A company by the name of EyeTease Limited is set to begin offering Wi-Fi via London taxi cabs starting early next year. According to the company’s press release, their not-so-creatively-named “CabWifi” technology will allow users fifteen minutes of Wi-Fi use after they watch a fifteen second advertisement. The company claims drivers get their own private login to the system that allows them to “off-set the high cost of data charges incurred from using taxi apps” [...]

London, UK — Over 220 million Smart TV sets will be sold worldwide in 2017, up from the 54 million that will be sold in 2012, according to the latest Smart TV device forecasts from Informa Telecoms & Media, a provider of business intelligence to the global telecom industry. Thirty-one percent of households worldwide will own at least one Smart TV in five years time, according to Informa, with household penetration much higher in North [...]

LONDON, UK — A new study from the fiber consultancy experts of Ventura Team and financial experts Portland Advisors has calculated that a full switchover from copper-based to completely fiber-based broadband (FTTH) could take 92 years unless EU governments decide to significantly change telecom regulations and embark on a comprehensive fiber switchover Plan. The current switchover is happening at a snail’s pace and it could seriously obstruct economic growth across Europe for a long time [...]

London, UK – According to the latest forecasts from Informa Telecoms & Media, a provider of business intelligence and strategic services to the global telecoms and media markets, the global online-video market will be worth US$37 billion in 2017, driven by the popularity of services like Netflix and YouTube. This figure is made up of the three key video-revenue streams of advertising, subscriptions and transactions. Despite the market maturing, advertising will continue to be a [...]

LONDON — FTTH services provider Hyperoptic announced that it is working with building owners and management companies to install fiber broadband directly into property developments. This strategy is enabling broadband speeds of 1 Gbps — the fastest residential broadband speed in the UK. This is 10 times the speed of the nearest major competitor and over 100 times faster than today’s average broadband speeds. As broadband connectivity starts to affect occupancy rates and directly inform [...]

LONDON — JT, the communications provider for the Isle of Jersey, selected Infotech Enterprises Europe, a subsidiary of global engineering firm Infotech Enterprises, to deploy an integrated GIS solution to support its rollout of fiber to the home in Jersey. JT’s offering includes not only voice and data but also consultancy, colocation, Internet, security, cloud backup and mobile. The new FTTH infrastructure, which will be completed by 2016 and will replace the existing copper network, [...]

LONDON — As more people rely on mobile phones in place of landlines, cellular coverage has become a “must-have” for residents of apartment communities and for people working in or even visiting large buildings. The global market for in-building wireless equipment is estimated to reach $2 billion by 2013, according to a new report by ABI Research. Active distributed antenna systems (DAS) will contribute 50 percent of the total revenues; the other half includes passive [...]

Stacey Higginbotham over at GigaOM directs our attention to a new study from Telegeography showing that IP transit prices continue to plummet. For example, the median monthly lease price for a full GigE port in London dropped 57% over the last year to $3.13 per Mbps, while in New York, the comparable service saw a 50% price decline to $3.50 per Mbps during the last year. While the firm notes that there remain some disparity [...]

Techdirt directs our attention to the fact that in addition to the usual things that have been banned from the London Olympics, like guns, explosives and stun guns — Wi-Fi and 3G/4G hubs also won’t be allowed at the games. You can apparently bring your smartphone or tablet to the games, you just can’t turn on your mobile hotspot or tethering feature, as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots are a no no. As Techdirt notes, the entire [...]

LONDON — As of the end of March 2012, there were 612.6 million fixed broadband lines around the world, according to a new report from research firm Point Topic and the Broadband Forum. This represents a 2.7 percent growth in the first quarter of 2012 and 11.5 percent in the 12 months since Q1 2011. The rapid rate of growth is primarily due to the addition of new broadband markets, where penetration grows more quickly [...]