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The Government’s Building Digital UK agency has published their January 2026 update on the delivery progress of contracts that have been awarded under their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme. The update reveals that some 202,270 contracted premises (up from 183,380 in Dec 2025) have so far been covered out of a planned total of 1,002,500.
Last week saw the House of Lords pass a vote that would, if approved by the Government, introduce an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (CWSB) that aims to “prohibit the provision” of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to children (under 18s) in the UK. The goal is to stop children allegedly using VPNs to bypass age verification systems.
The Cambridge Broadband Networks Group (CBNG), which develops network tech for mobile and wireless broadband operators, has launched the latest generation of their Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) platform – VectaStar NR. The new kit is said to be designed to “deliver ‘fibre like’ broadband [performance] using 5G-based technology … without the time, cost and disruption of fibre rollouts“.
UK ISP Virgin Media (O2) and network partner nexfibre, which share some of the same parentage, have today announced that they’ve expanded the reach of their 2Gbps (symmetric) speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to reach more than 5,000 homes in the South Lanarkshire (Scotland) market town of Strathaven for “the first time.”
The CEO of alternative UK broadband ISP and network builder CommunityFibre, Graeme Oxby, appears to have suggested that one of the reasons they opted not to make a bid for troubled rival G.Network stemmed from fears that rodents had chewed through its fibre optic cables. But the key issue may be more related to the general cost of maintenance than rats.
Internet access and online security provider Gigabit IQ (formerly Grayshott Gigabit) has officially launched their promised crowdfunding campaign, which aims to raise fresh investment of £270,000 to help grow and expand the business via the “next generation of safe, reliable broadband for the country“.
Broadband internet connectivity, phone and some Ethernet services being delivered by the Strathaven Telephone Exchange in South Lanarkshire (Scotland) have been disrupted after the site was hit by a serious fire. Approximately 1,500 customers on Openreach’s (BT) local network are understood to have been impacted.
A group of friends in the UK cellular (mobile networks) community have launched a new interactive map – UKCellNet RF Map – that allows hobbyists and professionals to access public cellular data (e.g. location and data on mobile phone mast sites etc.) for free – sourced from places like SiteFinder, Ofcom, planning applications and council FOI / EIR requests etc.