Vodafone and CityFibre form long term Partnership

Vodafone and CityFibre form long term Partnership

Vodafone and CityFibre have announced a long-term strategic partnership that will bring ultrafast Gigabit-capable full fibre broadband to up to five million UK homes and business by 2025.

CityFibre are the UK’s largest alternative provider of wholesale fibre network infrastructure. Under the agreement, Vodafone will have a period of exclusive rights, mainly during the build phase of each city network, to market ultrafast consumer broadband services on the FTTP network to be built, operated and owned by CityFibre.

Construction of the first phase of deployment to one million premises is due to start in the first half of 2018 and will be largely complete in 2021.

FTTP networks use fibre-optic cables for every stage of the connection from the customer’s home or workplace to the Internet, providing extremely fast and reliable broadband and services capable of Gigabit speeds.

The partnership will help to bridge Britain’s fibre gap, bringing world-class Gigabit-capable FTTP connections to households, businesses and public sector sites such as schools, hospitals and GP surgeries, and delivering 50% of the UK Government’s target of ‘full fibre’ to 10 million homes and businesses.

C&W in Business (Issue 63 Jan/Feb 2018)

Debenhams issue warning about dangerous e-mail scam

Debenhams issue warning about dangerous e-mail scam

Debenhams customers have been put on alert about a scam e-mail which could leave users at risk of having sensitive information stolen. Customers are being targeted by scammers who are sending out an authentic looking e-mail as part of an elaborate phishing con. A phishing scam is designed to trick unsuspecting people into handing over personal information or downloading malware onto their computer.

Action Fraud UK described the fake Debenhams e-receipt as the most convincing phishing email they’ve ever seen. A spokesperson said ‘Fraudsters have created an exact replica of a real e-receipt , but you’ll notice they’re sent from personal email addresses and not Debenhams.

Action Fraud have issued advice to people to help them spot phishing scams –

  • their spelling, grammar, graphic design or image quality is poor quality
  • they may use odd ‘spe11ings’ or ‘cApiTals’ in the email subject to fool your spam filter
  • if they know your email address but not your name, it’ll begin with something like ‘To our valued customer’, or ‘Dear…..’ followed by your email address
  • The website or email address doesn’t look right, authentic website addresses are usually short and don’t use irrelevant words or phrases
  • Businesses and organisations don’t use web-based addresses such as Gmail or Yahoo
  • Money’s been taken from your account, or there are withdrawals or purchases on your bank statement that you don’t remember making

 

Chamber News (22nd January 18)

 

Chief Exec of Apple bans nephew from any social media

Chief Exec of Apple bans nephew from any social media

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has said he does not want his nephew to be on a social network. His comments come after more and more people are voicing their concerns about Facebook, Twitter and You Tube.

Speaking at a coding-related event at Harlow College in Essex, Mr Cook, who does not have a son, said he would put boundaries in place and would not want him on a social network.

Ofcom reported under-age use of social media was on the increase – prompting the NSPCC charity to accuse Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat of ‘turning a blind eye’ to the problem. Social networks have also been accused of allowing their platforms to be manipulated by ‘fake news’ and propaganda.

Two of Facebook’s executives have acknowledged issues with their service. Elliot Schrage, public policy chief, said ‘ We have over-invested in building new experiences and under-invested in preventing abuses’. Facebook’s civic engagement product manager, Samidh Chakrabarti, has also blogged that social media companies in general need to be more aware about the influence they wield. ‘If there’s one fundamental truth about social media’s impact on democracy, it’s that it amplifies human intent – both good and bad,’ he said. ‘I wish I could guarantee that the positives are destined to outweigh the negatives, but I can’t. That’s why we have a moral duty to understand how these technologies are being used.’

Robert Kyncl, You Tube’s chief business officer, has said that he does not believe that the service should be regulated by third parties. ‘We’re not content creators, we’re a platform that distributes the content.’

Social media companies also face growing criticism that their products are addictive in nature. The recently created Time Well Spent campaign group said ‘What’s best for capturing our attention isn’t best for our wellbeing,’ they also went on to say that platforms would not change unless made to do so.

www.bbc.co.uk/technews (23rd January 18)