John Hunt
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Articles by John Hunt
Viewpoint – Good progress at NRC
I hope that you are coping well with everything that winter has thrown at us. Spring is around the corner and will hopefully be bringing some decent weather for us all. NRC rate increase You will have now received your first rates bill for the 2026/27 financial year. I mentioned previously that Northland Regional Council (NRC) has held rates constant from the previous year, which means there has been a 0 per cent overall rate increase.
State of Broadband Report – July 2026
We have today published the seventh edition of our State of Broadband Report, providing our latest analysis of broadband availability and full-fibre rollout across the UK. The detailed comparisons in this edition are primarily based on data from 30th April 2026. Full Fibre availability has now passed 85% of UK premises (July 2026 data), up from 80% in September 2025 and 75% in March 2025. Gigabit-capable broadband is now available to 91% of UK premises (July 2026 data).
Weekly Brief – 17th July 2026
Some news bits from the week that are worth a read CityFibre has put forward organisational changes that may result in up to 200 roles being impacted. A consultation has been started. It’s been described as being due to slower progress on consolidation in the market. Hat tip to ISPreview on this one. 5GSA network access has been enabled across Oxfordshire, including Oxford, Bicester, Witney and Henley-on-Thames.
LSBUD and DSIT sign MOU
DSIT, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with LSBUD, Line Search Before U Dig, to help improve safe digging practices. The signing marks a joint commitment between the two to help reduce accidental damage to the UK’s critical underground infrastructure. DSIT run the NUAR, the National Underground Asset Register, which is managed by Ordnance Survey on behalf of the government.
Virgin Media O2 announces 2G switch off to begin in summer 2029
Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has announced that it plans to switch off O2’s 2G mobile network starting in the summer of 2029. All three mobile networks (VodafoneThree, O2 and EE) have confirmed to the government that they will switch off 2G by 2033 at the latest. EE has confirmed it will begin closing its network in May 2029, and Vodafone plans to shut its 2G network by spring 2030 (Three has never operated a 2G network, having been named Three after the 3G network it deployed).
CityFibre announces it will support VodafoneThree’s mobile network build
CityFibre is growing its partnership with VodafoneThree to become a preferred supplier to connect its mobile sites across the UK. VodafoneThree is investing £11bn to build a new 5G Standalone (5GSA) network across the UK, and with these faster mobile technologies, there is always a need for a faster backhaul. CityFibre will be a supplier that VodafoneThree will use to help connect these sites up, if they have fibre in the ground to a nearby location.
Ofcom fines another porn site for not having age verification
Ofcom has announced that another company has been fined under the Online Safety Act 2023 for failing to protect children from accessing pornographic content. First Time Videos LLC operates two websites that have been found to be in breach. “Ofcom has determined that First Time Videos has failed to comply with section 81 of the Act.
BDUK announces closure of January 2026 National Rolling Open Market Review
BDUK has advised that the National Rolling Open Market Review (NR OMR) has now closed. It collected data from the 6th January to 6th February 2026, with BDUK requesting suppliers to submit their national broadband infrastructure plans so that they can confirm where gigabit broadband exists and where providers plan to build it over the next 3 years.
Weekly Brief – 17th April 2026
Our weekly update on broadband news. Following the arrival of the cable-laying/repair ship Pierre de Fermat, around 8km of cable has been replaced, with the damage reportedly due to abrasion on the seabed, which is laid across a rocky route. Part of the repair work has seen this rerouted to help reduce future risk.
TOTSCo consults on monitoring and improvements to One Touch Switching
TOTSco, the body which runs the broadband One Touch Switch (OTS) platform, believes there are improvements that could be made to OTS performance and has launched a consultation to engage with providers to facilitate collaboration in making these improvements to the system. The system is now 18 months old and has handled around 2.5 million switches on the platform.
Weekly Brief - 30th January 2026
A summary of some articles that we didn’t write about this week Richard Tang, the Zen Internet CEO, has announced that he will be climbing the 5-storey Zen HQ building in Rochdale to raise money for the Women’s Housing Action Group, based in Rochdale.
