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BT offers broadband to every rural home in the UK, for a price
The UK was confident when it unveiled plans to make broadband available to every home by 2020, but how's it going to get there? BT thinks it can help. The telecom giant has made an offer to spend up to £600 million (about $788 million) giving 1.4 million rural homes access to internet with speeds of at least 10Mbps. This would theoretically help the government meet its goal in one fell swoop, rather go through a slow existing process that requires residents to ask for access. It sounds tempting, especially since the current approach would leave some waiting for access when 2020 arrives, but it's not as clear cut a solution as it looks on the surface -- it could lead to higher internet bills.
London is the second city to get free gigabit WiFi kiosks
London's countless telephone boxes become more redundant with every new mobile contract signed and throwaway tourist SIM purchased. Having a mind to update these payphones for the modern age, BT -- which owns the majority of them -- announced last year it had teamed up with the same crew behind New York's LinkNYC free gigabit WiFi kiosks to make that happen. The first of these, installed along London's Camden High Street, have been switched on today, offering the fastest public WiFi around, free phone calls, USB charging, maps, directions and other local info like weather forecasts, Tube service updates and community messages.
UK broadband prices to fall as Ofcom prioritises high speeds
Ofcom says millions of UK broadband customers could soon pay less for superfast broadband under new plans to limit the amount Openreach charges other ISPs to access its fibre network. The communications regulator said today that it wants to slash the cost of new connections for lower tier fibre services (up to 40Mbps) from £88.80 pounds a year to £52.77 in the hope that providers, like BT and TalkTalk, will pass those savings on to customers.
BT fined £42 million for fudging late broadband payments
Ofcom's crackdown of BT and Openreach continues. The UK regulator has dealt the pair a £42 million fine for late broadband installations fitted on behalf of rival internet service providers, such as Sky and Virgin Media. Openreach handles the bulk of Britain's broadband infrastructure -- so to keep the market fair, it's legally obliged to set up new lines within 30 working days. Inevitably, Openreach encounters problems and occasionally can't meet that deadline. In exceptional circumstances, it can assume a contract extension by the ISP and reduce the compensation it would normally have to pay. However, Ofcom found that BT did this "retrospectively over a sustained period" to avoid fines. Tut-tut.
Ofcom proposes free cash for lengthy broadband outages
Under new proposals by Ofcom, Brits could soon receive automatic compensation for slow broadband repairs and missed engineer appointments. The measures are part of a larger crackdown on the UK's telephone and internet service providers. Openreach, the arm of BT that handles broadband infrastructure, was forced to become its own, "legally separate company" earlier this month. Now, Ofcom is effectively saying that it needs to do better than before, or face financial repercussions.
Openreach's VR videos detail the humdrum life of a network engineer
Of all the incredible and entertaining uses of virtual reality, trust Openreach to come up with arguably the most boring content ever for the fledgling medium. BT recently agreed to spin its Openreach infrastructure business into a legally separate company after pressure from regulator Ofcom and the telecoms industry as a whole, but in the interim, the show must go on. Openreach today announced an engineering recruitment drive that aims to attract 1,500 trainees over the next either months to embark on a year-long programme. And for the first time, they can sample some of the mundane realities of being a network engineer through the magic of VR.
How the UK plans to block illegal Kodi soccer streams
Last week, at the High Court, the Football Association Premier League (FAPL) was granted stronger powers to crack down on the illegal streaming of English football matches. Instead of chasing websites hosting live players, the League can now block the servers that provide the live feeds, cutting off "Kodi boxes" -- a combination of legitimate media centre software with non-authorised third-party plugins -- and similar IPTV services. But how will it be enforced? Now that the order is publicly available, we can shed some light on how the FAPL intends to utilise its new powers.
BT is finally splitting Openreach into a separate company
It's been a long time coming, but BT has finally agreed to spin off Openreach, the part of its business that handles most of the UK's broadband infrastructure. Ofcom, the UK's media regulator, proposed such a split last July, in a move it believes will improve competition and investment. At the time, BT offered a handful of counterproposals -- its preference, of course, was to keep Openreach under its control -- but now the company has relented and accepted Ofcom's demands. (We suspect the threat of a tussle with the European Commission forced its hand.)
BT beats Sky to Champions League and Europa League TV rights
BT has secured another three-year deal for Champions League and Europa League football, extending its lucrative TV rights until 2021 in the UK. The contract is worth £1.2 billion, up from £897 million in 2013, and includes both the group stages and knockout rounds of each competition. As BBC News notes, the latest auction -- which takes effect from the 2018/19 season -- gives BT true exclusivity. That means no matches or highlights will be shown through the free-to-air broadcaster ITV. In return, BT has promised to "enhance its social media coverage" with shareable clips and weekly roundups. It will also continue showing the finals on YouTube.
