Category: Broadband
Only 17% of users have access to a ‘truly free internet’, study claims
Only 17% of internet users have access to a truly free internet, according to the Atlas VPN team based on data from Freedom House. Generally, conditions online for human rights have deteriorated for the 13th year, with the highest declines occurring in Iran, followed by the Philippines, Belarus, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. Internet users in…
Canterbury is worst UK city for broadband speeds, claims report
Canterbury Cathedral. Historic Canterbury has won the wooden spoon for the city with the most sluggish internet in the first annual Broadband Genie Speed Index Analysis of more than 250,000 speed tests saw the quiet Highlands village of Halkirk named the slowest part of the UK, recording an average speed of…
Latest home broadband speed increases to 69 Mb/s, claims Ofcom report
Telecoms regulator Ofcom has published its latest research into the performance of home broadband services in the UK. Its findings are obtained by measuring the performance delivered to customers’ routers, and data provided by the UK’s four largest broadband providers. Its research shows that average download speeds for home broadband have continued to increase. The…
Octopus to buy Shell Energy including broadband service
Octopus has announced it will buy Shell's household energy business in the UK and Germany. Octopus Energy said that it will take over providing energy for 1.4 million homes as well as broadband services for 500,000 customers. Shell's customers are advised to "sit tight for now" as the deal is not expected to be completed…
Which? demands Ofcom investigates Virgin Media contracts
Which? has asked Ofcom to urgently investigate concerns that Virgin Media could potentially be breaking the law by giving itself sweeping powers to hike customer broadband bills. The consumer association believes Virgin Media’s terms for customers are an attempt by the firm to “have its cake and eat it” by applying aggressive inflation-linked annual mid-contract…
Government explores plan to boost broadband with £160m LEO satellites fund
The government is working to establish a potential £160m scheme to fund next generation of satellite communications development and boost UK’s leadership in growing global satellite market Satellites will be key to offering connectivity in remote and rural parts of UK, aiming to bridge the digital divide Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites more resilient and…
UK in 34th place in broadband league table
Analysis of around 1.3 billion broadband speed tests worldwide has revealed that the UK sits in 34th place, with an average speed of 93.63Mbps. The research was designed and compiled by Cable.co.uk, and the data gathered by M-Lab. Measurement Lab is led by teams based at Code for Science & Society, Google Inc and supported by partners around…
Ofcom investigates Virgin Media over contract terminations
Ofcom has opened an investigation into Virgin Media following complaints from customers that the company is making it difficult for them to cancel their services. Ofcom is concerned about the number of complaints it has received from Virgin Media customers who have tried to leave, but said the company had made it difficult. Some struggled to…
Britain one of the most expensive countries in world for broadband, claims report
The UK is ranked 73rd for broadband cost in the world, analysis from Broadband Genie has found. A high-speed internet connection costs £30.84, which puts the UK behind the likes of Portugal, Singapore, Austria, Japan, Finland, and other economic powerhouses such as China, France, India, Brazil, and Germany. Looking into Europe, the UK has the…
Broadband customers demand end to long-term contracts
Two in five broadband customers (40%) want to get their internet without being tied into a fixed contract, while just one in ten (9%) back the standard 18-month deals Despite the call for flexibility, over a quarter of the deals on the market are two-year contracts, with 12-month offers only accounting for one in ten…