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Facebook wants to circle Africa with an undersea data cable
Facebook's quest to connect more of Africa may have it practically encircling the continent. Wall Street Journal sources maintain that Facebook is in talks to run an undersea data cable (nicknamed Simba -- yes, really) that would run around much of Africa. Details are few and far between, but it might link to existing beach access points in countries along the eastern, northern and western coastlines with the help of telecoms like MTN Group and Vodafone. This would help improve access to Facebook for more of the continent and might just lower the social network's data costs by cutting out in-between companies.
New Zealand ISPs block websites hosting Christchurch shooting video
Internet providers in New Zealand aren't relying solely on companies like Facebook and YouTube to get rid of the Christchurch mass shooter's video. Major ISPs in the country, including Vodafone, Spark and Vocus, are working together to block access at the DNS level to websites that don't quickly respond to video takedown requests. The move quickly cut off access to multiple sites, including 4chan, 8chan (where the shooter was a member), LiveLeak and file transfer site Mega. The block goes away the moment a site complies, and Vodafone told Bleeping Computer that a "number of sites" were unblocked that way.
UK's largest mobile carrier will launch 5G in 16 cities next year
EE, the largest mobile carrier in the UK, is planning to launch its 5G network in 16 cities across the country in 2019. The carrier will flip the switch on the high-speed network in heavily trafficked areas in the UK's busiest cities. The initial launch will include London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester.
Palm's tiny companion phone goes on sale next week
If you're intrigued by the new Palm mini smartphone, then you don't have to wait much longer to pick it up. The Verizon-exclusive phone will be available from the mobile carrier starting on November 2nd. The full retail price will be $350, or you can snag it with a two-year contract at a discount for $300. If you want to pay monthly, it will cost you $14.58 per month for 24 months.
Huawei puts giant ravens around the UK because that's not creepy at all
If an eight-foot tall raven suddenly appeared nearby, you'd probably be left wondering just how many minutes you have left until the end times arrive. But Huawei is hoping UK residents have a slightly more positive reaction. To promote its P20 Pro smartphone, the company has manufactured a number of giant ravens that it will place in cities throughout the UK this weekend and Huawei says it's doing this because its research shows Brits want to get closer to wildlife.
Nokia and Vodafone will bring 4G to the Moon
German new-space firm PTScientists has been planning a mission to the Moon for many years now. It has partnered with Audi to produce and deliver two XPrize-winning quattro rovers to the Moon that will explore both the lunar surface and carefully return to the Apollo 17 landing site in 2019. Now the team has partnered with Vodafone and Nokia to create a Moon-based communications network using 4G LTE to bring high-def video of the moon to those of us here on Earth.
Vodafone customers given second chance to ditch contracts scot-free
Some Vodafone customers are being given a second chance to ditch their mobile contracts without incurring any nasty early exit penalties, after the provider changed the way roaming fees work earlier this year. Ahead of roaming charges being abolished across the EU, Vodafone announced in April a flat £5 per day fee for using your regular allowances abroad in 60 "roam-further" destinations outside the EU. While that's a pretty common way of doing things these days, as you might know, carriers have to offer affected customers a get-out-of-jail-free card for changing the state of play mid-contract.
Vodafone teams up with CityFibre to offer gigabit broadband
Despite there being healthy competition over broadband deals in the UK, its infrastructure is dominated by two players: BT (Openreach) and Virgin Media. It means that the majority of internet service providers are forced to lease BT lines, which restricts their ability to offer a unique service. Vodafone sits in the unique position of owning a small amount of its own backhaul, after it bought Cable and Wireless back in 2012, but still largely relies on BT. That looks set to change after the company confirmed today that it's teaming up with CityFibre, the UK's largest wholesale fibre provider, to sell its service on new CityFibre broadband installations for an exclusive period of time.
Vodafone branches out into internet of things things
The UK's major carriers have mobile all sewn up, and after a bit of broadband here and TV there, they're turning to other things to get their kicks, grow their brands and pad their bank accounts. For O2, that meant moving into smart home gear, and for Vodafone, that means launching a range of internet of things (IoT) devices under the banner "V by Vodafone." Available to Vodafone customers in the UK and a handful of other European countries from today is a car telematics dongle, pet tracker, bag tracker and connected camera, with more products due to join this launch lineup next year.
Mobile phone data could replace census questionnaires in the UK
Every 10 years since 1801, England and Wales have conducted a census, which gives the government and its associated authorities an up-to-date picture of the population. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) -- joined by independent Scottish and Northern Irish agencies -- typically ask householders for their age, address, occupation, nationality, marital status, religion and other personal information. For the most part, the ONS has tallied that information via paper questionnaires that have been sent in the post. However, as part of a new trial, the agency has begun using mobile phone data to track where people live and work.
