The Telecom: UK Telecom's News
 
Daily Telecoms News
Monday 12th of May 2008
August 23, 2007

Ofcom releases annual communications market report

by Jan Harris
Ofcom has released its annual yearly Communications Market report, which covers fixed and mobile telecoms, TV, radio and Internet use in the UK during 2006. Highlights from the 332 page report include the following average daily usages of communications technologies: • the amount of time people spend watching TV has dropped 4% from 2005, to 3 hours 36 minutes a day, • radio ...



August 22, 2007

DS2 leads the US supply of Powerline Technology solutions

by Lin Freestone
DS2, the Spanish-based world-leading provider of powerline chipsets, has confirmed that shipments to the US of its 200 Mbps chipset increased by 229% during the first half of 2007. In general the Powerline market is growing at a rate of 100% per annum, while growth in other home networking technologies has stagnated. The increases were reported in research findings from the ...



August 20, 2007

Report calls for Ofcom to simplify Broadband switching

by Jan Harris
Comparison website firsthelpline.com claims that customers are required to go through a complicated process to change broadband providers, and is calling for Ofcom to intervene. firsthelpline.com's report says that broadband switching should be as simple as changing gas or electricity supplier. The company wants communications regulator Ofcom to treat broadband as a basic utility and ensure that the process of ...



August 17, 2007

HSDPA to dominate mobile broadband

by Jan Harris
According to a new report from Juniper Research, 'Mobile Broadband Markets: EV-DO, WiMAX, HSPA & Beyond 2007-2012', HSPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) will account for around 70% of mobile broadband network deployments over the next five years. The company expects 1 in 3 mobile subscribers to use a mobile broadband connection by 2012 - a total of around 1.2 billion ...



August 16, 2007

3 UK announces 3G HSDPA service

by Jan Harris
3 UK is launching its 3Turbo high-speed 3G HSDPA service on 3 September, giving customers ultra-fast mobile broadband on a selection of HSDPA-enabled mobile phone handsets. The company is also releasing a new USB modem for laptops. 3 is also introducing new data tarrifs - Mobile Broadband Light, which offers 1GB of data usage for £10 a month,; Mobile Broadband ...



August 15, 2007

East-coast mainline passengers to get free Wi-Fi

by Jan Harris
National Express will provide free Wi-Fi, to all rail passengers on the London to Scotland east-coast mainline, when it takes over the franchise from GNER in December. GNER completed the installation of Wi-Fi broadband connectivity on all its 41 east-coast trains last year, at a cost of £3.2m. It currently provides a free Wi-Fi service to first-class passengers, while other ...



August 13, 2007

Partnerships between telecos and systems integrators must be encouraged

by Lin Freestone
A new report on global managed service contracts for the first six months of 2007 from consultancy firm Ovum reveals that telecoms network operators offering global managed services are still majoring on connectivity. The report concluded that they have not got closer to the end-user; they have not penetrated the LAN, and they provide limited applications management or support. Ovum ...



Government must do more to safeguard e-commerce

by Lin Freestone
The House of Lords' Science and Technology Committee has released its report into Internet security, which concludes that the government needs to do more to protect ordinary users from cybercrime and safeguard the growth of e-commerce. The committee is of the opinion that a laissez-faire attitude to internet security by interested parties, which include government, ISPs, hardware and software manufacturers, ...



Pipex shareholders approve acquisition by Tiscali

by Lin Freestone
At an Extraordinary General Meeting held in August 2007, Pipex shareholders voted in favour of Tiscali UK acquiring the ISP's broadband customers. The official notification states that: Pipex Communications plc, a major provider of telecommunications and internet solutions including broadband, voice, web hosting and network services, announces that at today’s Extraordinary General Meeting shareholders voted in favour of authorising the disposal ...