Ofcom forces BT to cut over two million monthly phone bills by £5
Healthy competition between the UK's quad-play providers may have led to lower prices for all-in-one broadband, phone, TV and mobile packages, but some customers like to pick and choose individual providers for each job. For landline customers in particular, that decision could mean they're paying a lot more than they actually need to. Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, believes that as many as two million people who are signed up to landline-only contracts with BT are getting a rough deal, so it's put forward a plan to cut their monthly bills by at least £5 per month.
BT Sport to air 'FIFA' eSports tournaments in the UK
One of the top FIFA eSports competitions is going to be shown on BT Sport in the UK. Today, the broadcaster has announced "exclusive" coverage of the FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Championship Series, an EA organised tournament built around 'FUT Champions,' a fantasy mode where players build and compete with custom teams. BT will start with the North American regional final in Vancouver on April 8th, followed by the Asia-Pacific heats in Singapore on April 22nd. The channel will then televise the European regional final in Madrid on May 6th, before tackling the all-important Championship Final in Berlin on May 20th and 21st.
YouView's big UI update starts hitting retail set-top boxes
YouView announced a fairly comprehensive update to its set-top box UI last November, but it was actually TalkTalk customers that got almost immediate access to the new look. Today, it's the turn of contract-free retail YouView boxes, starting with the Humax T2000 -- the T1000 and T1010 models will receive it in due course. Several headline improvements have taken place behind the scenes. For one, YouView has completely rebuilt the platform in HTML5 for better responsiveness and faster navigation.
BT defends Google and Android in EU antitrust case
Google has found an unlikely ally in one of its many battles with the European Commission. As the Telegraph reports, UK telecoms provider BT has sent a letter defending Google's ownership of Android and the promotion of its own apps and services. While the exact wording is unclear, a spokesperson for the company confirmed its existence and the gist of its contents for Engadget.
BT to take £530 million hit over 'improper' Italian accounting
An accounting scandal uncovered at BT's Italian division is worse than previously thought. Far worse. In October last year, the mobile, TV and broadband provider said it had discovered "historical accounting errors" and "inappropriate management behaviour" to the tune of £145 million. A sizeable figure, but one that BT has admitted was a "best estimate" at the time. Now, following an independent review by KPMG, that number has been revised to £530 million. Alongside some dodgy accounting work, investigators found "a complex set of improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions," conducted over multiple years. Ouch.
BT to start charging TV subscribers for BT Sport
In the coming months, things are going to get a little more expensive for BT customers. The provider confirmed today that it will be raising the price of its broadband and landline services, while BT TV customers will be charged for access to BT Sport. For some customers, it will be the first time they need to pay for BT's sporting coverage, but others will see an increase in their subscription costs too.
Ofcom will force BT to legally separate from Openreach
Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, announced today that it will force the legal separation of BT and its broadband infrastructure business Openreach after the company voluntarily failed to address "competition concerns." The action comes after the provider was told it must spin Openreach off into a separate company in a bid to "deliver better outcomes for phone and broadband users."
YouView's major update centres on a faster, more visual UI
BT said earlier this month it would be rolling out a major update to its TV service next year, but it can only do that by following YouView's lead. Today, YouView announced the finer details of the impending platform upgrade, which is coming to all set-top boxes, including TalkTalk's and, of course, BT's. Moving in the same direction as all TV UIs, YouView's has been redesigned to be more visually compelling. Less words and menus, more cards and thumbnails. The EPG remains relatively unchanged, though it's now translucent by default, with whatever's currently playing shown behind it.
Ofcom bans BT/EE from bidding on new 4G spectrum
In a bid to bring balance to the UK's mobile industry, communications watchdog Ofcom has confirmed it will limit BT and EE's role in upcoming 4G auctions. Next year, Ofcom will sell off 190 MHz of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands, upping Britain's overall 4G footprint by almost a third, but BT and its newly-purchased subsidiary will be excluded from bidding on the entire 2.3 GHz band. Ofcom is worried their involvement "could harm competition in the next few years" if they were allowed to own nearly half of the usable spectrum in the market.
BT to roll out next-gen YouView TV update and app next year
With Sky Q growing in popularity and Virgin Media soon to unveil its new 4K set-top box, BT knows it needs to keep innovating its own TV offering or be left behind. That's why it's today announced a fresh round of updates for its YouView-powered platform and confirmed plans for a new mobile app, all of which will be available next year.
New York's free gigabit WiFi kiosks are coming to the UK
BT celebrated the 80th birthday of London's iconic red phone boxes earlier this month, and while some of these are being updated for the digital age, there are still countless antiquated payphones across the country needing a new lease of life. Today, BT has announced plans to rip out hundreds of these and replace them with next-gen kiosks that'll offer free gigabit WiFi, free UK calls, charging facilities and access to maps, directions and info on local services via an embedded Android tablet.