Ofcom and IWF sign new agreement to strengthen crack down on online child sexual abuse imagery
A new memorandum of understanding was signed in November between Ofcom and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to build foundations for the IWF to help Ofcom in its duties as the online safety regulator.
Ofcom investigates X over its Grok AI service
Ofcom has announced that it has opened an investigation into X (X Internet Unlimited Company) in respect of reports in the media that its AI model, Grok, which you can use on X (formerly Twitter), is being used to generate intimate abuse images, CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) and pornography, which is accessible to children.
Ofcom proposes sharing 6GHz band between Mobile and Wi-Fi
Ofcom has published a new consultation on splitting up the ‘upper 6GHz band’ (6425–7125 MHz) to allow it to be utilised by both Wi-Fi and mobile at the same time, but in different locations. By enabling ‘prioritised spectrum sharing’, Ofcom says it will significantly increase the spectrum that is available for both services, which will help with meeting demand from data-hungry devices.
TOTSCo approaches 2 million OTS switches
TOTSCo have confirmed that they are “just shy of” two million completed switches on the platform since it launched on the 12th September 2024. This presumably means they are expecting to pass the milestone imminently, although they haven’t provided the actual figure reached to date. The company have also announced that two new members have joined the TOTSCo team – Anne Hoitink will join as head of Strategy and Policy, and was a former member of the TOTSCo Board.
Weekly Brief - 3rd October 2025
Our weekly brief includes some news pieces that we didn’t cover in a full article that may be of interest to our readers. TOTSCo have announced a new board appointment of Tim Stranack, Co-Founder and Director of Community Fibre. Tim has served as chair of the INCA board previously and is also a current member of the ISPA Council.
CityFibre now reach 730,000 customers
CityFibre has announced its most recent financial results, which show it now has 730,000 customers, with customer connections almost doubling in the last quarter – 108,000 customers were added (around 15% of their total customers). This can somewhat be attributed to the addition of Sky now selling FTTP over the entire CityFibre network. The company now covers approximately 4.3m premises with its own built FTTP network, which is ready for service, with another 300k in the build process.
toob grows CityFibre footprint to a further 33 areas
Alt-net broadband provider toob has announced that they are launching full-fibre broadband in 33 towns and cities through an expansion of its CityFibre partnership. toob, who operate largely in Hampshire, with some towns in Surrey also included, has had a partnership with CityFibre since 2022, which gives them a much larger customer base. The company say they have over 60,000 customers on their own network with 40,000 via CityFibre.
Cornerstone to use Vyntelligence AI platform
Cornerstone, the mobile network tower infrastructure company, originally formed as a joint venture between Vodafone and O2, but now partially divested, has announced that they are to adopt the Vyntelligence AI Platform to help deliver mobile sites quicker and safer. Vyntelligence uses ‘Agentic Video AI’, which allows the AI system to watch and interpret the video.
Fibrus confirm Project Stratum rollout complete
Fibrus, which has been rolling out FTTP across Northern Ireland, has confirmed they have completed Project Stratum – delivering next-generation broadband access to over 81,000 premises. The project finished in June 2025. Almost £200m of funding was provided for the project, including £150m from the UK government, £15m from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), £25m from BDUK and an additional £4.85m each from DAERA and the Department for the Economy.
Weekly Brief - 22nd August 2025
Here are some shorter articles that we haven’t covered otherwise this week: TOTSCo 2026 pricing TOTSCo have confirmed that pricing for using the switching platform will remain unchanged for 2026, and stay at the current £0.28 unit charge per residential customer and £350 subscription fee per RCPID.
Weekly Brief - Some updates we didn’t cover - Friday 8th August
Here are some other news items that we didn’t cover this week but could be of interest: O2 encourage the government to implement changes to combat ticket touts charging on average triple the ticket face price. O2 sell over 1.5 million tickets to customers/fans every year via their ‘Priority Tickets’ platform. ASUS routers have picked up PCMag Reader’s Choice and Business Choice Awards. This makes it the 13th year in a row that ASUS routers have picked up the Standalone Home WiFi Routers award.
