Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: April 2022 (104 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for April 2022

Mobile giant Vodafone UK and Sky (Comcast) have reportedly two among several "groups" that have approached budget conscious fixed broadband ISP TalkTalk about a potential deal (most likely an acquisition), which in theory could create a much larger provider with more influence over the industry. Just to recap. In 2020 TalkTalk became the subject of a £1.1bn takeover by Toscafund - controlled by hedge fund tycoon Martin Hughes (here), which including debt valued the broadband provider at around £1.8bn. The deal took the ISP private and gave them more financial flexibility for their future plans. Since then, they've backed Freedom Fibre (here) and this week made the notable acquisition of Ethernet provider Virtual1 (here). According to the FT (paywall) and Sky News, TalkTalk is now said to have asked investment bank Lazard to review its options after allegedly being approach by several groups, including Vodafone and Sky (Sky Broadband). Lazard is a logical choice as they recently acted as Financial Advisor to TalkTalk on the Virtual1 transaction. Some industry analysts have reportedly suggested that TalkTalk itself could now be worth "at least" £3bn. But this seems rather optimistic for an ISP that doesn't have any significant fixed line broadband infrastructure to call its own (excluding their old unbundled LLU network) and largely just piggybacks off Openreach (BT), CityFibre and Freedom Fibre. But TalkTalk do have a strong business and wholesale side. Funnily enough, Sky Broadband are in a similar position with their own fixed line base, while Vodafone also likes to piggyback off Openreach and CityFibre. At present, Vodafone has a fixed broadband base of 991,000 customers, while Sky Broadband is estimated to be home to around 6.7 million and TalkTalk has approximately 4.2 million. Suffice to say, anybody gobbling up TalkTalk would instantly become a much larger provider, giving them a greater say in how the UK broadband market develops and more opportunities for convergence (Vodafone with mobile, and Sky with mobile and TV). Crucially, TalkTalk's consumer base is mostly made up of those on older copper and hybrid fibre lines (i.e. ADSL and FTTC / VDSL2), which are ripe for a future migration to FTTP. At the time of writing, all of the aforementioned operators have decline to comment on the reports, and TalkTalk has yet to receive any serious formal offers. In other words, we strongly suspect that this is largely just an exercise in spin to help TalkTalk drum up some more productive interest in the idea. But at the same time, it's not unreasonable to suspect that they might succeed, as the interest seems genuine. On the other hand, we see reports like this every year or so and only a very few ever convert into a serious offer. Time will tell. Much may depend upon whether or not TalkTalk’s new owners are more flexible and pragmatic about doing a deal than the previous lot. Arguably, TalkTalk might have gone much further by now had they taken some different decisions a few years ago (e.g. co-investing in FTTP instead of Pay TV).

Vodafone and Sky Sniffing Possible Acquisition of UK ISP TalkTalk

8th Apr 2022 (40 Comments)

Mobile giant Vodafone UK and Sky (Comcast) are reportedly two among several “groups” that have approached budget conscious fixed broadband ISP TalkTalk about a potential deal (most likely an acquisition), which in theory could create a much larger provider with more influence over the industry.

GBP295m Funding Boost for Netomnia’s UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

8th Apr 2022 (8 Comments)

Network operator Netomnia and partner broadband ISP YouFibre have today secured a huge funding boost of £295m from DigitalBridge Investment Management, which will help to fuel the ongoing rollout of their new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) network for UK homes and businesses.

Three UK See Record Mobile Data Traffic of 1 Terabits Per Second UPDATE

8th Apr 2022 (10 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK has today published their new ‘Mobile Britain’ report, which summarises key statistics from their network and reveals that mobile broadband (data) traffic hit an all-time high of “1 tbps (terabyte per second)” on Tuesday night – between 21:15 and 21:30 (they actually mean Terabits).

Union Rejects Revised BT Pay Offer and Preps Strike Ballot

7th Apr 2022 (33 Comments)

The BT Group (inc. Openreach, Plusnet and EE) has today proposed to award frontline broadband and telecoms workers a £1,500 consolidated pay increase. But the Communications Workers Union, which represents c.40,000 of the operator’s UK staff, has rejected this and moved to “prepare for a statutory industrial action ballot.“

Energy Assets Fibre Networks to Expand FTTP Broadband Builds

7th Apr 2022 (0 Comments)

Utility infrastructure firm Energy Assets, specifically its ‘Fibre Networks‘ (EAFN) division, looks set to expand their existing deployments by becoming a bigger wholesale provider of gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband infrastructure to UK ISPs.

