EU antitrust chief warns against telecoms mergers  

EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager has issued a stern warning against further consolidation in the bloc's telecommunications industry, countering a recent EU report that advocated for mergers among operators to bolster networks.

Speaking at a conference in Brussels, Vestager forcefully rejected the notion that more concentrated national telecoms markets would lead to better outcomes.

"No evidence suggests that more concentrated national markets lead to better...

18 April 2024 | 5G

FCC to decide on net neutrality’s future

The FCC is gearing up for a vote aimed at regaining regulatory power over ISPs and reinstating federal net neutrality rules discarded by the Trump administration in 2017. Net neutrality is designed to ensure that the choices of internet users, not ISPs, dictate online activities.

Early in April, the FCC revealed its draft rules, which have since garnered praise for various reasons. Notably, the rules demand an end to the practice by mobile carriers such as T-Mobile, AT&T, and...

17 April 2024 | Broadband

Chinese telcos given 2027 deadline to ditch foreign chips

To reduce dependence on foreign technologies, Chinese officials have reportedly mandated the country's leading telecom operators – including China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom – to eliminate foreign semiconductors from their networks by 2027.

Beijing’s directive particularly targets chips made by American giants Intel and AMD, which have been a staple in Chinese telecom infrastructure.

Issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the...

15 April 2024 | 5G

Google is spending $1B on new US-Japan subsea cables

Google has announced that it’s spending $1 billion on new subsea cable systems to boost internet connectivity between the US and Japan.

The tech giant said the initiative, called the Pacific Connect, includes the development of two new undersea fibre-optic cables: Proa and Taihei.

Google is partnering with several telecoms companies – including KDDI, ARTERIA, Citadel Pacific, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) – on the...

11 April 2024 | Broadband

US ISPs must display broadband ‘nutrition’ labels from today

US internet service providers with over 100,000 subscribers must now display standardised broadband labels that lay out the true costs, speeds, and data caps for their services.

The new rules from the Federal Communications Commission take effect today in response to widespread complaints about hidden fees and misleading marketing tactics used by broadband companies.

"For too long, the ISP industry has gotten away with burying the true cost of their services in fine...

10 April 2024 | Broadband

NTT: AI risks ‘enormous and irreversible damage’ to society

In a joint proposal, Japanese telecom giant NTT and newspaper publisher The Yomiuri Shimbun have warned that generative AI poses risks of causing "enormous and irreversible damage" to society if left unchecked.

The companies acknowledge the benefits of generative AI, including user-friendly interfaces and improved productivity from summaries. However, they raise concerns about the lack of human control over the technology.

Among the challenges highlighted are...

9 April 2024 | Hot Topics

Virgin Media O2 launches ‘smart support’ to proactively solve issues

Virgin Media O2 has begun rolling out a new "smart support" service aimed at proactively solving broadband issues for customers at no extra cost.

According to the company's research, over a third (34%) of British broadband users wouldn't feel confident trying to fix WiFi issues themselves—despite 98 percent relying on the internet daily.

The smart support service promises to enhance streaming, video calling, and gaming by monitoring customers' WiFi hubs and connection...

8 April 2024 | Broadband

CMA launches in-depth probe into Vodafone-Three UK merger

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed it will conduct an in-depth Phase 2 investigation into the proposed merger between mobile operators Vodafone and Three. 

The competition watchdog had previously expressed concerns that the £11 billion ($13.92 billion) deal could lead to higher prices for consumers and reduced investment in Britain's mobile networks.

Last month, the CMA told Vodafone and Three they had five working days to respond with...

4 April 2024 | 5G

Nokia and Vodafone test latency-busting technology

A new internet standard called L4S (Low Latency, Low Loss, and Scalable throughput) has been successfully tested by Vodafone and Nokia Bell Labs.

In tests simulating a heavily congested fibre-to-the-home broadband connection over Wi-Fi, the companies reduced latency from 550 milliseconds to just 12 milliseconds. With an ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi, the latency dropped even further to only 1.05 milliseconds.

Latency over 100ms can cause noticeable lags during...

3 April 2024 | Broadband

AT&T probes data breach affecting millions of customers

AT&T announced on Saturday that it is investigating a major data breach involving the personal information of over 73 million current and former customer accounts.

The company said a data set containing records on approximately 7.6 million existing AT&T accounts and 65.4 million former accounts was released on the dark web.

According to AT&T's preliminary analysis, the compromised data appears to date back to 2019 or earlier. However, the company stated it...

2 April 2024 | AT&T