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umlaut connect UK Mobile Network Test 2026 Results

EE Named Best UK Mobile Operator in New 2026 Network Test Study

9th December, 2025 (14 Comments)

Mobile operator EE (BT) has once again come top in the annual 2026 umlaut connect UK Mobile Network Test, which deployed a range of different benchmarks to test 4G and 5G performance (voice and broadband) across 16 cities, 24 smaller towns and along 10,170km of major roads. On the flip side, O2 (Virgin Media) continued to be ranked at the bottom.

Grain to Start Expanding UK Full Fibre Broadband Network in Wigan

9th December, 2025 (1 Comment)

Carlisle-based broadband network and UK ISP Grain, which in July 2025 secured a £225m funding boost to continue their expansion (here), has revealed that they’ve now begun to expand their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines across the large Greater Manchester (England) town of Wigan; home to around 108,000 people.

Trooli Goes Live on PXC as FTTP Broadband Covers 460,000 UK Premises

8th December, 2025 (5 Comments)

Alternative network operator and ISP Trooli, which have deployed their full fibre broadband (FTTP) network to cover 460,000 premises across parts of England and some of Scotland (up from 448k in Sept 2025), has today revealed that their recently established wholesale partnership with PXC (formerly TalkTalk Wholesale) is now “ready to trade at scale“.

1p Mobile UK Finally Spotted Starting to Deploy eSIM Support UPDATE

8th December, 2025 (15 Comments)

Mobile network operator 1p Mobile appears as if it may finally be introducing eSIM (Embedded SIM) support to their service, which follows months of waiting after previous promises evaporated (example). Several customers spotted the feature today, but the launch currently appears to be suffering from a few teething issues.

Talkmobile Deploy Support for Vodafone and Three UK Network Roaming

8th December, 2025 (13 Comments)

Customers of mobile provider Talkmobile, which is a virtual operator (MVNO) on parent Vodafone’s (VodafoneThree) national UK 4G and 5G network, have been notified that they too can now “automatically use both the Vodafone and Three networks” (i.e. the new Multi-Operator Core Network or MOCN – detailed here and here).

Openreach Deploy 6,000th Electric Vehicle Under UK Fleet Transition

8th December, 2025 (7 Comments)

National UK network operator Openreach (BT) has revealed that they’ve just put their 6,000th EV (Electric Vehicle) on the road to support their broadband and phone engineers (up from 4,300 at the start of 2025), which is currently expected to reach 7,000 EVs by the end of March 2026.

Virgin Media UK Add Two More Free FAST TV Channels to Service

8th December, 2025 (3 Comments)

Customers of broadband provider Virgin Media (O2), specifically those who also take their Pay TV service via one of the current TV 360, Stream (Flex) or v6 box platforms, may like to know that the ISP has today added support for two new FAST channels to their TV service – Stingray Classica and Stingray DJAZZ – “at no extra cost“.

Broadband Altnet Fibrus Expand UK Full Fibre Network to 450,000 Premises

8th December, 2025 (6 Comments)

Infracapital-backed alternative broadband ISP Fibrus, which is building a full fibre network across parts of Cumbria (England) and has already completed one in Northern Ireland, have revealed that their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) infrastructure now covers a total of 450,000 UK premises (up from 440k in Sept 2025).

CityFibre-UK-2024-Engineer-Kneeling-in-front-of-Cabinet

Vodafone UK’s CityFibre Broadband Users Can’t Upgrade to 2Gbps+

6th December, 2025 (52 Comments)

Customers of Vodafone’s fixed home broadband packages, specifically those on their 910Mbps (1Gbps) or slower Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) packages with major UK altnet CityFibre, have complained that the ISP is preventing them from taking out the provider’s fastest 2.2Gbps package due to the lack of an upgrade process.

Three UK Finally Switch Off Remaining 3G Mobile Sites as 4G and 5G Boosted

5th December, 2025 (25 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK (VodafoneThree), which at the start of 2025 confirmed (here) that the “vast majority” of their 3G sites had now been switched off – save for a “small number” of sites were still live to avoid customers losing service, have now confirmed that those remaining sites were finally switched off at the end of November 2025.

Netgem TV PLEIO Streaming Box Back in Stock with 12-Months Free Sub UPDATE

5th December, 2025 (30 Comments)

Digital entertainment platform Netgem TV has today announced that their recently launched (here) next gen IPTV box – PLEIO, which includes support for the UK’s new broadband-based live TV streaming service – Freely, will be back in stock for retail customers sometime today. The updated deal also includes 12 months free subscription to their premium content.

Starlink-v3-Broadband-Satellite-Comparison

SpaceX Hint at Launching Own 4G via LEO Satellite Based Starlink Mobile Service

5th December, 2025 (0 Comments)

Mobile operators across the world, including some of Starlink’s own partners, have been put on notice of greater competition after SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, hinted he might use his mega-constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites to launch his own mobile network. Musk has now filed to trademark the name “Starlink Mobile“.

Building Digital UK Agency to Change CEO in 2026 as Dean Creamer Exits

5th December, 2025 (5 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) organisation, which has responsibility for delivering gigabit broadband and better mobile connectivity across the nation (e.g. the £5bn Project Gigabit and Shared Rural Network schemes), have confirmed that existing boss (CEO) Dean Creamer is to be moved into a new role – his last day will be 9th January 2026.

Smart Meter UK Display for Energy by 123rf ID197070935

UK Homes with Out of Range Energy Smart Meters Get Reprieve from 2G Switch Off

5th December, 2025 (21 Comments)

Some 46,000 consumers have been given extra time to resolve connectivity problems with their Energy Smart Meters, which were previously at risk of losing 2G based mobile data connectivity to the Data Communications Company‘s (DCC) wide area network on 1st January 2026. But Ofgem has now extended the service coverage until 1st June 2026.

Community Fibre 2025 engineers sitting down

London ISP Community Fibre Deploy New Linksys WiFi 7 Broadband Routers

4th December, 2025 (5 Comments)

Alternative broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which has invested c.£1bn to deploy a 5Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across 1.342 million UK homes (inc. 185k businesses within 200 metres of their network) – mostly in London, have today announced that new customers on their fastest 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps package will now get a WiFi 7 capable Linksys router.

New HBO Max Streaming Service to Get UK Launch in March 2026

4th December, 2025 (6 Comments)

Get ready for yet more online video content fragmentation as the CEO of American TV and Movie streaming giant HBO Max, Casey Bloys, has announced that its service will finally go live in the UK and Ireland during March 2026. But the platform will be going live in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein first, on 13th January 2026.

Freely’s UK Broadband TV Streaming Service Adds More Channels

4th December, 2025 (21 Comments)

Broadband-based live TV streaming service Freely, which is supported by most of the major UK TV broadcasters (BBC, ITV etc.) and is an evolution – not (yet) a replacement – for the existing Freeview service (inc. Freeview Play and Freesat), has said they’re adding another 7 channels to the free platform via partnerships with Warner Bros. Discovery UK & Ireland and CNN.