Surprise broadband demand leads to an extra £440m of telecoms infrastructure investment December 22, 2016 Better than expected demand for fibre broadband in Britain's hard to reach areas has provided a £440m boost to the public purse. In 2013, the government launched its £1.7bn Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project. The initiative included a series of aims culminating in ensuring 97 per cent of the UK's households could connect to superfast broadband by 2020. BT were [...]
Are you with Britain’s most complained about telecoms provider? December 20, 2016 The number of people complaining about their broadband service is on the rise, according to the regulator. There were 20 complaints for every 100,000 customers in the three months to the end of September, up from 15 in the previous quarter according to the latest complaint data from Ofcom. BT topped the naughty list with 36 complaints [...]
Just over a billion quid: Regulator estimates the cost to deliver minimum broadband levels to 1.4m homes December 16, 2016 Regulators say at least £1.1bn needs to be spent on Britain's telecoms infrastructure to provide a "decent" level of broadband to the more than 1.4m homes in the UK that are currently forced to go without it. Ofcom today set out a series of proposals to the government on how it can deliver on its promise [...]
Revealed: The best and worst 4G operators in London December 16, 2016 Mobile signal. It's a constant source of frustration and debate among friends and colleagues – and conversations often centre on which operator is worst. And let's be honest, when that emblem in the top corner of our phone turns from 4G to "E" or "GPRS", our hearts sigh. "How can it be there is no coverage when I'm in the middle [...]
Can Ofcom force through Openreach split? BT trustees believe it could bust pension scheme December 13, 2016 A BT Openreach separation could tip the telecoms giant's pension scheme into insolvency leaving a £10bn black hole, its pension trustees fear. Trustees voiced concerns in a redacted note responding to Ofcom’s proposals to legally separate the company that runs Britain’s telecoms infrastructure from the wider BT group. Because, according to the trustees’ note, a [...]
British Gas is blaming ultra high definition 4K TVs for adding £82m to energy bills by 2019 December 13, 2016 They may be turning into a must-have item, but energy inefficient 4K TVs are set to add £82m to UK consumers’ electricity bills by 2019, British Gas has warned. The ultra high definition (HD) TV sets have this year single-handedly caused the first rise in household energy bills from watching TV since 2011, preliminary findings [...]
BT’s creating 500 new jobs to boost customer service December 12, 2016 BT is creating 500 new jobs in the UK and Ireland to help improve its customer service, which has come under pressure in recent weeks from regulators. Most roles, which come in addition to 1,000 previously promised jobs, will be frontline consumer ones based in call centres in Swansea, Warrington, Doncaster and Accrington. Read more: BT boss [...]
Project Prosecco: Virgin Media exploring budget broadband December 11, 2016 Virgin Media is working on secret plans to launch a new budget broadband brand. Under the codename Project Prosecco, Virgin Media is considering expanding the coverage of its cable network next year with an offering that would put it squarely in competition with discount provider TalkTalk. Plans for the budget proposition, understood to still be at [...]
TalkTalk hits out at ultrafast fibre network critics December 11, 2016 Broadband provider TalkTalk has shot back at rival BT over claims it would not be able to build its own fibre broadband network in the UK. A report by Analysys Mason, commissioned by BT, and submitted to regulator Ofcom found the development of a third ultrafast broadband network in the UK was “highly unlikely”. However, [...]
Britain’s broadband boost: Regulator wants an infrastructure shake-up to reduce dependency on BT Openreach December 6, 2016 BT will be forced to share vital fixed line infrastructure with rivals in order to "reduce the country’s reliance on Openreach" under proposals by Britain's telecoms regulator. Ofcom today revealed plans it hoped would make it "quick and easier" for the likes of Vodafone,TalkTalk and Sky to build their own fibre networks. Openreach maintains the UK's main telecoms infrastructure [...]