1.52bn global broadband subscribers Point Topic advise
There has been a 1.21% increase in broadband subscribers globally in Q1 2025, according to data from Point Topic, who track global broadband statistics. South and East Asia are leading this expansion. Fibre to the Home or Building (FTTH/B) also increased and stands at 72.34% of total fixed broadband connections, showing the dominance of the technology. All other fixed technologies saw a shrink in their market share except satellite (mainly driven by Starlink) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).
Cambridge Online receives £40,000 grant from CityFibre
A digital inclusion charity in Cambridge has been awarded a grant from CityFibre to help with their Digital Inclusion work to deliver local support to those who suffer from digital poverty in the region. Cambridge Online has already helped 1,500 people, offering services such as access to Internet devices, safe learning spaces and classroom training. The Charity has launched a year-long Digital Inclusion Project this month, which the grant from CityFibre will help support.
O2 improves network coverage in Coventry
O2 has announced that it has completed work to boost network capacity and coverage in over 2,000 postcodes in the Coventry area. These upgrades are part of O2’s “Mobile Transformation Plan”, where it is investing £700m this year to help future-proof its mobile network.
Extension to Openreach FTTP Uninhabitable and ruggedised ONT pilot
Openreach have announced they are extending their ‘FTTP Uninhabitable pilot’ for a further year, to now end on 31st August 2026. The pilot is evaluating the order, installation process and use of ruggedised ONT at uninhabitable locations. Ruggedised equipment is often used in more demanding environmental locations to withstand higher heat or weather that the equipment may face, although the ruggedised ONT is required to be located inside an enclosure such as a street cabinet.
BRSK fined by Ofcom for pole planning failures in Birmingham
Ofcom has fined broadband alt-net BRSK £14,000 for two failures in relation to telegraph pole installations in Birmingham, which are used to roll out their full fibre broadband network. Ofcom announced an investigation in to BRSK in 2024 as it believed it had breached its ‘Code Powers’ following a complaint from Birmingham City Council .
Ofcom launches Map Your Mobile coverage and performance checker
Ofcom has launched a new mapping website to help consumers find out about mobile phone coverage and performance in their areas. Users can enter a postcode and will be shown a map which they can click through to see the level of 4G or 5G coverage available from the 4 main mobile network operators. It’s no longer possible to see 2G and 3G data from Ofcom, as this has been removed. “Map Your Mobile shows detailed coverage and performance based on what smartphones need today.
Major providers of porn agree to bring in robust age checks
Ofcom have announced that major providers of online pornography have agreed to check users’ age for the first time to ensure they comply with rules that come into effect from the 25th of July. All sites and apps that allow pornography must use ‘highly effective age checks’ which include credit card checks, open banking or facial age estimation. This follows recent protests in France by some of the same companies that Ofcom have confirmed have signed up.
Three apologies for network issue affecting Voice services
Mobile network Three has apologised to users today after issues affecting voice service have been occurring this morning. The mobile network, now part of the joint group VodafoneThree, still operates as a separate network. Downdetector, a website that crowdsources information about problems on websites or other services has shown a large spike in people experiencing issues since before 8am this morning. Data services are reported to be working normally.
TalkTalk working on sale of consumer and wholesale businesses
TalkTalk has been in talks this week with banks to advise on the break-up of the company, according to Sky News. TalkTalk was originally formed when it was demerged from Carphone Warehouse in 2009 by the company’s original founder Charles Dunstone, and following the integration of various brands, such as AOL and Tiscali, it has fallen into financial difficulties in recent years, partly due to high costs of servicing its debt.
ISPs warned about not using One Touch Switching
Ofcom warned ISPs about using alternative methods for switching broadband customers after it investigated the performance of the One Touch Switching system. According to ISP Review, no major problems were found with the biggest ISPs, but some smaller providers were using other methods of switching, and should cease to do so.
