£1bn rural network programme gives connectivity boost to Scottish communities

View across Tweeddale, from Manor Sware, Peebles, Scotland.

John Lamont MP has welcomed the significant investment being made to upgrade connectivity throughout rural parts of Scotland during a visit to an existing Virgin Media O2 mast in the Scottish Borders.

As part of the Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme, new masts will be built in the south of Scotland, while existing masts will also be upgraded. These network improvements will transform mobile coverage for individuals and businesses in the region, boost choice and productivity,...

8 February 2023 | Hot Topics

Roman Abramovich-owned British telecoms firm sold for £1

A pound coin.

German tech entrepreneur, Hakan Koç, and former telecoms executive and private equity investor, Pyrros Koussios, have acquired global mobile operator Truphone.

Koç and Koussios are said to have snapped up the assets and subsidiaries of Truphone Limited for £1 following the completion of the company’s restructuring and the recent receipt of National Security and Investment Clearance from Grant Shapps MP, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy...

24 January 2023 | Telecoms

Failure to respond to cost of living crisis threatens telecoms sector

The rise in the cost-of-living has driven consumers to re-adjust spending priorities. Telcos’ failure to respond to this changing mindset is now the biggest threat facing the industry, according to the annual EY report, Top 10 risks in telecommunications 2023.

With consumer spending under increasing pressure, EY research shows that 60% of households are worried about rising broadband subscription prices, and nearly half (45%) believe they overpay for content...

8 December 2022 | Research

Glasgow has UK’s biggest broadband gap

A busy Glasgow street.

Glasgow is the UK’s most unequal city for broadband connections – with its fastest area 866 times the speed of its slowest, according to analysis of 16,500 consumer speed tests by Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service.

The highest average download speed measured in Glasgow was 840.4Mbps, logged in the Milton district. Yet just four miles away in the suburb of Bearsden, speeds as low as 0.97Mbps were recorded. This is less than a tenth of the 10Mbps download speed...

7 December 2022 | Broadband

Comms regulator unveils broadband maps for USA

A wide shot of The Statue Of Liberty.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates interstate and international communications through cable, radio, television, satellite and wire in the US, has unveiled the pre-production draft of its new broadband maps.

These maps provide the best picture available to date of where broadband is and is not available across the country, and the FCC believes the maps will only get better from here.

Broadband consumers are empowered like never before. Maps that...

22 November 2022 | Broadband

Space tech can help achieve one-sixth of emissions cuts needed to reach net zero by 2050

Satellite technologies are already reducing carbon emissions by 1.5 billion tonnes (or 1.5 gigatons) every year, according to independent research report Can Space Help Save The Planet?, commissioned by Inmarsat from leading consultants at Globant’s Sustainable Business Studio.

This is equivalent to almost four times the entire UK’s annual emissions in 2021 or the lifetime emissions of 50 million cars.

Demonstrating the possibilities of space technologies...

11 November 2022 | Satellites

5G drone trials help emergency services patrol UK national parks 

Snowdonia.

With nearly three quarters (73%) of Brits having walked or hiked at a UK national park this year, or planning to in the near future, Virgin Media O2 has announced plans to trial 4G and 5G connected drone technology with the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre to help emergency services and Mountain Rescue volunteers protect lives.  

The telecommunications company is providing vital 4G and 5G connectivity to the Snowdonia area via the ‘Dragon’ Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS / drone)...

4 November 2022 | 5G

European telecoms firms call for web giants to contribute to soaring network costs

European telecoms companies have called on the world's web giants to contribute financially to the increasing costs of maintaining internet networks.

16 chief executives of telecoms firms, including BT, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom, released a joint statement this week, in which they said the likes of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Netflix should be made to pay some of the soaring costs for the huge amount of global internet traffic they carry on their telecoms...

28 September 2022 | Networks

India plans nationwide 5G coverage within two years

The Taj Mahal at the sunrise.

India's National Broadband Mission, which operates under the Ministry of Communications, has revealed that the country's Government will announce the launch of 5G services in the country at India Mobile Congress on October 1.

Mukesh Ambani, India's Reliance Industries’ chairman, Bharti Airtel’s CEO, Sunil Mittal, and Vodafone Idea India’s CEO, Ravinder Takkar, are expected to unveil the plan during a joint presentation at the event.

According to reports, the...

28 September 2022 | 5G

Vodafone working on satellite tech that can locate IoT devices within centimetres

Planet Earth as seen from Space.

Vodafone and Topcon Positioning Group are developing a new mass-market precise positioning system that will locate Internet of Things (IoT) devices, machinery, and vehicles with a greater degree of accuracy than using only individual global navigation satellites systems (GNSS).

Vehicles, scooters, and even robot lawn mowers can be securely monitored in real-time to within a few centimetres when connected to Vodafone’s global IoT network and using technology from Topcon which...

12 September 2022 | IoT