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Latest Key Developments

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Openreach Raises Prices on Copper Lines to Boost UK Fibre Broadband Adoption

12th Nov, 2025 (27 Comments)

Openreach has today announced above inflation price hikes on some of their older copper-based line products for UK internet and phone providers, which are designed to “encourage” comms providers to upgrade their customers to “digital alternatives” and full fibre (FTTP) technology; before legacy services are switched off in January 2027.

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Ofcom Predict 97 Percent of UK Covered by Gigabit Broadband in Jan 2028

8th Nov, 2025 (9 Comments)

Somehow, we overlooked that the telecoms regulator had published the fourth edition of their forecast for Planned Network Deployments, which has revised down its expectations of future coverage after UK broadband operators did the same. The report now predicts that full fibre (FTTP) lines will reach 86-95% of homes by January 2028 – rising to 91-97% for gigabit-capable networks (i.e. FTTP and Cable).

Major UK Phone Providers Agree to Crackdown on Scam Calls and Fraud

5th Nov, 2025 (12 Comments)

A new landmark Telecommunications Charter has today been agreed between several of the UK’s leading broadband, mobile and phone providers, which commits BT (EE), Virgin Media (O2), VodafoneThree, Tesco Mobile, TalkTalk, Sky (Sky Broadband) and the Comms Council UK to a “crack down on scam calls and fraud“. A sub-charter also exists for B2B phone services.

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Gov Push Ofcom to Tackle Mid Contract UK Broadband and Mobile Price Hikes

4th Nov, 2025 (27 Comments)

The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Liz Kendall, has now joined the chorus of displeasure at O2’s recent decision (here) to increase their annual mid-contract price rises beyond what customers agreed when they signed-up. In response, the minister has directed Ofcom’s CEO, Dame Melanie Dawes, to “look at in-contract price rises again“.

Ofcom Warns UK Phone Providers to Ensure Customers Can Contact 999

3rd Nov, 2025 (6 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has opened a new compliance programme to assess whether regulated UK phone providers are meeting their obligations concerning the need to ensure access to emergency calls (e.g. 999 and 112). The move comes after a string of broadband and VoIP providers, including BT, Gigaclear and Vonage, were fined over various related failings (here, here and here).

Openreach Cuts UK Price of 1.2Gbps and 1.8Gbps FTTP Broadband Tiers

31st Oct, 2025 (25 Comments)

Network operator Openreach (BT) has today informed ISPs about a “realignment of prices” on their top two fastest Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband tiers – 1.2Gbps and 1.8Gbps (both 120Mbps upstream), which in practice appears to mark a further price reduction. Rivals will perhaps remark that we’ve seen quite a few special offers from the incumbent of late.

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Ofcom Express Disappointment over O2’s UK Mobile Price Hike, But Doesn’t Act UPDATE

30th Oct, 2025 (38 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today said they’re “disappointed” by mobile operator O2’s (Virgin Media) recent decision (here) to increase their annual mid-contract price rises beyond what customers agreed when they signed-up (often above inflation too) and then forcing that upon existing customers. But so far an expression of disappointment is all they’ll do.

Ofcom UK Propose New Rules to Tackle Mobile Messaging Scams

29th Oct, 2025 (12 Comments)

Ofcom has today announced a “comprehensive package of planned measures” that are designed to improve protection for mobile phone users against messaging scams. According to the regulator, some 50% of UK mobile users said they received a suspicious message between Nov 2024 and Feb 2025 via text or iMessage, but it’s hoped today’s changes may reduce that figure.

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BDUK Summarise Progress of UK Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout Contracts

24th Oct, 2025 (12 Comments)

The Government’s (DSIT) Building Digital UK agency has today finally started to publish monthly updates on the delivery progress of contracts that have been awarded under their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme, which among other things reveals that some 150,730 contracted premises have already been built out of a planned total of 1,002,270 (October 2025).

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20 Broadband Altnets Launch New UK Network Infrastructure Sharing Venture

22nd Oct, 2025 (17 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA), which represents many of the UK’s alternative broadband ISP networks, has announced that their efforts through the previously announced Infrastructure Sharing Group (ISG) have now resulted in the creation of a new infrastructure sharing venture – supporting the use of 500,000km of “spare fibre capacity“.

Major UK Pension Funds Commit £40m to Improve Rural Broadband UPDATE

20th Oct, 2025 (7 Comments)

The UK Government has announced the launch of the Sterling 20 initiative, which is a partnership of the country’s twenty largest pension funds and insurance companies (Nest, Aviva, Legal & General, M&G etc.) that have all agreed to pump extra investment into local infrastructure and businesses to boost growth. Rural broadband will be one of the winners.

Ofcom Reveal Initial Results of UK 5G Mobile Auction for 26GHz and 40GHz

16th Oct, 2025 (12 Comments)

The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has this morning revealed the initial (principal stage) results from their auction of the 26GHz and 40GHz millimetre wave (mmW) spectrum bands for use by 5G mobile (mobile broadband) operators, which saw EE (BT), O2 (Virgin Media) and Vodafone (VodafoneThree) pay a combined £39m to secure more airwaves.

Government to Reintegrate Building Digital UK Agency Back into DSIT UPDATE

13th Oct, 2025 (1 Comment)

The Government has today informed ISPreview that its Building Digital UK (BDUK) executive agency, which has responsibility for delivering gigabit broadband and better mobile connectivity across the nation (e.g. the £5bn Project Gigabit scheme), is to be integrated back into the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) from 1st November 2025.

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Broadband ISP Virgin Media UK Launch Single Visit FTTP Install Programme

9th Oct, 2025 (22 Comments)

Broadband, phone and TV provider Virgin Media (O2) has this morning announced the launch of its new Single Visit Install (SVI) programme, which aims to provide customers with a faster and more reliable approach to installations. But it’s currently only live across their nexfibre built full fibre (FTTP) connections (c.2.4 million UK premises).

Welsh Gov Tenders for £70m Extending High Speed Broadband Project

8th Oct, 2025 (1 Comment)

ISPreview has spotted that the Welsh Government (WG) have today issued a formal tender notice for their £70m (state aid) “Extending High Speed Broadband” (EHSB) project for Wales. In its current form, this aims to help extend faster broadband to around 29,000 premises in poorly served areas (i.e. locations that can’t yet access 30Mbps+ speeds).

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Broadband and Mobile Considered as Part of UK Home Buying and Selling Reform

7th Oct, 2025 (6 Comments)

The UK government has begun consulting on new proposals aimed at speeding up the process of home buying and selling, while also improving the material information that Estate Agents are required to provide for every transaction. The availability of broadband, as well as mobile signal and coverage, are some of the data points proposed for inclusion in future guidance.

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Government to Expand UK Availability of Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme

26th Sep, 2025 (4 Comments)

Good news. The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency will shortly announce that more areas of the United Kingdom are to be re-opened to the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which means that homes and businesses in poorly served areas will be able to apply for funding to help get faster internet connections installed.