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Project Gigabit BDUK Funded Digital UK Broadband Map

Sept 2026 Contract Progress of UK’s Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout

24th September, 2026 (5 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) office has today published the September 2026 update on the delivery progress of contracts awarded under their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme. The update reveals that some 318,000 contracted premises (up from 296,770 in Aug 2026) have so far been covered out of a planned total of 846,770 (38% complete).

Virgin Media O2 UK launch a new AI voice agent to support broadband fault calls

24th September, 2026 (6 Comments)

UK ISP Virgin Media (O2) have this morning followed yesterday’s news from Liberty Global by announcing the expected launch of a new AI voice agent, which will initially be deployed to support selected broadband fault calls (i.e. helping customers get routine issues resolved more quickly) and will later “gradually” be expanded to cater for other issues.

Starlink broadband dish terminal facing space - website screenshot

Sharp developing universal satellite broadband dish to connect with Starlink

24th September, 2026 (2 Comments)

Japanese electronics giant Sharp has revealed that it’s developing a compact satellite terminal (dish / antenna) that will technically be able to connect to multiple different satellite communications networks, potentially including Starlink, OneWeb, SES and others. The goal is to make it easier for customers to switch between different networks as competition grows. Easier said than done.

Airspan Networks acquires assets of wireless UK broadband firm Cambium Networks

24th September, 2026 (0 Comments)

Over a week has now passed since Cambium Networks, which specialised in providing wireless broadband (FWA) and Wi-Fi style technologies globally and to broadband ISPs in the UK, collapsed into administration. But Florida-based Airspan Networks Holdings has now acquired several of the company’s key product assets and hired over 135 of their employees.

Vodafone UK partners under pressure from Oct 2026 withdrawal of legacy copper services

24th September, 2026 (5 Comments)

The wider industry is currently heavily focused on Openreach and BT’s looming end date for the old analogue phone and legacy broadband network (PSTN/WLR), which is due to be switched-off on 31st January 2027. But wholesale provider Vodafone (VodafoneThree) has set a more ambitious target of 1st October 2026 and it’s putting pressure on some of their ISP partners.

Tax on uk broadband and IT by 123rf ID39017489

Government considers £11 monthly UK broadband fee to fund BBC TV UPDATE

23rd September, 2026 (113 Comments)

The Government is reportedly considering the introduction of an £11 (monthly) “Home Internet Levy” on existing consumer broadband bills to replace the existing BBC TV licence fee. The idea is understood to have been proposed to the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, by the cross-party Social Market Foundation (SMF) think-tank.

AI Chat and Support System by 123rf ID233196570

Virgin Media UK co-parent Liberty Global adopt new AI chatbot for support

23rd September, 2026 (11 Comments)

The co-owner of UK broadband, pay TV and mobile giant Virgin Media (O2), Liberty Global, has today announced that they’ve signed a 3-year “strategic partnership” to adopt Sierra‘s conversational AI platform across their various operating companies, which is intended to make customer interactions “easier, more intuitive and more effective“.

Grain expands 2Gbps UK full fibre broadband network in Oldham, Manchester

23rd September, 2026 (0 Comments)

Carlisle-based alternative broadband provider Grain (Grain Connect) have begun a new phase to expand their 2Gbps speed point-to-point full fibre (FTTP) network in the the large town of Oldham (Greater Manchester), which already covers areas such as Failsworth, Limeside, Hollins, Coppice, Glodwick, Spring Hill, and Moorhey.

Fibre sense Lightsonic water leak detection mobile app

Southern Water harness Openreach’s UK fibre broadband network to detect leaks

23rd September, 2026 (5 Comments)

Utility company Southern Water, which supplies drinking water to millions of customers across the South of England, has announced that they’ve deployed Lightsonic’s technology that works by harnessing Openreach’s (BT) existing fibre optic broadband network to help detect underground water leaks in pipes.

New study benchmarks Malware blocking by free third-party DNS providers

23rd September, 2026 (14 Comments)

A new study has been published that attempts to benchmark the effectiveness of several popular and free third-party Domain Name Service (DNS) providers to see how effective they are at blocking 100 malware and phishing websites (whittled down from an original list of 41,000 to reduce the risk from false positives). The results make for an interesting read.

CommunityFibre doubles UK broadband speeds for new customers at no extra cost

23rd September, 2026 (0 Comments)

Network operator and UK ISP CommunityFibre, which has built a full fibre broadband (FTTP) network to cover 1.4 million homes (across London and the South East) and aims to reach 2m by 2028-2029 (here), has launched a new promotion that doubles their package speeds for new customers “at no extra cost“.

Pine Media extends FTTP broadband to 40,000 premises in South Yorkshire

23rd September, 2026 (0 Comments)

Alternative network builder and UK ISP Pine Media, which has been steadily deploying their own gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband infrastructure across parts of Sheffield and South Yorkshire (England) for quite a few years now, has just revealed that they’ve now covered 40,000 premises.

Vodafone temporary mast site in Lancaster by MP Cat Smith

Temporary Vodafone UK mast brings some relief to Lancaster after network attacks

22nd September, 2026 (3 Comments)

The government MP for Lancaster and Wyre, Cat Smith, has today confirmed that mobile operator Vodafone has finally erected a new but temporary mobile mast in central Lancaster, which became necessary after the old site was taken offline in April 2026 following repeated attacks of vandalism by gangs of youths.

JioHotstar comes to Sky Q, Sky Glass and Stream as part of UK launch

22nd September, 2026 (0 Comments)

Sky has announced that customers of their broadband-based Sky Glass and Sky Stream pay TV streaming devices and service, as well as those on their older satellite-base Sky Q platform, can how also access JioHotstar, which is often described as being India’s largest premium streaming platform.

Broadband ISP Aquiss calls on Ofcom and TOTSCo to fix One Touch Switching

22nd September, 2026 (17 Comments)

Shropshire-based independent UK ISP Aquiss has today called on Ofcom and the The One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) to fix the One Touch Switch (OTS) process, which was designed to make it easier and quicker to change internet provider, but sadly still suffers from a problem with “unsolicited transfers” due to some ISPs trying to game the system.

Finance network Klarna adds free unlimited 5G mobile plan for UK Max users

22nd September, 2026 (6 Comments)

Digital payment provider Klarna have today announced that existing UK members of their Max tier can now sign-up for an unlimited 4G and 5G mobile (mobile broadband) phone plan in their app “at no additional cost when switching over an existing number“, which makes them the latest in a string of finance and banking organisations to launch an eSIM style mobile plan.

Freshwave outdoor 4g and 5g small cell on pole

O2 UK and Freshwave boost outdoor 5G mobile in Wigan via 10 Small Cells

22nd September, 2026 (4 Comments)

Mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) and connectivity provider Freshwave have today announced that they’ve boosted outdoor 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) signal coverage in busy parts of Wigan (Greater Manchester) by deploying ten new Small Cells. In addition, they’ve also separately improved indoor signals (for all operators) at three council-operated buildings.