National Underground Asset Register to be maintained by law
The Data Use and Access Bill has received Royal Assent today, meaning that the bill has become an Act of Parliament. Whilst this is not strictly related to broadband, it does impose new requirements for Government to keep a register of all underground assets and make this data available to other parties. This means that a map of ducts and cables, including broadband infrastructure, will need to be maintained by law, through the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR).
Rural broadband to be classified under defence spending
The national security review is expected to announce that government spending on broadband should be classified as defence spending, helping the government to reach a 5% target of GDP to be spent on defence. This would include Project Gigabit with a £5bn budget to bring broadband to hard-to-reach areas. Details revealed in The Telegraph (paywall) say that including items such as these will help the Government get closer to this 5% target.
CityFibre increases Ethernet availability by three-fold
CityFibre have announced that their rollout of 10 Gbps XGS-PON has enabled them to increase the coverage of their Business Ethernet services to over 260,000 UK businesses, up from 80,000. The new FTTP technology that they are rolling out across the network incorporates a dedicated Business Ethernet platform from Calix. To help support businesses, they are also introducing a ‘delivery assurance guarantee’ to try to provide certainty for new installations.
CityFibre increases Ethernet availabilty by three-fold
CityFibre have announced that their rollout of 10 Gbps XGS-PON has enabled them to increase the coverage of their Business Ethernet services to over 260,000 UK businesses, up from 80,000. The new FTTP technology that they are rolling out across the network incorporates a dedicated Business Ethernet platform from Calix. To help support businesses, they are also introducing a ‘delivery assurance guarantee’ to try to provide certainty for new installations.
OTS has passed 1.13M switches
TOTSCo has announced that one-touch switching has delivered over 1.13 million successful broadband switches and that there are now 332 different brands live on the system. The following graph shows the number of completed switches that have occurred by day and identifies the 1M switches point in early May. TOTSCo have also confirmed that following it’s May Stakeholder Forum, business switching work continues with communication provider onboarding due to start on 4th July.
Nachhaltiger Weinbau in zehnter Generation? Die richtige Technologie macht‘s möglich.
Die Weinbauer-Familie González hat ihr Unternehmen in fünf Generationen sicher ins 21. Jahrhundert geführt – und die nächsten fünf Generationen sollen diese Arbeit fortsetzen. Das Weingut, das seit etwa 1835 in Familienbesitz ist, hat seinen Hauptsitz im spanischen Jerez de la Frontera und war der erste Weinbauer, der auf Vorschlag von Robert Blake Byass, dem Vertreter des Unternehmens in England, Sherry exportierte.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Is a Leader in 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises and 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises
I am excited to share that SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition has been recognized as a Leader in both the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises as well as the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises for the third year in a row. The recognition is based on our Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute in the cloud ERP market for both service-centric enterprises and product-centric enterprises.
Menzies Aviation Soars with Cloud HR, Elevates Employee Experience
In the dynamic day-to-day activity of some of the world’s busiest airports – whether Miami or Mumbai, Santiago or Stockholm, or many other hubs – the 55,000-plus employees of Menzies Aviation are engaged to ensure that you complete your journey safely, efficiently, and on time.
10 Generations of Sustainable Winemaking? Here’s How with the Right Tech
It took five generations for the González family to carefully steer their vineyard through to the 21st century, and the next five aim to carry on the business. Headquartered in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, the family-owned vineyard has been around since 1835 and was the first to export sherry on the recommendation of Robert Byass, its agent in England. The González Byass partnership has continued to this day with a mission to make great wines and spirits that bring people together.
High-Growth Barefoot Footwear Pioneer Be Lenka Steps into the Future with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition
As demand for sustainable and innovative consumer goods continues to rise, Be Lenka, the Slovakian pioneer in barefoot footwear and ergonomic baby carriers, has chosen GROW with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition to help broaden its global footprint in the industry.