August 10, 2007

Ultrawideband technology gets Ofcom approval

by Lin Freestone
Ofcom has finally approved ultrawideband (UWB) radio technology and would prefer to see it unlicensed and with the minimum amount of regulations. UWB is a novel transmission system that combines very high speeds with very low power over short distances. Ofcom considers that radio spectrum is an essential raw material in the development of converged communications services, and the removal ...



PlusNet appoints Neil Laycock as CEO

by Lin Freestone
PlusNet, the ISP based in Sheffield, has appointed Neil Laycock as Chief Executive Officer of the company. He has been acting CEO since March 2007, and is now confirmed in the post. PlusNet was acquired by BT in January of this year, and the company acts as an independent subsidiary of BT. Since the takeover, BT has invested in, and supported, ...



August 9, 2007

Ofcom gives wireless USB the go-ahead

by Jan Harris
Media regulator Ofcom has changed its regulations to allow Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology to be used in consumer devices without a licence. UWB is a radio technology which provides short-range high-bandwidth communications by using a large portion of the radio spectrum in a way that doesn't interfere with narrow band usage. Technologies that use radio spectrum usually require a licence for ...



Second quarter results from Virgin Media

by Lin Freestone
Virgin Media has issued its latest second quarter results, which records that the operator managed to add just 51,000 (on/off net) new broadband customers during the quarter. Total broadband customers now stand at 3,467,100, maintaining Virgin Media’s position as the UK's largest residential broadband provider. The slower than expected growth has been partly attributed to off-setting customer loses as a result ...



18% of UK internet users do weekly shopping online

by Lin Freestone
MyVoucherCodes, a UK voucher code discount site, has published the results of a survey of shopping practices. The survey revealed that 18% of UK internet users do their weekly shopping online. Of all those questioned who said that they did their weekly shopping online, 42% came from Northern England, 36% were from Southern England, 13% came from Scotland and 9% ...



New mobile data usage service from KT Freetel

by Lin Freestone
KT Freetel, a South Korean mobile operator, has formed a partnership with mobile software platform provider Picsel to bring multimedia content, particularly newspaper and magazine content, to mobile devices. Controlling about a third of the country's mobile market, KT Freetel is looking for new ways of expanding mobile data usage. The easy-user interface facilitated by Picsel's technology, and a broad ...



August 8, 2007

Geographic numbering on BT’s Business Broadband VoIP

by Lin Freestone
BT’s Business Broadband Voice has added geographic numbering to its package. The Business Broadband Voice is a business VoIP telephony service provided by BT for customers with BT Business Broadband and a BT Business telephone account. A geographic number is one that starts with an area code that is related to a geographic location in the UK. This could be an ...



Over one billion mobile broadband users by 2012

by Lin Freestone
Research carried out by Juniper Research forecasts that HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) will dominate mobile broadband network deployments over the next five years, accounting for more than 70% of the total mobile broadband subscriber base by 2012. It is predicted that the number of people taking advantage of the benefits of mobile broadband will exceed one billion by 2012, with ...



August 7, 2007

SSE disposes of 220 tower sites for £79m

by Lin Freestone
Scottish and Southern Energy has sold its telecoms site assets from its telecoms business, SSE Telecommunications, for £79m, excluding working capital. The sites have been bought by The Wireless Infrastructure Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wireless Infrastructure Group Limited. The disposal involves over 220 tower sites. The sites are used by mobile phone operators, the emergency services and local authorities ...



Plans for Tele2 to sell its Spanish operations

by Lin Freestone
It is rumoured that Tele2 could be planning to sell its operations in Spain. The Swedish telecommunications operator is considering plans to dispose of its Spanish network assets acquired two years ago. The decision to sell is thought to be due to the competitive environment, and to avoid having to make further heavy investments in the market in new ADSL ...



August 6, 2007

New Community website from PlusNet

by Lin Freestone
PlusNet, the UK ISP, will shortly be launching its new Community site. The site has been at the testing stage for the last three months and has proved to be a success. Customers will be able to enjoy a faster and more functional website containing forums, blogs, and news articles. PlusNet customers will be able to become part of the company’s ...