Connected Britain reveals 2026 UK broadband award winners

The annual Connected Britain Awards 2026 (Total Telecom) event took place at the end of last week, which among other things saw alternative full fibre ISP Connect Fibre scoop the “Broadband Provider of the Year” award, while Viberoptix (Fibrus) won the “Infrastructure Builder of the Year” award and VodafoneThree was handed the “Strategic Deal of the Year Award“ for their merger.

All of the organisations that entered – spanning across various different categories – were assessed by a large panel of judges, which included key figures from various analyst firms, consultants, network operators, universities and other companies or organisations with industry links.

The final list includes a limited but useful description of why each winner was chosen. The results were actually announced at the end of last week, but there was virtually no PR about it and so we only found out the results today.

Winners of the Connected Britain Awards 2026

➤ Access Innovation Award 

For this category the judges were looking for an entry that did something special to help deliver connectivity to a previously hard-to-reach location.  

The winning entry created a system that did exactly this, drastically cutting installation time, costs, and waste, finally making broadband delivery economically viable for many rural locations in the UK. 

WINNER: Emtelle – Rapid Customer Connect 

➤ Indoor Connectivity Award  

The winner in this category pulled off a remarkable engineering feat, delivering high‑capacity 4G and 5G coverage at three locations, positively impacting millions of users. 

WINNER: Wireless Infrastructure Group 

 ➤ Customer Champion Award  

Combining proactive network management with outstanding local support, this entry demonstrated a true customer-first philosophy backed by exceptional satisfaction and retention scores. 

WINNER: Lightning Fibre 

Highly commended: 4th utility Rise 

 ➤ Barrier Removal Award 

This entry delivered a masterclass in collaboration and leadership by creating an open-access framework to simplify asset access, lower deployment costs, and accelerate fiber rollout. 

WINNER: West Sussex County Council for OpenAccess West Sussex 

➤ Startup of the Year 

WINNER: ZIM Connections

➤ Sustainability Award Challenging the throwaway culture of tech, the winning entry in this category sought to prevent e-waste through high-quality engineering and prioritizing ‘longevity by design’.  

WINNER: FRITZ! & Zen 

➤ Mobile Service Provider of the Year  

The winner in this category demonstrated a European first, deploying exciting new network capabilities that could reshape the approach to mobile connectivity across the UK. 

WINNER: Virgin Media O2 – O2 Satellite 

Highly commended: VodafoneThree 

➤ AI Innovation Award 

Turning back-office audits into live, real-time field support, the winning solution slashed telecom fault rates by up to 50% within 60 days and set a new benchmark for AI operational value. 

WINNER: SkillsBase Forge 

Highly Commended: Zyxel One powered by Lifemote 

➤ Data Centre Project of the Year 

This winning project delivered a resilient, sustainable data centre transformation, notably making use of waste heat to benefit a local campus. 

WINNER: Advanced Power Technology and Schneider Electric 

 

➤ Broadband Provider Award 

Proving that mastering the basics drives extraordinary results, this provider achieved an outstanding NPS, near-zero churn, and market differentiation through early Wi-Fi 7 rollouts. 

WINNER: Connect Fibre 

Highly commended: Fibrus

➤ Enterprise Solution Award 

This team introduced a transformational solution that addresses complex enterprise connectivity challenges while delivering clear operational flexibility. 

WINNER: Antevia Networks – 5G Shift Private Network Solution 

➤ Strategic Deal of the Year 

The winner here is potentially the landmark deal of the decade in UK connectivity, structured to unlock massive long-term investment, competitive scale, and enhanced connectivity across the nation. 

WINNER: VodafoneThree 

➤ Infrastructure Builder of the Year 

Using a holistic approach to network deployment, this specialist delivered a Project Gigabit contact ahead of schedule working in one of the UK’s most challenging environments. 

WINNER: Viberoptix 

➤ Digital Skills Award 

For this entry, the judging panel was highly impressed by a targeted, scalable digital skills initiative that directly tackles digital exclusion and builds long-term confidence across local communities.  

WINNER: Norfolk County Council – Tech Skills for Life and Digital Skills Team 

Highly Commended: Kent County Council, Medway Council and East Kent College Group 

➤ Public Sector Partner Award 

This award celebrates a private company that has done exceptional work in partnership with public sector organization.  

The winning partnership deployed IoT at scale, showing a high level of cooperation and effectively shifting property maintenance from reactive to predictive, potentially having a major impact on residents’ health.  

WINNER: iOpt & ng homes 

➤ Public Sector Trailblazer Award 

While the previous award celebrated those working with the public sector, this award goes to a public organization itself. 

This entry overcame tough engineering hurdles to add an additional layer of connectivity to services, positively impacting thousands of users every day. We hope to see similar initiatives repeated across the country. 

WINNER: Scotrail for their Starlink satellite integration 

Highly commended: The Scottish Government   

➤ Rising Star Award 

The judges were blown away by this individual’s early-career leadership, with one judge saying: ‘These achievements are exceptional for any age, and remarkable for such an early career stage.” 

The winner has already led major fibre deployment projects and delivered remarkable infrastructure impact well beyond their years. 

WINNER: Cameron Moir, GoFibre 

 Highly commended: Emily Jones, TTB CircularIT & Harry Turfrey, CityFibre

➤ OSS/BSS Innovation of the Year 

A standout story in network automation, this entry leveraged an AI-powered digital twin to deliver massive efficiency benefits, both in network deployment and ongoing operations.  

WINNER: Virgin Media O2 – Challenger OSS 

➤ Community Improvement Award 

This inspiring project stood out for tackling a major challenge facing our industry and society at large: nurturing the next generation of STEM professionals. This initiative focused not only on educating, but on empowering underserved local communities with transformative technology skills beyond the basic curriculum. 

WINNER: Littlegarth MicroBotics 

Highly commended: Wessex Internet