News summary:

• Higher bandwidth services are urgently required in mobile fronthaul and cable access networks
• ADVA AccesWave25^™ offers an easy way to boost existing 10G DWDM infrastructure without a major increase in cost or footprint
• New C-band tunable SFP28 pluggable device reduces operational complexity and extends reach to 40km

MUNICH–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ADVA (FSE: ADV) today launched its AccessWave25™, empowering network operators to easily migrate their 10Gbit/s access infrastructure to 25Gbit/s connectivity without a significant increase in footprint or major changes to the existing optical layer. The pluggable device answers the urgent need for higher bandwidth services in mobile X-Haul, cable access and wholesale networks. Operators can now slot the AccessWave25^™ into any standard-based SFP28 port for an instant capacity upgrade without replacing existing demarcation or aggregation devices. Using patent-pending distance optimization technology, the device also extends 25Gbit/s DWDM reach to 40km, and its G.metro auto-tuning technology reduces provisioning efforts and simplifies operations.

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European satellite operator Eutelsat, which is also the parent of UK ISP Konnect (We Konnect), are celebrating this morning after confirming the successful launch of their next gen ‘Very High Throughput Satellite’ (VHTS) into Geostationary Transfer Orbit by Arianespace using an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana.

The new satellite, which was built by Thales Alenia Space, is a more traditional one that will sit in a high geostationary earth orbit and cover a wide area – across the UK and Europe. The VHTS is expected to weigh 6.3 tonnes, support 230 beams over Western Europe and have a massive Ka-band (radio spectrum) capacity of around 500Gbps (Gigabits per second).

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Rural focused UK ISP Gigaclear, which is working to build their 1Gbps full fibre (FTTP) network across remote parts of England, will today launch a “Bank Holiday Special” offer that discounts the price of their unlimited 400Mbps (symmetric speed) broadband service to just £20 for the first 18 months of service (£49 thereafter).

The provider, which already covers 300,000 premises and aims to reach 500,000 with their full fibre network by the end of 2023 (here), intends to continue running the new promotion until 31st August 2022. The package itself includes 2 x wireless routers (mesh), an 18-month minimum contract term, free installation and unlimited usage.

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Network operator and UK ISP LightSpeed Broadband, which is busy rolling out a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across the East of England, has today announced the appointment of Brett Shepherd as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The operator currently aims to cover an initial 200,000 premises across the East of England region by the end of 2022, although they also hold a longer-term ambition to reach 1 million premises by the end of 2025. At the last update in March 2022 we were informed that they’d so far managed to cover 30,000 premises and were in the process of ramping-up (they only started their deployment in April 2021).

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CityFibre UK has today announced that they’ve started the construction phase of their £30m project to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network in the Greater Manchester town of Rochdale (England), which is being supported by civil engineering firm Network PLUS.

The overall project, which is expected to reach “almost every home and business” in the town, aims to reach completion by 2024, but the first services will go live – in gradual phases – for people to take advantage of much sooner. Once areas do go live then the first ISPs to pledge support for the new network in Rochdale will include Vodafone (Gigafast Broadband), TalkTalk (Future Fibre) and Zen Internet (Zen is based in the town).

Once again, the new build forms part of CityFibre’s wider £4.9bn investment…

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In a surprise development, new and existing customers who sign-up to one of Sky Broadband’s superfast, ultrafast or gigafast (FTTC, G.Fast or FTTP) powered internet access packages are now being given a “Wall to Wall WiFi guarantee” at no extra cost. Sky’s Wi-Fi Guarantee is normally only available as part of their paid ‘Boost’ add-on.

At the time of writing, Sky has not issued us with any press releases about this change, but several of our readers did spot the recent addition to their package. Normally the only way to get a Wi-Fi guarantee from Sky Broadband would be to add their Sky Broadband Boost add-on for an extra £5 per month (this also adds line checks, engineer visits and “WiFi boosters at no extra cost, if your home needs them“).

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