges

  Huawei’s rotating chairman Guo Ping outlines the firm’s priorities to optimise its product portfolio, empower employees and build a more resilient business structure

• December 28, 2018 28 Dec'18

  Top 10 mobile stories of 2018

  As 5G moves from theory to practical reality, we look back at Computer Weekly’s biggest mobile stories from the past 12 months

• December 19, 2018 19 Dec'18

  CMA acts on super-complaint over broadband, mobile charges

  The Competition and Markets Authority is to crack down on communications services providers who ‘penalise’ loyal customers over new ones

• December 19, 2018 19 Dec'18

  Top 10 broadband stories of 2018

  The networking industry swung firmly behind full-fibre broadband in 2018, with encouraging signs that the gold-standard of broadband service delivery technology is at long last taking off in the UK

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  Ancient Britain comes to life at Bath’s 5G testbed

  The West of England Combined Authority is running a 5G Smart Tourism project at Bath’s world-famous Roman spa

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  Broadband coverage improved through 2018, says Ofcom

  Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations report reveals that the number of people who cannot receive a 10Mbps broadband connection has halved

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  Ofcom fires starting gun for new mobile spectrum auction

  Mobile spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands will be put up for auction either late in 2019 or early in 2020

• December 14, 2018 14 Dec'18

  Ofcom tells ISPs to be upfront about better broadband deals

  Telecoms regulator is rolling out a range of measures to make the broadband market serve the interests of consumers better

• December 12, 2018 12 Dec'18

  Finland’s IT sector recovers after break-up of Nokia

  Finnish government plays vital role in helping IT sector recover from the shock of Microsoft taking over the country’s biggest company

• December 11, 2018 11 Dec'18

  Slow action on broadband and 5G risks UK’s economic future, CBI warns

  A report from the CBI has called for the government to fast-track legislation to guarantee access to ultrafast network services

• December 10, 2018 10 Dec'18

  Vodafone’s 4G network goes underground

  Operator will roll out small 4G and 5G-ready antenna to boost network coverage over short distances in areas of dense usage, using manhole covers, among other things

• December 10, 2018 10 Dec'18

  BT upgrades InLink street kiosks for deaf, speech-impaired people

  BT has added a next-generation text service to its InLink street kiosks to make the service more accessible to people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired

• 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 10, 2018 10 Dec'18

  Port of Rotterdam uses floating lab to learn about automation in harbour

  A ship will soon be converted to a floating laboratory to test automation technologies at the Netherlands port

• December 07, 2018 07 Dec'18

  O2 outage highlights importance of software certificate audits

  A major outage on the O2 4G mobile network was caused by an expired certificate and could easily have been avoided, it has emerged

• 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 05, 2018 05 Dec'18

  BT moves to strip Huawei kit from EE’s network

  Telco will remove Huawei’s networking equipment from the core of EE’s 4G mobile network

• 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

  Poor Wi-Fi connectivity damaging to home life, say UK consumers

  A study for BT has revealed a substantial proportion of UK families feel they are being let down by poor in-home Wi-Fi networks

• 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 23, 2018 23 Nov'18

  O2 and Nokia partner up on 5G-focused Massive MIMO trial in London

  Mobile network operator O2 is carrying out an investigative trial involving Massive MIMO technology in Kings Cross and Marble Arch, London to ascertain how best to ready its network for an uptick in 5G-induced data usage

• 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 12, 2018 12 Nov'18

  Government considering dedicated internet regulator, says digital minister

  An upcoming white paper is likely to set out proposals for an internet regulator, a House of Lords committee has been told

• 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 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

  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