Full Fibre Builder CityFibre Wins UK RoSPA Health and Safety Award

7th Apr 2022 (2 Comments)

Network builder CityFibre, which is currently deploying a new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network across the UK, has won a ‘Gold Health and Safety Award‘ from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for ensuring its staff and build partners “operate in a safe environment.”

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First Milestone of 4G Rollout on London Underground Completes

7th Apr 2022 (10 Comments)

Infrastructure firm BAI Communications (BAI) has announced the completion of the first milestone of its rollout of 4G and 5G-ready mobile (mobile broadband) coverage across the London Underground, which introduces uninterrupted coverage on the eastern section of the Jubilee Line. But only EE (BT) and Three UK have signed to use it.

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Fire Cuts Openreach Broadband for 7400 Premises in Kent UPDATE3

7th Apr 2022 (10 Comments)

The details remain unclear, but a “suspected” arson attack against Openreach’s (BT) network infrastructure in Staplehurst (Kent, England), which we believe occurred around mid-morning yesterday, has resulted in a loss of broadband and phone connectivity for 7,400 homes and businesses in the area.

Toob Prep Full Fibre Broadband for 19000 Premises in Fareham

7th Apr 2022 (9 Comments)

Alternative network ISP toob have today announced that they will invest £7 million to extend their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband infrastructure to cover 19,000 homes and businesses in the Hampshire (England) market town of Fareham.

Trial Runs UK Fibre Broadband Cable via Yorkshire Water Mains

6th Apr 2022 (13 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced the start of their new “Fibre in Water” trial, which will test the deployment of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband cables through 17km of live drinking water mains between Barnsley and Penistone (Yorkshire). In theory, this could help to cut the cost of rural broadband delivery and reduce leaks.

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BDUK Start New Batch of Phase 3A Project Gigabit Coverage Reviews

6th Apr 2022 (5 Comments)

The Building Digital UK team has started a new batch of Open Market Reviews (OMR) under Phase 3A of the Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout, which will examine network coverage in Herefordshire, Cheshire, Gloucestershire and Lincolnshire and East Riding.

Vodafone UK Enhances Fixed Broadband and Mobile Bundles

6th Apr 2022 (2 Comments)

Mobile operator and UK ISP Vodafone has today enhanced their existing “Together” bundle of fixed line broadband (FTTC or FTTP) and mobile plans (4G or 5G) with the addition of family rewards, as well as an additional SIM discount and Norton 360 Premium for online sector and parental controls.

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BeFibre Reveal UK FTTP Broadband Rollout Plan for Whole of 2022

6th Apr 2022 (7 Comments)

ISP BeFibre and its network building sister brand Digital Infrastructure have today revealed the next set of locations to benefit from their UK rollout of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network, which will see the operator deliver 200,000 Ready for Service premises (RFS) by the end of 2022.

Sky Broadband’s New 900Mbps Gigafast UK Package Goes Live

6th Apr 2022 (27 Comments)

As first predicted on Monday (here), UK ISP Sky Broadband has today officially confirmed the launch of their new Gigafast Package for homes, which offers average download speeds of 900Mbps (90Mbps uploads) via Openreach’s national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network.

Price Rises as Full Fibre UK ISP Zzoomm Offers 6 Months Free

6th Apr 2022 (6 Comments)

New customers of Zzoomm’s gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network – available in parts of Henley-on-Thames, Hereford, Sandhurst, Crowthorne, Crewe, Cannock, Thirsk, Easingwold and Northallerton – can now benefit from 6 months of free service. But contract terms and core prices have increased.

Opensignal Award Best 4G and 5G UK Mobile Networks for Q1 2022

6th Apr 2022 (10 Comments)

The latest April 2022 Mobile Network Experience study from Opensignal has measured the 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) performance of all four primary operators – EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three UK – to determine which delivers the best service. Overall, EE wins most of the categories, but Three UK does very well for 5G.

Amazon Buys 83 Launches for Project Kuiper LEO Broadband Satellites

5th Apr 2022 (4 Comments)

Internet shopping giant Amazon has managed to secure up to 83 Launches aboard rockets from Arianespace, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) to support their plans for a new global low-latency ultrafast broadband service via a new mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).