CityFibre awards contracts for its Project Gigabit rollouts

CityFibre has awarded its first round of contracts to build partners as part of Project Gigabit.

Project Gigabit is the government’s £5 billion programme to connect 715,000 rural properties, ensuring they have access to high-speed broadband services.

CityFibre has appointed the following as its build partners:

Granemore Group in Cambridgeshire OCU Group and CCN Communications in Hampshire OCU Group in Norfolk Telelink, OCU Group, and Granemore Group...

22 September 2023 | Broadband

T-Mobile strikes $3.3B deal with Comcast to expand spectrum holdings

T-Mobile is bolstering its spectrum portfolio by acquiring airwaves from Comcast in a transaction valued at up to $3.3 billion.

The agreement was unveiled in a blog post on Comcast's website, where the company cited a reduced need for the 600MHz spectrum as the primary motivation behind this strategic move.

Comcast had initially announced its intentions to employ the 600MHz spectrum in the development of a 5G network to enhance its Xfinity Mobile service. Alongside this,...

13 September 2023 | 5G

Vodafone to use Amazon’s LEO satellite network to extend 4G/5G

Vodafone and Amazon's ambitious Project Kuiper have unveiled a strategic partnership to expand the accessibility of 4G and 5G services.

The venture will leverage Project Kuiper's cutting-edge low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network and promises to deliver connectivity in regions that have long been deemed logistically challenging and economically prohibitive for traditional communication infrastructure.

Dave Limp, Amazon's SVP for devices and services, expressed the...

6 September 2023 | 5G

EE issue causes problems for customers of all UK networks

Customers of all the UK's mobile networks found themselves grappling with connectivity problems after a technical issue hit EE.

Reports of the problems first surfaced around midday yesterday via customers of the UK’s second-largest mobile operator, Vodafone. The issues were shown through Downdetector, a platform used to track service problems and outages.

Vodafone assured the public that its network was functioning correctly. However, the hiccup lay in the inability of...

5 September 2023 | Networks

BAE awarded £89M contract for TRINITY battlefield network

BAE Systems has been awarded an £89 million contract to design and manufacture a cutting-edge deployable tactical Wide Area Network (WAN) named 'TRINITY'.

The contract with the prominent defence and aerospace company will deliver secure and state-of-the-art battlefield internet connectivity to the UK armed forces.

Dubbed a Design and Systems Integration Delivery (DSID) contract, this five-year endeavour aligns with the Prime Minister's economic growth priorities by...

22 August 2023 | Networks

5G Standalone deployments lag in H1 2023

Expectations were high for a surge in 5G Standalone (5G SA) deployments in 2023, yet the first half of the year saw only seven materialise.

30 deployments are listed by STL Partners as "in progress" on their tracker. In a report, the telecoms research firm examined the likelihood of these deployments occurring within 2023 and whether 5G SA remains a critical priority.

Previously, experts predicted a significant uptick in 5G SA core deployments in 2022, but the reality...

11 August 2023 | 5G

Churches partner with Vodafone to enhance rural coverage

Vodafone and Net CS have joined forces to embark on an ambitious project to enhance mobile technology in 11 Church of England parish churches across the country.

The primary goal of this partnership is to provide robust and reliable 4G coverage to rural communities in the vicinity of these historic churches.

The first phase of the project has already been completed, with the installation of the new mobile technology at two churches: the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brompton...

27 July 2023 | Networks

BT and OneWeb use LEO satellites to connect rural island

BT and OneWeb have successfully brought high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity to Lundy Island, North Devon, marking a significant milestone in providing reliable connectivity to remote locations.

Lundy Island, situated 19 kilometres off the coast of North Devon, has long struggled with limited access to the internet. However, the recent partnership between BT and OneWeb has introduced a game-changing solution that leverages cutting-edge satellite technology to bridge the...

21 July 2023 | Broadband

Huawei says it will launch ‘5.5G’ equipment in 2024

During MWC Shanghai, Huawei made a bold claim that it would provide all the necessary components for running a 5.5G network by next year. However, no-one can define what 5.5G even is.

Yang Chaobin, the director and president of ICT Products & Solutions at Huawei, announced the company's ambitious plans, stating that the launch would signify the beginning of the 5.5G era for the industry.

However, the term "5.5G" is currently not recognised by the 3rd Generation...

30 June 2023 | 5G

Vodafone launches UK’s first 5G SA network for consumers

Vodafone has made a groundbreaking move by becoming the first operator in the UK to offer customers a 5G SA (5G Standalone) network.

The advanced network, known as 5G Ultra, represents a significant upgrade from the existing 5G service.

While the previous 5G technology relied partly on 4G infrastructure (referred to as 5G Non-Standalone), Vodafone's 5G SA network has undergone a complete overhaul, making it fully upgraded and future-proofed.

Customers who...

23 June 2023 | 5G