Home » UK ISP News Archive » Monthly Archives: October 2026 (131 Posts Found)

ISP News Archives for October 2026

Openreach set to launch 100Gbps UK Ethernet Backhaul Direct product

21st Oct 2026 (1 Comment)

Sources have revealed that national network operator Openreach (BT) are preparing to launch a new 100G variant of their wholesale Ethernet Backhaul Direct (EBD) product before the end of this month (tentative). The service is designed for broadband ISPs and other network operators who need to move massive amounts of data efficiently across the UK (between Openreach’s nodes).

New Bill seeks mandatory social tariffs across UK energy, broadband, and mobile

21st Oct 2026 (12 Comments)

The backbench Scottish National Party (SNP) MP for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey, Graham Leadbitter, has tabled a new Private Members Bill (PMB) that seeks to make it mandatory for energy, broadband, and mobile providers to offer cheaper Social Tariffs to consumers in receipt of certain state benefits (e.g. Universal Credit).

Copper cable thieves cause Openreach broadband outage in Thurnscoe UPDATE

20th Oct 2026 (4 Comments)

A criminal gang has caused a significant broadband and phone outage for thousands of customers on Openreach’s UK network around the large South Yorkshire (England) village of Thurnscoe. The problems occurred after the thieves damaged the local network while they were dragging the operator’s copper telecoms cables out of the ground.

Zentive launch switching solution for UK business broadband ISPs

20th Oct 2026 (1 Comment)

Software consultancy firm Zentive Group, which previously helped some of the UK’s largest communication providers implement consumer switching solutions, has today revealed that their related SureSwitch platform now supports Switching for Business (SforB) – extending the switching process to the business connectivity market.

Grayshott Gigabit Fibre Cable Drum on Rural Road

Ofcom probe UK broadband network Grayshott Gigabit over liability funds

20th Oct 2026 (3 Comments)

The telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has published an additional investigation into another alternative full fibre broadband network (altnet) – Grayshott Gigabit (currently known as Gigabit IQ) – after they found “reasonable grounds to believe” that they may not be meeting their duties to show they have secured funds for meeting their liabilities.

Openreach publish October 2026 update on UK full fibre broadband build

20th Oct 2026 (18 Comments)

Network operator Openreach (BT) has today published the first update to their national roll-out plan for Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology since March 2026, which reflects all the recent changes and progress with their existing deployment locations up to October 2026 (i.e. changes in status, removals and any small additions).

Netomnia Engineers Working at Height 2026

Nexfibre and Virgin Media O2’s £2bn Netomnia UK broadband deal in trouble UPDATE2

20th Oct 2026 (78 Comments)

Full fibre network operator nexfibre has today issued a joint statement with shareholders InfraVia, Liberty Global (Virgin Media) and Telefónica (O2) to confirm that they do not plan to submit any remedies to the Competition and Markets Authority over their £2bn acquisition of Netomnia (Substantial Group). The move comes after the CMA found significant competition concerns.

Leaving UK broadband ISP Virgin Media ends in huge bill and debt collectors

20th Oct 2026 (18 Comments)

Switching broadband provider is normally easy, but in today’s story we cover how one of Virgin Media’s former customers instead ended up spending most of 2026 battling the ISP over an unexpectedly huge bill, after they failed to cancel his old service. As if to make matters worse, the customer then ended up being pursued by debt collectors and suffering damage to his credit file.

Lightning-fibre-engineers-next-to-their-van

Lightning Fibre expand FTTP broadband further in East Sussex and Kent

19th Oct 2026 (1 Comment)

Eastbourne-based broadband ISP Lightning Fibre, which is deploying a full fibre (FTTP) network across Sussex and Kent in England (they also hold a partnership to use CityFibre’s UK network – here), has revealed that they’ve recently expanded their fibre network to reach a further 2,500 premises across five locations in the two counties.

Fibrus-Trainee-Engineers-via-Project-Gigabit

Fibrus complete phase one of Project Gigabit broadband rollout in Cumbria

19th Oct 2026 (3 Comments)

Infracapital-backed alternative broadband network Fibrus, which has so far deployed their full fibre network across 471,800 UK premises (inc. 155,000 customers), has today announced that they’ve completed the first phase of their government-funded Project Gigabit rollout across Cumbria (England). Over 37,700 extra premises in hard-to-reach areas are now covered and rising.

Openreach 2026-engineer up pole with fibre node

Openreach take on UK Project Gigabit broadband contract for Forest of Dean

19th Oct 2026 (4 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) unit has today confirmed that the second part of the previously stalled Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contract for West Herefordshire and the Forest of Dean (Lot 15), which was originally held by FullFibre Ltd until they “mutually agreed to terminate” it in May 2025 (here), has now been taken on by Openreach (BT).

Big Ben in London by M.Jackson of ISPreview 100926

Ookla – London ranks last among 18 European capitals for mobile broadband speed

19th Oct 2026 (6 Comments)

Network benchmarking firm Ookla, which collects data from consumers via their Speedtest.net site and app, has revealed the results of a new study that shows how 4G and 5G mobile network performance in London has declined relative to 18 of Europe’s capital cities. The city now sits at the very bottom of the table across almost all the key measurements.

virgin media o2 network engineer at work 2021

Hints of IPv6 adoption show up at broadband ISP Virgin Media and O2 UK

19th Oct 2026 (14 Comments)

Nearly a decade has passed since broadband provider Virgin Media (VMO2) first informed ISPreview that they planned to adopt the Internet Protocol v6 (IPv6) addressing standard (here) and we’re still waiting. The situation around mobile operator O2 is similar, with both still relying primarily on IPv4 addresses. But there are signs of a change in the air data packets.

VMO2 may revive defunct UK telecoms brands Virgin Mobile and O2 Broadband

18th Oct 2026 (11 Comments)

Remember when broadband giant BT recently decided to revive their BT Mobile brand, partly reversing a prior shift to focus on EE? Well it seems somebody at Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) may have decided to take a leaf out of that book, with a new report claiming that VMO2 could soon resuscitate the Virgin Mobile and also O2 Broadband brands too.

Streetwave to survey mobile broadband coverage across Gloucestershire again

18th Oct 2026 (3 Comments)

Network analyst firm Streetwave has revealed that they’ve been chosen by the Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) in England to conduct a second real-world study of mobile network (4G, 5G) coverage and data performance across the region, harnessing 5,800km of the county’s road network and testing all three of the primary mobile networks – EE, O2 and VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK).

EE becomes first UK mobile network to confirm iPhone Handoff support

17th Oct 2026 (12 Comments)

Mobile operator EE looks set to become the first UK network to introduce support for Apple’s new iPhone Handoff feature, which allows customers to easily switch back and forth between two iPhone models with the same mobile number (sharing the same active eSIM). But you’ll need to take one of their most premium plans or pay a bit extra to benefit.

Broadband boss says Openreach and BT’s SFI fault fixing charge should not exist

17th Oct 2026 (18 Comments)

The boss of UK broadband ISP Andrews & Arnold (AAISP), Adrian Kennard, has tabled an interesting argument for why the charges still being levelled against them by BT Wholesale and Openreach for Special Faults Investigations (SFI) on hybrid fibre SOGEA (FTTC) and full fibre (FTTP) lines should “not exist any more“.