http://www.thinkbroadband.com en It was well known that Rutland council was signing with BT, but now the contract has been signed, details of the roll-out have been released. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5242-rutland-county-council-signs-broadband-contract-with-bt.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5242.html Wed, 16 May 2012 16:33:14 +0100 Not everyone wants the ultrafast speeds of 330 Mbps that FTTP from Openreach has as its highest speed, and an offer for the 80 Meg service is also available. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5241-openreach-fibre-to-the-premises-80-meg-service-special-offer.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5241.html Wed, 16 May 2012 13:55:23 +0100 Ofcom has published results from its latest mystery shopping exercise, and intends to have a gentle word with some providers over their performance in terms of informing customers about speed. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5238-ofcom-mystery-shopper-reports-providers-could-do-better.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5238.html Wed, 16 May 2012 11:52:18 +0100 Buried away in mystery shopper research is a statistic that reveals that some 63% of UK households have access to superfast broadband. We look at how this figure may actually be possible. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5237-63-of-uk-households-have-access-to-superfast-broadband.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5237.html Wed, 16 May 2012 11:29:40 +0100 The quarterly results from providers provide a handy way of tracking the ups and downs of the broadband industry, the latest Orange figures almost slipped away quietly. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5240-orange-broadband-customer-numbers-finally-spotted.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5240.html Wed, 16 May 2012 09:55:17 +0100 The ASA has waded into the broadband speeds area, appearing to call now for speed checkers to reflect throughput speeds, rather than access speeds that Ofcom want. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5239-asa-rules-on-talktalk-website-speed-checker.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5239.html Wed, 16 May 2012 09:33:59 +0100 While the Openreach FTTP product does not have a very large footprint at this time, it is available and is probably the largest full fibre network in the UK. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5236-pricing-for-openreach-330-mbps-service-announced.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5236.html Tue, 15 May 2012 09:36:20 +0100 The first quarter results for 2012 have been published by the Spanish Telefonica group. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5235-telefonica-reports-continuing-decline-at-o2-be.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5235.html Mon, 14 May 2012 09:29:13 +0100 As the speed of internet access continues, wireless speeds in the home may be the biggest speed bottleneck. Step in the 500 Mbps (250 Mbps max in any one direction) HomePlug devices. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5234-review-devolo-dlan-500-avtriple-homeplug-starter-kit.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5234.html Mon, 14 May 2012 09:12:24 +0100 The UK has been awash with people pointing out how pointless the court ordered blocking of The Pirate Bay is. In the Netherlands they are now trying to stifle that discussion. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5233-dutch-court-orders-pirate-party-to-stop-talking-about-block-circumvention.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5233.html Fri, 11 May 2012 13:49:41 +0100 With the recent jailing of a twitter user who mocked footballer Fabrice Muamba the Governments top legal adviser has spoken out, saying that existing laws are sufficient to police social media. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5232-attorney-general-says-new-laws-not-needed-to-handle-social-media-abuse.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5232.html Fri, 11 May 2012 13:29:50 +0100 While there is lots of criticism of what the BDUK projects aim to achieve, the projects are progressing as fast as local authority projects always do. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5231-fujitsu-may-still-be-in-the-running-for-suffolk-bduk-project.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5231.html Fri, 11 May 2012 13:15:42 +0100 BT Wholesale is starting the process of retiring its IPStream Connect service by 2014, with it stopping to take orders for new services on 425 exchanges that currently provide a 20CN and 21CN broadband service later this year. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5230-bt-wholesale-to-stop-taking-ipstream-connect-orders-in-some-21cn-areas.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5230.html Fri, 11 May 2012 09:30:09 +0100 From 1st July the cost of data roaming and calls when travelling outside the UK in the EU will be a little cheaper. Though not as cheap we thought it might be. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5229-eu-votes-in-new-roaming-charges-and-worldwide-charge-cap.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5229.html Fri, 11 May 2012 09:04:28 +0100 The first UK Official Streaming Chart is due to be unveiled on Monday 14th May at 1pm. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5228-music-streaming-comes-of-age-as-it-gets-an-official-streaming-chart.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5228.html Thu, 10 May 2012 19:36:29 +0100 It is not just Openreach that is expanding its workforce, Virgin Media is looking for 120 people to join its apprenticeship scheme this year. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5227-virgin-media-looking-for-120-apprentice-engineers.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5227.html Thu, 10 May 2012 19:17:06 +0100 The free WiFi trial in London at 28 hotspots has seen around 25,000 unique users per month since the start of the trial, and Nokia has decided to leave the scheme, but sponsors for the ad-based system will see it continue. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5226-nokia-leaves-london-wifi-trial-new-sponsors-appear.