UK Broadband News
UK Broadband acquisition of spectrum licenses from Daisy Group plc
UK Broadband Limited confirms the acquisition from Daisy Group plc of its spectrum licenses for a cash consideration of £12.5m.
UKB is already a holder of spectrum and this acquisition results in it holding multiple licenses for both fixed and mobile spectrum, enabling it to become a major UK wireless service provider.
This acquisition complements the recent acquisition of 802 Global Limited, an established UK wireless solutions provider and distributor with an established public sector, private sector and reseller customer base. Together, the two acquisitions allow new wireless products to be brought to the UK market in a timely manner to meet the burgeoning growth of wireless data being experienced in the UK with the emergence of various data hungry end-user devices. Additionally UK Broadband will be able to address the fast growing demand for wireless service solutions in both the public and private sectors that require the delivery of many more services at the lower cost point that only wireless solutions can deliver.
Following these acquisitions, the UK Broadband group (UKBG) now offers equipment and wireless services to the telecommunications industry, service providers, channel partners and the public sector in the U.K. UKBG will offer a range of 4G, Wi-Fi, wireless ethernet and fixed high-speed wireless link services, as well as wholesale wireless data capacity.
Outside of rural areas, UKBG’S wireless services will be focused on supplying wireless broadband and data solutions to the public sector and business both directly and through wholesaling data capacity. In rural areas UKBG already supports, through Resellers, broadband solutions that meet or exceed the government’s 2Mps Universal Service Commitment aspirations for “not spots” and places where broadband at an acceptable speed is currently unobtainable.
UKBG will now develop a number of wireless products for market deployment, with further details to be announced in due course.
UK Broadband delivers next generation wireless broadband for learners at The Bridge Academy which also provides a digital inclusion solution for the learners’ families.
In close cooperation with The Bridge Academy, a pioneering pupil referral unit in Hammersmith and Fulham, UK Broadband is solving learners broadband needs at home.
Using WiMAX, 4th Generation (4G) wireless technology, UKB is delivering next generation wireless broadband to The Bridge Academy’s learners, allowing them to access the internet and the schools managed learning environment and enabling them to work remotely from any location within the 4G coverage area in the borough. The 4G service also delivers a wireless digital inclusion solution for learners’ families who are enabled to access the internet through the same wireless device.
The scheme, which is in pilot stage to the end of this academic year, involves the The Bridge Academy providing their learners with desktop computers and a 4G device that connects to UK Broadband’s wireless network. The Academy’s learners typically work from home at least one day per week and the UK Broadband wireless solution makes this practical by allowing the learners to access the internet and the schools managed learning environment from home.
A proportion of the The Academy’s learners move home in each year, some more than once. The Academy’s budget was suffering from the high cost of providing a fixed line connection on contract at home for each pupil. Each time a learner moved home it required a new contract to be entered into whilst not being able to terminate the contract at the previous home. This problem is now completely solved by having a transportable wireless solution.
Additionally, if a learner leaves the school The Bridge Academy can reallocate the 4G device to new users without any additional cost.
The collaboration is already producing very encouraging results, and you can read more about the scheme on the Academy’s blog:
http://www.bridge.lbhf.sch.uk/view_from_bridge/blog.php?blog_id=67
UK Broadband signs Reseller Agreement with Networks by Wireless (NbW)
Networks by Wireless (NbW) today announced that it had signed the first Reseller agreement with UK Broadband for the delivery of WIMAX services in the UK. The use of UK Broadband's licenced spectrum at 3.5Ghz allows NbW to deliver fast and reliable wireless broadband to rural areas and public sector customers across the whole of its UK portfolio. Using UK Broadband's spectrum, NBW will now begin meeting demand for this service in a number of areas across the UK on a first come first served basis