FC バイエルン、SAP で大きな成果を出す
（本記事は9月23日に本社で掲載されたものです） 「美しいゲーム」を誇る世界最大かつ最も成功を収めているサッカークラブの 1 つ、世界中にファンと従業員を抱える FC バイエルンにとって、SAP ソリューションによるデジタル化は当然の選択でした。 「私たちはバイエルン州の地方クラブですが、世界中にファンがいます」と、同クラブのデジタルメディア & コミュニケーション担当ディレクターのステファン・メリ (Stefan Meri) 氏は語ります。ミュンヘン、ニューヨーク、上海、バンコクに 1,200 人の従業員を擁する同クラブは、ソーシャルメディアや独自のメディアプラットフォームで約 1 億 7,500 万人のフォロワーを抱えています。 ファンはどこにいてもクラブと交流できることを期待しているため、クラブのデジタルおよびメディアプラットフォームはとても大切だと、メリ氏は述べています。「ファンはクラブに自分の想いを届けたいと思ってくれており、クラブからの情報も受け取りたいと思っています」 Click the button below to load the content from...
How Hitachi High-Tech’s Greenfield Transformation Simplified Life for Its Users
A clean slate sounds great! But it’s a brave call indeed to implement from scratch, especially if you’re a big multinational. Yet a decades-long SAP customer did just that, driven by its own customers’ demand for speed – and a clear mission. “Our mission is to help the customer be fast-moving,” Takuya Sakai, general manager of Hitachi High-Tech Corporation’s Digital Transformation Business Group, said in an SAP Winning Insights video after appearing in an SAP TechEd keynote last year.
SAP CX LIVE in 2024: AI-Driven Success with SAP
Since last year’s SAP Customer Experience LIVE event, we’ve introduced over 600 features, driving AI innovation and long-lasting success for our customers. At this year’s event, our customers shared their AI and CX success stories, showcasing how they’re winning customer loyalty in today’s competitive market. While we have more exciting innovations to share, we’ve dedicated this event to celebrating our customers’ achievements.
FC Bayern Scores Big with SAP
With fans and employees around the world, going digital with SAP was a no-brainer for FC Bayern – one of the “beautiful game’s” biggest and most successful football clubs. “We are a local club in Bavaria, but have fans around the globe,” says Stefan Meri, the club’s director for digital media and communications. In addition to its 1,200 employees in Munich, New York, Shanghai, and Bangkok, the club has around 175 million followers on its social media and its own media platforms.
Trade Capital Corporation Partners with SAP to Enhance Performance and Innovate the 1TCC Platform
Trade Capital Corporation (TCC), provider of the world’s only outsourced vendor-managed inventory (VMI) platform solution, 1TCC, has a mission to make seamless trade enabled by technology. Its capital-efficient solution enables global supply chains to optimize their balance sheets through enhanced liquidity and capital efficiency.
Why SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition Is a Game-Changer for Startups
In the bustling world of startups having a groundbreaking idea is just the beginning. To truly thrive, emerging businesses need powerful tools that can grow alongside them, adapting to ever-changing demands. Enter SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition: a game-changing, flexible ERP solution designed to meet the unique challenges of emerging businesses.
Unlock Value in Your Business Transformation Journey with SAP
Having worked with countless CIOs and C-suite executives embarking on large-scale business transformation, I’ve seen what goes into making digital transformation successful. Whether aiming for agility, resilience, sustainable growth, or efficiency, a successful transformation requires a strategic approach, full leadership commitment, and a clear understanding of challenges and opportunities. True business transformation goes beyond merely executing a technical “lift and shift” to the cloud.
BayWa's Green Revolution: SAP-Powered Transformation
Founded in Munich in 1923, BayWa AG has long been committed to meeting the essential needs of society, whether through food, warmth, housing, or mobility. In recent years, BayWa has also emerged as a leader in the renewable energy sector, showcasing the company’s broad scope and commitment to sustainable business practices.
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