Vodafone's paid zero-rating Passes are now available
Attention social media butterflies, chatterboxes and serial streamers: Vodafone Passes are now live. If you're catching up, Passes are Vodafone's take on a zero-rating scheme. Unlike Three and some other networks that help you preserve your precious monthly allowance by including, as a standard plan perk, "free" data towards a few services, Passes are paid bolt-ons. Buy the Chat Pass for £3 per month, for example, and you can use WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Viber Messenger as much as you want without touching a kilobyte of your regular data ration.
Vodafone’s introducing a zero-rating scheme too
Just as several of its carrier peers have done recently, Vodafone will soon be jumping on the zero-rating bandwagon. Vodafone Passes, as they're called, are a selection of paid bolt-ons that'll offer unlimited data towards several music and video streaming services, as well as some social media and messaging apps.
Vodafone's new PAYG plan will cap your bill at £1 each day
Pay-as-you-go smartphone plans haven't changed much in the last few years. Calls, texts and megabytes are priced individually, putting the emphasis on you to manage your monthly spend. Some networks, such as O2, offer discounted "bundles," but otherwise it's the same old system. Soon, Vodafone will be trying a new concept called "PAYG1." Every text, minute or 5MB of data will cost 20 pence, but if you reach a pound Vodafone will automatically cap your bill for the day. That means any further minutes and texts (and data, up to 500MB) is free until midnight.
Three's Smarty network buys back your unused data each month
It's been a while since we've seen a new mobile provider dive into the saturated UK market, but like buses, today it seems that fresh options are arriving all at once. Alright, so technically the new players are sub-brands of existing networks, with Vodafone announcing Voxi, and Three, Smarty. Naturally, both providers have a hook to differentiate them from every other mobile product out there at the moment. Voxi is offering zero-rated, "free" data for all manner of social media and chat apps, while Smarty effectively buys back the data you don't use each month and refunds that cost on your next bill.
Vodafone's Voxi SIMs come with 'free' social media data
Vodafone is so desperate to be down with the kids, it's launching a new mobile network. Voxi, a sub-brand of Vodafone, will offer three SIM-only plans aimed at people aged 25 and under. All of them include "free" data for the following social media apps: Facebook and Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter and Viber. The rest of your allowance can then be saved for the essentials — emails, navigation, that sort of thing — and hefty streaming apps such as YouTube or Spotify.
Vodafone shows again that own-brand phones can be good value
Vodafone's own-brand devices have been hit and miss over the past few years. There was the Smart Ultra 6, which was one of the best affordable phones of its time, and the Smart Platinum 7, which was an interesting step into more expensive, sub-flagship category. But alongside those, there have been a number of humdrum handsets that failed to impress. As per its yearly update cycle, Vodafone recently released new own-brand hardware, with the Smart V8 in particular slotting into the carrier's roster as one of the best affordable options.
Vodafone tries to keep its ads away from fake news sites
After Trump was elected President, folks clamored about the toxic sites that helped deliver him to the White House. The backlash pushed companies to distance themselves from some of them, and literally cost others income, like when major advertising firm AppNexus pulled all its ads from Breitbart last November. Today, global telecom Vodafone has taken a similar stand by blocking its ads from appearing on sites that promote fake news and hate speech.
UK watchdog accidentally creates pager monopoly it was hoping to avoid
True story: Vodafone still runs a pager service, decades after the old-school equivalent of pop-up notifications fell out of fashion. And it's not even the only the company supporting this ancient tech, which is still used by a few businesses, doctors, emergency services and bird watchers, apparently. Capita also maintains a pager service and agreed to buy Vodafone's division and its roughly 1,000 customers in February. However, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced today that it has decided to investigate the merger, leading Vodafone to immediately abandon the sale and close down this part of its business altogether.
Vodafone's failed TV ambitions are costing it dearly
Vodafone once had aspirations to become the next quad-play provider, able to offer its customers more than just a mobile phone contract. For nearly two years, the company was preparing to enter the pay-TV market, and in the interim it rejoined the broadband arena with its Connect service. With growth in this competitive space sluggish, however, it decided to abandon its pay-TV plans. But the problem with shutting down a project that could've launched "within weeks," according to CEO Vittorio Colao, is that it's still burning a hole in Vodafone's bank account.
Vodafone scraps mobile roaming charges for 40 countries
In roughly two months, the European Union will scrap roaming charges for smartphone users across the continent. While the impact on the UK remains hazy -- there's that whole Brexit thing to take care of -- mobile carriers have started falling in line and abandoning the fee system for Brits. Today, Vodafone has announced a new set of plans and obliterated roaming charges for all new and upgrading customers. That's an improvement over last year's offer, which offered 'free' minutes and calls for Red and Red Value customers, but capped data at 4GB or lower.
