Also in this roundup: Ofcom report shows UK fiber growth; Virgin Media says November was the busiest month for data; Openreach creates jobs to "build back better."
OneWeb has launched 36 satellites into orbit, marking its first launch since emerging from bankruptcy in July. This latest deployment brings OneWeb's satellites in orbit to 110. Ultimately it plans to launch 648 low-Earth orbit satellites to its broadband constellation. "Lift-off occurred on 18 December at 12:26 GMT. OneWeb's satellites separated from the rocket and were dispensed in nine batches over a period of 3 hours 52 minutes with signal acquisition on all 36 satellites confirmed," said the company in a press release. With this latest launch, OneWeb says it is on track to launch regional commercial service in 2021 and global service in 2022. "Each launch moves us closer to our goal of building this much-needed global, secure, trusted, enterprise-grade broadband network, powered from space," Neil Masterson, OneWeb CEO, said in a statement. You can watch the launch below:
A new Connected Nations report from UK regulator Ofcom shows that 8 million homes can now access gigabit broadband, with 5 million of those coming from full fiber rollouts. In the last year, full fiber access has increased by 80%, which the regulator says is the "largest increase to date." According to the report, full fiber availability is highest in Northern Ireland, with 56% coverage, followed by Wales (19%). All in all, full fiber broadband is now available to 18% of UK homes, up from 1.7% in 2016. Ofcom urges "continued investment" in fiber services and says it will publish guidance in March "to promote competition and supercharge investment."
Speaking of all that UK broadband, Virgin Media announced that it's had a "record-breaking 2020" in terms of home broadband use. The company says that customers downloaded an extra 2.8GB of data per day on average. November was the busiest month for network traffic driven by a national lockdown and new games and consoles. "During November, customers downloaded an average of 17.3GB per day – enough to stream six hours of HD TV, send and receive 900 emails, play three hours of online games, as well as spending hours browsing the web and social media channels – all in the space of 24 hours," Virgin Media said in a press release. Despite everyone being home, mobile data usage also increased by 23% this year as well.
Joe Biden has yet to be sworn in as president of the United States, but his campaign slogan is echoing worldwide. In a series of press releases, Openreach has touted its work to "build back better" in the UK by creating 5,300 new engineering jobs to be filled in 2021 in the interest of furthering its nationwide broadband rollout. "The new roles, located in communities throughout the country, will enable the company to continue improving service levels across its existing networks, whilst building and connecting customers to its new, ultrafast, ultra-reliable 'Full Fibre' broadband network at a record pace," Openreach said in a release. The jobs expansion includes 2,500 in Openreach's service and network build divisions and 2,800 positions with supply chain partners. That's no malarkey.
Charter has sparked RDOF work in all 24 states where it won bids. The cable op booked about $19 million in RDOF revenues in Q1, and expects to have about $9 million per month come in over the next ten years.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March.
Launch of 2-Gig and 5-Gig FTTP tiers in 70-plus markets puts more pressure on cable ops to enhance their existing DOCSIS 3.1 network or accelerate their upgrade activity centered on the new DOCSIS 4.0 specs.
Ziply Fiber, an operator that tangles with Comcast and Charter, has launched two multi-gigabit tiers in 60 urban areas, aiming for all markets by Q2 2022.
Did you know that fiber network expansion is the top priority of service providers over the next five years according to Heavy Reading’s recently published State of the Service Provider Report*? With this rapid expansion comes increased competition. Like many service providers, you may be feeling the pressure to differentiate your brand. Service innovation is your opportunity to stand out.
You may be wondering what types of innovative solutions you can offer, especially as services like home network security and parental control become table stakes in competitive markets. The opportunity is strong with solutions like smart home security and beyond. Join us for this webinar to learn:
Why the current state of the broadband market is making differentiation among service providers more crucial than ever before
Why service innovation is the key to unlocking the full potential of your brand
What types of innovative offerings service providers should consider offering to stay competitive
The time to differentiate yourself is now – join us on April 20 to learn how it’s possible.
To save this item to your list of favorite Broadband World News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
Twitter Feed
Information Resources
Webinars