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5226.html Thu, 10 May 2012 19:08:42 +0100 Video games have had the PEGI rating system for some time, but some games still were rated by the BBFC, under a new law all games except for a small number will be classified using the PEGI system. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5225-video-game-age-rating-to-be-simplified.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5225.html Thu, 10 May 2012 14:53:58 +0100 It took BT some years to get ADSL rolled out, and the same is the case with the fibre services, which is leading to rise in questions about where and when. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5223-openreach-consumer-fibre-services-pass-ten-million-homes.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5223.html Thu, 10 May 2012 13:32:53 +0100 A paper commissioned by Convergys and written by the LSE identifies a shortfall in funding for the USC and superfast broadband projects. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5204-lse-calls-for-government-to-put-more-into-broadband-pot.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5204.html Thu, 10 May 2012 13:25:17 +0100 Those businesses and communities in the notional final 10% of the UK, have until 6th July to make an application for funding to help bring superfast broadband to their area. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5224-work-and-live-in-rural-uk-get-your-applications-in-to-receive-superfast-broadband.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5224.html Thu, 10 May 2012 12:11:17 +0100 The BT Group has announced its results for the year and quarter ending 31st March 2012. With a annual £2.4bn profit and a net debt of £9bn still to be paid off. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5222-bt-group-publishes-fourth-quarter-results.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5222.html Thu, 10 May 2012 09:19:49 +0100 The Queen's Speech as expected has outlined a new Communications Bill that would expand on current legislation to encompass social media. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5221-draft-communications-bill-seeks-to-modernise-contact-tracking.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5221.html Wed, 09 May 2012 12:21:28 +0100 18 complaints over line rental price appearing in the small print have been upheld against Virgin Media. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5220-virgin-media-and-the-asa-round-two.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5220.html Wed, 09 May 2012 10:52:38 +0100 TalkTalk is calling on Ofcom to start a consultation on how much Openreach, BT Wholesale and BT Retail charge for their services. It views the pricing as too high, eroding its previous position of being considerably cheaper than BT Retail products. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5217-talktalk-raises-concerns-over-bt-fibre-pricing.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5217.html Wed, 09 May 2012 10:00:59 +0100 The market for video/text applications on smartphones is obviously not saturated yet, as Telefonica has pushed a free application into the arena. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5219-tu-me-video-calling-app-from-telefonica.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5219.html Wed, 09 May 2012 09:27:39 +0100 Virgin Media is back in front of the headmaster again. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5218-asa-admonishes-virgin-media-over-uk-fastest-broadband-claim.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5218.html Wed, 09 May 2012 09:12:50 +0100 As the costs of delivering video over the Internet fall, the economics of renting transponder space on satellite TV services becomes less attractive. Meaning that very fast broadband will be ever more important as the decade passes. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5216-predictions-that-satellite-tv-will-lose-out-to-ott-tv.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5216.html Tue, 08 May 2012 18:57:19 +0100 As the first step towards making activation of FTTC services easier and hopefully cheaper, Openreach is to under take a trial to look at how micro-filters affect end-user speeds. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5213-openreach-in-technical-trial-to-test-micro-filters-with-fttc-service.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5213.html Tue, 08 May 2012 11:16:34 +0100 We recently asked visitors to our site to vote for what speed should be guaranteed as part of the Universal Service Commitment, and a massive 94% voted for a speed in excess of the 2 Meg target. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5214-broadband-universal-service-commitment-9-out-of-10-disagree-with-the-government.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5214.html Tue, 08 May 2012 09:37:22 +0100 Magnet Networks has this morning announced it will be offering a Fibre to the Home (FTTH) service to a development in Wembley. The service will be operated by Velocity 1, a company in which Magnet Networks will retain a 90% ownership whilst the developer of the site, Quintain Estates and Development PLC, will retain a 10% shareholding. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5215-magnet-networks-announces-fibre-broadband-service-for-wembley-development.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5215.html Tue, 08 May 2012 01:02:05 +0100 While some parts of the UK are pinning all their hops on the BDUK projects, Suffolk continues to see improvements in advance of any project ran by the County Council. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5212-faster-broadband-for-shingle-street-suffolk.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5212.html Mon, 07 May 2012 13:44:56 +0100 Free wifi access in Costa coffee shops is nothing new, but a deal with O2 has been struck giving customers access to a free service. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5211-o2-wifi-takes-over-at-costa-coffee-shops.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5211.html Sat, 05 May 2012 12:26:22 +0100 The recent inquiry and talk of consultation on child protection in the UK, is not solely driven by the UK Government, there are strategies emerging from the EU that are driving the processes. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5210-eu-publishes-strategy-for-a-better-internet-for-children.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5210.html Sat, 05 May 2012 11:59:48 +0100 Two weeks ago we reported on a parliamentary inquiry into Online Child Protection, but it would appear the Prime Minister may be putting his backing behind changes to the laws requiring people to opt-in to adult content. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5206-lazy-parenting-could-result-in-mandatory-porn-blocks.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5206.html Fri, 04 May 2012 18:12:30 +0100 A letter from INTUG to the EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes calls into question the oft stated statistic that 99.6% of the UK has access to basic broadband. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5209-just-how-covered-is-the-uk-with-basic-broadband.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5209.html Fri, 04 May 2012 15:11:02 +0100 While it is not surprise to see a council centered around Fibre to the Home promoting, it is not every day they make such blunt statements. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5208-ftth-council-tells-uk-you-need-to-have-ftth-now.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5208.html Fri, 04 May 2012 14:07:41 +0100 The twenty seven cities that can compete to be one of ten cities that will share a £50m pot to provision ultrafast services has been announced. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5207-the-cities-allowed-to-enter-the-next-round-of-urban-broadband-funding-announced.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5207.html Fri, 04 May 2012 13:23:27 +0100 It appears that Orbis Investment are not happy with the value the Vodafone bid placed on Cable and Wireless Worldwide, which could delay the sale of the company. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5205-cable-and-wireless-vodafone-bid-may-be-in-trouble.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5205.html Fri, 04 May 2012 10:14:08 +0100 Many have said that if sites are blocked, and tracking of individuals engaged in infringing file sharing increases that people will adopt systems to obscure their identity, and a Swedish University suggests that this is happening in the under 25 age group. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5203-swedish-research-suggests-40-rise-in-use-of-vpns.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5203.html Wed, 02 May 2012 16:26:24 +0100 BSkyB has published its 3rd quarter results ending 31st March 2012, and these show it is growing its broadband user base at a very rapid pace. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5202-sky-adds-212-000-broadband-customers-in-last-quarter.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5202.html Wed, 02 May 2012 10:31:22 +0100 Direct Save Telecom has announced a 24 month contract service, that offers broadband for just £2.49 a month. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5200-is-this-the-cheapest-broadband-in-the-uk.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5200.html Tue, 01 May 2012 15:53:40 +0100 Prices are not just falling at the box shifting end of the broadband market, Zen has announced its fibre service activation fee is descreasing from £80+VAT to £60+VAT. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5201-zen-internet-reduces-fibre-activation-fee.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5201.html Tue, 01 May 2012 14:01:16 +0100 In February the English High Court ruled that the Pirate Bay was encouraging infringement of copyright, now the six largest providers have just weeks to block the web site. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5199-justice-arnold-tells-largest-providers-to-block-pirate-bay.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5199.html Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:56:53 +0100 Everything Everywhere is upping the level of its lobbying to get 4G rolled out sooner rather than later with the launch of a 4GBritain campaign. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5198-its-not-digital-britain-it-is-4gbritain.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5198.html Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:57:02 +0100 The UK first talked about a 2 Mega bit per second Universal Service Commitment back in 2009, we want to find out what peoples opinions are. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5197-poll-looking-at-universal-service-commitment.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5197.html Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:45:59 +0100 The Digital Economy act has been around since the last weeks of the previous Labour Government, and now it looks like that letter writing campaign to try and reduce copyright infringement may not start until 2014 at very least. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5196-hands-up-if-you-had-forgot-about-the-digital-economy-act.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5196.html Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:43:09 +0100 The Post Office has offered an unlimited service for a while now, but it seems the changes to advertising rules may have prompted a revamp of the providers Fair Use Policy. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5195-post-office-clarifies-its-fair-use-policy.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5195.html Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:26:31 +0100 Have a look at thinkbroadband's new home networking guide. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5181-new-home-networking-guide-released.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5181.html Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:21:18 +0100 Cambridge and the surrounding area has played host to a white space trial from a consortium comprising 17 companies. The trial has reached a successful conclusion. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5194-white-space-trial-in-cambridge-finishes-after-ten-months.html http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/5194.html Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:59:27 +0100