ISPA Starts Hunting for the Best UK Broadband Providers of 2026
The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has today kicked off their annual hunt for the best broadband ISPs and internet companies ahead of their forthcoming 2026 awards event (the 28th one they’ve held), although this time around they don’t appear to have made too many changes to the categories.
The winners of the previous 2025 awards event were unveiled back in November last year (here), which among other things saw several alternative internet providers – including CommunityFibre, Lightning Fibre, and Wightfibre – taking home multiple awards. The former CEO of CityFibre, Greg Mesch, was also named as 2025’s Internet Hero for fostering one of the country’s largest alternative full fibre networks.
As usual, the ISP categories will undergo several months of “technical testing”, while a good-sized panel of 13 judges will once again help to select some of the winners. The full list of categories now open for entry can be seen below. Internet providers, network operators, technology partners, and industry stakeholders can apply to take part in the event here (registration is open until 17th April 2026 and written entries have until 26th June 2026).
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The exception is the Internet Hero award, which will open for nominations later in the year.
2026 ISPAs Award Categories (16 in Total)
Best Consumer ISP (under 100k customers)
Best Consumer ISP (over 100k customers)
Best Rural ISP
Best Business ISP
Best Infrastructure Innovation
Best Community Engagement
Best Customer Loyalty
Best Customer Experience
Connectivity Champion
Sustainability Champion
Best Technology Partnership
Best Voice Provider
Best Security & Consumer Protection
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion
Digital Inclusion Champion
Internet Hero
The winners will be announced during a gala ceremony on 26th November 2026 in central London, bringing together more than 300 guests from across the broadband sector. This year’s awards event will be returning to Sheraton Park Lane Hotel on Piccadilly, with ticket sales going on sale soon.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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