Neowin®

The UK government has created a £4 million fund to help innovators find ways to deliver fibre broadband through the water network to help connect homes and businesses out in rural areas.

Virgin Media recently trialled Infinera's XR Optics technology in its network to deliver speeds of up to 400 Gbps. Interestingly, this technology can be slotted into existing networks easily.

The UK government has announced that it's scaling back ambitions to deploy gigabit broadband to 100% of residences by 2025. Instead, it has set a new target of 85% but the budget is unchanged.

The UK's digital regulator, Ofcom, has announced that it will be easier to switch from some broadband packages. The changes mean the new broadband provider has to manage the switchover.

Virgin Media has announced that it's expanding Gig1 Fibre broadband to Reading, UK and surrounding areas. The announcement comes just months after Gig1 Fibre was first unveiled in September.

Groups representing the telecoms industry in the UK have called on the Prime Minister to address several challenges facing a nationwide fibre rollout. Proposals to fix the issues were given.