Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: February 2026 (135 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for February 2026

Netomnia Engineers Working at Height 2026

Netomnia Agree UK Broadband Merger Deal with Owners of Virgin Media O2 UPDATE2

18th Feb 2026 (147 Comments)

Alternative network operator Netomnia (Substantial Group), which has deployed their own full fibre broadband (FTTP) network to cover 3 million UK premises RFS (inc. 460,000 customers), have today confirmed that they’ve been acquired by the owners of Virgin Media (O2) and nexfibre (i.e. InfraVia, Liberty Global and Telefónica) for £2bn. But rival bidder CityFibre may yet raise a competition complaint.

Quickline 2025 engineers rolling out faster broadband

Quickline Builds to 40,000 Premises Under UK Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout

18th Feb 2026 (2 Comments)

Rural UK ISP Quickline, which is busy deploying a new gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) and fixed wireless (FWA) network across parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (3-Year Rollout Plan), has revealed that they’ve so far built to 40,000 premises out of the total 121,210 premises contracted across its publicly subsidised Project Gigabit contracts.

speed broadband meter on grey background uk by 123rf

nPerf Names Fastest UK Fixed Broadband ISPs by Nation in 2026 Study

18th Feb 2026 (4 Comments)

France-based internet connection benchmarking firm nPerf has this morning published the results from their annual 2026 crowdsourced study into fixed broadband ISP speeds across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The results cover Sky Broadband, Virgin Media, Vodafone, TalkTalk, Fibrus (NI) and Ogi (Wales).

FullFibre and Zzoomm Complete Broadband Altnet UK ISP Brand Integration

18th Feb 2026 (4 Comments)

Alternative UK broadband operator FullFibre Limited, which back in March 2025 completed its merger with Zzoomm (here), has today confirmed that the pair have now also completed their brand integration. Much as we leaked in June 2025 (here), this means that Zzoomm will now become the single retail ISP brand for the service (BeFibre customers will shortly be moved).

Confusion on Ascension Island as Local Broadband and Mobile Suffers Shakeup

18th Feb 2026 (5 Comments)

The remote Ascension Island, which is a British Overseas Territory that sits in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean and is home to almost 900 people (many of them visitors and rotating military personnel), appears to be going through a dramatic shake-up of local broadband and mobile connectivity; some of which may risk the island being temporarily cut off.

Virgin-Media-O2-2025-Engineers-dressed-like-an-airforce

Virgin Media O2 See Broadband Customers Fall by 16.7k as UK FTTP Build Slows

18th Feb 2026 (19 Comments)

The latest Q4 2025 results from Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have just been published and reveal that their gigabit broadband network increased its UK coverage by 115,100 premises in the quarter (down from 139k in Q3), while related customers fell to total 5,687,600 (down by -16.7k in Q4 vs +60.8k in Q3). But their mobile base grew and 5G outdoor population coverage hit 87%.

Virgin Media O2 UK Walrus TV Advert Screenshot from YouTube

ASA UK Criticise Virgin Media’s Walrus Broadband TV Ad After BT Complaint

18th Feb 2026 (1 Comment)

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has criticised a comical TV advert for Virgin Media’s (O2) UK broadband service, which featured a Walrus driving a speedboat, after rival ISP BT complained that the promotion included a claim that could not be verified of the provider being “Awarded Best Broadband Experience”. But one other BT complaint was rejected.

Competition Concern as JT Blocks Number Transfers to Coop Mobile

17th Feb 2026 (1 Comment)

The recently launched virtual mobile operator (mvno) for the Channel Islands, Coop Mobile, has complained to the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA) that rival operator JT has been disrupting the ability of consumers to switch to Coop’s service by preventing them from being able to keep their existing mobile number as part of the process.

Broadband ISP Virgin Media UK Introduce Bill Credits up to £250 for Switching

17th Feb 2026 (0 Comments)

New customers looking to switch to broadband, phone and TV provider Virgin Media (O2) may like to know that they’ve just introduced “Bill Credits” (i.e. Switching Credits or Contract Buyout), which will be available until 1st April 2026 and are said to be worth up to £250 on their top packages.

O2-Satellite-via-Starlink-UK-Broadband-and-Direct-to-Cell

Ofcom Give Virgin Media O2 UK Green Light for Mobile Calls via Satellite

17th Feb 2026 (15 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today approved a request by the parent of mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) to vary its spectrum licence to allow for the launch of their imminent O2 Satellite service, which will harness Starlink’s satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to connect with standard smartphones in the UK.

Broadband ISP Zen Internet Discounts CityFibre’s UK FTTP Packages UPDATE

17th Feb 2026 (6 Comments)

Rochdale-based UK ISP Zen Internet appears to have recently discounted the monthly prices of their CityFibre based full fibre (FTTP) home broadband packages by between £2 to £3. For example, the provider’s top 2.3Gbps (symmetric speed) plan has fallen from £57 to £54 per month. But Zen’s Openreach based packages remain unchanged.

Global Ookla Study Reveals UK Progress on 5G Standalone Mobile Broadband

17th Feb 2026 (6 Comments)

A new study into the global progress of 5G Standalone mobile broadband networks, which was conducted by Ookla, has revealed that global 5G SA availability – based on Speedtest.net sample share – reached 17.6% in Q4 2025 (i.e. one in six 5G speed tests were conducted on SA networks). The UK was also identified as an accelerator and saw its share rise from 1.7% to 7% in the last year.

giffgaff broadband install by virgin media engineer

Price Cut for Customers of Giffgaff’s 200Mbps UK Full Fibre Broadband Plan UPDATE

17th Feb 2026 (12 Comments)

In a small but welcome development. Mobile and internet provider giffgaff has announced that both new and existing customers of their home broadband products – powered by nexfibre’s UK full fibre network (covers 2.5 million premises) – will benefit from a change of standard price on their 200Mbps tier that reduces it by -£1 to £29 per month.

Research Claims 5G Enhancements May Save UK 25 Million Metric Tons of CO2

16th Feb 2026 (3 Comments)

New research from the University of Surrey has claimed that an “optimal combination of energy-efficient” 5G (mobile broadband) network features, such as AI systems that let mobile mast and antenna base stations go into sleep mode when usage is low and phones that avoid unnecessary background network checks, could cut “indirect carbon emissions” across the UK by c.25 million metric tons.

CEO of Broadband ISP Grain Pens Open Letter to UK Gov Over “Shameful” Price Hikes

16th Feb 2026 (13 Comments)

The CEO of Carlisle-based altnet broadband ISP Grain, Richard Cameron, has written a new open letter to Liz Kendall MP, the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, in order to highlight the “shameful” price hike practices of their rivals, which he says will not be resolved by the new Telecoms Consumer Charter.

BDUK and Gigaclear Modify Oxfordshire UK Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout

16th Feb 2026 (3 Comments)

Abingdon-based broadband ISP Gigaclear, which has so far built their full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 612,000 premises (inc. 160,000 customers) across rural England, have modified their Project Gigabit roll-out contract for South Oxfordshire (Lot 13.01) – reducing its coverage target from c.5,500 to 5,034 premises and public subsidy from £17.04m to £15.49m.

Customers of EE’s 1.6Gbps UK Broadband Package Suffer Sharp Speed Loss UPDATE2

16th Feb 2026 (49 Comments)

Some customers of mobile and broadband ISP EE (BT), specifically those on their top 1.6Gbps speed full fibre (FTTP) package via Openreach’s national network, appear to have spent the weekend suffering from a significant reduction in download speed (some down to c.50-70Mbps), connectivity problems and a lack of effective support.