Virgin Media O2 will donate 12,000 refurbished smartphones in 2025 to Good Things Foundation and environmental charity Hubbub, its largest device donation program to date. The initiative will provide around 1,000 refurbished smartphones a month people to judged to be in ne a month to charity partners through Hubbub’s Community Calling programme and Good Things

Following the success of the first LEO satellite-routed video call using a regular 4G/5G device, Vodafone plans to roll out Europe’s first commercial direct-to-smartphone broadband satellite service in 2025-2026, expanding network coverage to rural and underserved areas across the continent. Operating from low Earth orbit, Vodafone says its satellite service using AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites

EE MVNO Lyca Mobile has joined forces with fintech giant Revolut to introduce seamless payment features for its users. This partnership enables customers to enjoy a range of facilities, including automated subscription and bill payments, real-time payment status notifications, and one-click top-ups without the need to enter bank details manually. Revolut, known for its innovative

Durham will be the first location to lose Virgin Media 3G coverage in the company’s transition toward more reliable 4G and 5G announced in 2023. Vodafone, Three, and EE have already completed the switch-off, with O2 the last mobile network operator left to turn its 3G network off.  The switch-off is expected to have minimal

Move over, EE Experience—there’s a new retail sheriff in town. Virgin Media O2 has launched its new flagship store at Westfield Stratford City, which, at nearly 5,000 square feet, is claimed to be the largest telecoms retail space in the UK. Westfield Stratford City is one of Europe’s busiest retail destinations, drawing 50 million visitors

Vodafone has partnered with Gigs, to provide UK startups the ability to launch their own mobile services. The announcement comes less than a week after Vodafone revealed a similar “MVNO In A Box” initiative with eSIM Go. Gigs is a  platform that enables businesses to integrate mobile connectivity into their products and services and offer

The proposed merger between Vodafone and Three is nearly a done deal. The Competition and Markets Authority has agreed that a significant network upgrade by the merged company could address competition concerns and allow the merger to proceed. The CMA now states that a legally binding commitment from Vodafone and Three to undertake their proposed

Vodafone and Google have extended their existing partnership by 10 years to bring new services, devices, and TV experiences to Vodafone customers across Europe and Africa, supported by Google Cloud and Google’s Gemini models. Both companies will jointly promote the use of universal industry standards in areas such as online safety, responsible AI development, network

The UK will miss out on £11bn of infrastructure investment to deliver 5G Standalone to 95 percent of the population by 2030 and 99 percent of the UK population by 2034 unless the Vodafone Three merger goes ahead. So says Vodafone UK’s Chief Network Officer, Andrea Donà, citing findings from research that indicate nationwide 5G

Vodafone has joined other major neowkr operators around the world to create a new company with Ercisson  to offer network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) globally. The venture aims to simplify access to advanced mobile network features, which have traditionally been difficult for developers to integrate across various telecom systems. The deal is expected to close

O2 customer experience slower file download speeds over 4G and 5G compared to other networks according to Ofcom’s latest ‘Mobile Matters’ report published today. The research, which is based on crowdsourced data supplied by Opensignal, analysed crowdsourced data collected between October last year and March, and highlights the varying experiences of mobile network users across the country. Ofcom

EE has launched a 5G standalone (5GSA) network across 15 UK cities,  which should benefit from faster speeds, better coverage, and improved reliability. Standalone 5G allows networks to operate independently of 4G infrastructure. The network improves performance by using machine learning to manage energy consumption and optimise network reliability. The new system also includes “Network

Three UK has revised its pricing structure to show annual price increases outlined in “pounds and pence” determined by tiers based on the data allowance of each contract. Each year mobile customers will see the following increases depending on their data allowance. 4GB or less: £1 more a month, 5GB-99GB: £1.25 more a month, 100GB

The Competition and Markets Authority needs another three months to produce its findings on the proposed Vodafone and Three merger. The original period for the CMA’s report to be prepared and published was September 18. This has now been extended to December 7. Inquiry group chair Stuart McIntosh stated that this was because the Inquiry

Virgin Media O2 supports the merger of Vodafone and Three and said it  would be “a positive step for investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure.” The affiirmatiom was made by Lutz Schüler,CEO of Virgin Media O2 announcing the networks Q2 financial performance.  Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone UK have a new, long-term mobile network sharing

Ofcom has fined BT £17.5 million for being ill-prepared to respond to a catastrophic failure of its emergency call handling service last summer after network disruption affected 14,000 emergency calls in June 2023 and lasted 10.5 hours  BT connects 999 and 112 calls in the UK and provides relay services for deaf and speech-impaired people.

Egypt is finally getting 5G, initially in Alexandria, Aswan, Cairo, Giza, and Luxor. Nokia will supply its AirScale equipment to Telecom Egypt’s network deploying Massive MIMO radios, baseband units, and remote radio heads, using the energy-efficient ReefShark System-on-Chip technology. The rollout is scheduled to commence later this year. Telecom Egypt is Egyp’ts main phone c0mpany,

Zegona is setting up a long-term financing plan with investments from Spanish and international investors after buying Vodafone Spain for £4.26 billion in May. The refinancing will be used to pay off the initial loans taken to buy Vodafone Spain. This refinancing is expected to be completed by July 17, 2024. The new financing includes:

Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 have agreed to extend their network sharing agreement that has been operating for more than a decade. The agreement is subject to the approval of the merger between Vodafone and Three by the Competition and Markets Authority. The agreement will be an irresistible carrot for the Competition and Markets Authority

Virgin Media O2 and environmental charity Hubbub are running a PR campaign to urge people to hand in their unwanted phones to the Community Calling scheme so the devices can be redistributed to people in need. Community Calling was established in 2020 in response to the pandemic to provide smartphones to help people who couldn’t

Vodafone has added a ‘Good Grade’ option in its refurbished phone range which claims to offer customers savings of up to £216 over new. Good Grade is described as “excellent working order but some visible signs of use, such as small scratches, dents or marks on the case and screen”. Good Grade devices, include iPhone

BT has torn apart the proposed Vodafone and Three merger in its response to the Competition and Markets Authority investigation into the planned merger and driven a coach and horses through any claim that the deal would be good for consumers. BT claims a merged network would have a disproportionate share of capacity and spectrum

The Evening Standard has blamed 4G coverage on London Underground for one of the reasons the newspaper has axed its daily print edition after 197 years and losses of £87.5 million since 2019. An email to staff from the newspaper’s chair Paul Kanareck on Wednesday said the proliferation of home working, and the availability of

There are significant opportunities for channel partners to sell 5G and Unified Communications as a Service says BT Wholesale’s latest research study of employees, IT decision-makers, and resellers across various industries. The survey was of 250 UK respondents made up of employees, IT decision makers and resellers from accommodation, construction, IT/Comms, manufacturing, professional services, retail,