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Latest Key Developments

Project Reach Launched to Fix Mobile Signal Notspots on UK Rail Network

26th Jun, 2025 (9 Comments)

The UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) has today taken the wrappings off Project Reach, which reflects a public-private partnership that will deploy “ultra fast fibre optic cable” across 1,000 kilometres of major rail lines to help “eliminate mobile signal blackspots” in tunnels on “key rail routes” up and down the country.

Ofcom Launch Improved UK 4G and 5G Mobile Speed and Coverage Checker

26th Jun, 2025 (17 Comments)

The UK communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has today launched an overhauled mobile network coverage checker, which includes enhancements that are intended to better match people’s real-world experiences, particularly of modern 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) service performance and signal strength.

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Freedom Fibre Scales Back North Shropshire Project Gigabit Broadband Contract UPDATE

25th Jun, 2025 (12 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has just announced that alternative network provider Freedom Fibre has had to scale back their £24m (state aid) Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contract for North Shropshire (LOT 25.02 in England), which originally aimed to cover “around” 12,000 hard-to-reach rural homes (here).

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Boost for Broadband and Mobile as UK Sets 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy UPDATE

20th Jun, 2025 (6 Comments)

The UK Government has published its Infrastructure Strategy for the next 10 years – backed by £725bn in long-term funding for maintenance and major projects, which promises to “transform how infrastructure projects are planned and delivered” in order to “deliver stability, investment and national renewal“. And there’s some good news for broadband and mobile networks.

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New Data Use and Access Law to Help UK Utility Maps and ISP Comparisons

19th Jun, 2025 (2 Comments)

The UK government has today announced that their Data Use and Access Bill has become law (Royal Assent), which pledges to inject £10bn into the British economy over 10-years by, among other things, supporting personalised market comparisons for utility pricing and putting a new digital map of underground broadband cables and pipes on a “statutory footing“.

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Ofcom Warns UK Broadband ISPs NOT to Use Alternative Switching Methods

19th Jun, 2025 (29 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has posted an update on their investigation into the performance of the new consumer broadband and phone switching system (One Touch Switching). This found no major problems with the biggest ISPs but did warn that some providers on Openreach’s network were using an “alternative switching method“, which they said must stop.

Scotland May Reissue Gigabit Broadband Tender for Fife, Perth and Kinross

17th Jun, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Scottish Government (SG) looks as if they could be preparing to “relaunch” their proposed gigabit broadband roll-out procurement for Fife, Perth and Kinross during September 2025. This might take a second stab at trying to find a supplier that can help upgrade the remaining set of hardest-to-reach premises.

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VodafoneThree Outline Future UK Network Plans and 4G to 5G Speed Boosts

12th Jun, 2025 (55 Comments)

VodafoneThree, which reflects the now finalised c.£16bn merger between Vodafone and Three UK (here), has this morning set out a set of post-merger plans for their 4G / 5G mobile (mobile broadband) network coverage, performance and branding. Starting with a 20% average speed boost on 4G for Three and SMARTY customers, and a new broadband partnership with CommunityFibre.

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Gov’s 2025 Spending Review Delays UK Gigabit Broadband Target to 2032 UPDATE

11th Jun, 2025 (13 Comments)

The UK Government’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has today delivered her 2025 Spending Review, which included a few bits of new information and updated figures for telecoms. But as well as confirming £1.9bn for broadband and mobile projects (existing commitments), it also appeared to reflect a delay to the gigabit broadband roll-out from 2030 to 2032.

Welsh Gov Update Plan for £70m Extending High Speed Broadband Project

9th Jun, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) today issued an update on their long awaited £70m (state aid) “Extending High Speed Broadband” (EHSB) project for Wales, which now intends to help upgrade around 25,000 to 30,000 poorly served premises (down from the original aspiration of c.84,000) in areas that can’t yet get “superfast” speeds of 30Mbps+.

Hyperoptic to Extend UK FTTP Broadband Coverage via Openreach

9th Jun, 2025 (28 Comments)

In a significant strategic development. City-focused UK ISP Hyperoptic, which has spent the past few years deploying their own alternative full fibre (FTTP/B) gigabit broadband network to cover 1.9 million premises (up from 1.73m in July 2024), has confirmed to ISPreview that they plan to extend this to “at least” another 1 million premises – albeit using Openreach’s FTTP products.

Scotland Stops £43m Gigabit Broadband Tender for Fife, Perth and Kinross

7th Jun, 2025 (5 Comments)

ISPreview has uncovered that the Scottish Government (SG) have stopped their tender for a supplier to deliver on the proposed £43m (state aid) Project Gigabit broadband roll-out scheme in Fife, Perth and Kinross (Lot 4 – Scotland). This had been expected to help expand full fibre (FTTP) connectivity to an estimated 28,441 premises in hard-to-reach rural areas.

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Vodafone and Three UK Officially Complete £16bn Mega Mobile Merger UPDATE

2nd Jun, 2025 (69 Comments)

The huge £16bn+ merger between mobile network operators Vodafone and Three UK (CK Hutchison) officially completed today, which will change the competitive dynamic of the UK market. The deal is also expected to help improve the national coverage of the latest 5G Standalone (mobile broadband) technologies, but concerns remain over jobs and consumer pricing.

Government Hails Start of National Campaign for UK Digital Phone Switch

2nd Jun, 2025 (24 Comments)

The UK government has today hailed the start of a new national campaign, funded by broadband giants BT and Virgin Media, which aims to help support and encourage vulnerable people in their efforts to switch from legacy phone lines to new digital (IP / VoIP based) networks before the deadline.

Netomnia Goes Live with First 50Gbps UK Full Fibre Broadband Network

22nd May, 2025 (43 Comments)

Alternative broadband operator Netomnia, which is supported by retail internet providers YouFibre and Brsk, has today become the first UK network operator to go live with a commercial deployment of 50Gbps capable 50G-PON based Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology (real-world speeds of up to c.40Gbps are expected for homes and businesses).

FullFibre Limited Drops Out of UK Project Gigabit Broadband Contracts

22nd May, 2025 (12 Comments)

The UK government has today unexpectedly announced that alternative network operator FullFibre Limited (Fibre Heroes), which recently completed its merger with Zzoomm (here) and confirmed further job losses (here), has “mutually agreed to terminate” their state aid supported Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contracts for the Derbyshire Peak District and Herefordshire.

Openreach Doc Hints at XGS-PON FTTP Plan for 3.3Gbps UK Broadband

17th May, 2025 (61 Comments)

Network operator Openreach (BT) recently published the first edition of a new Suppliers Trial Information Note (STIN) for Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband using 10Gbps capable XGS-PON technology, which interestingly appeared to hint at a series of new speed tiers. This includes symmetric speeds of 2.5Gbps and 3.3Gbps (Gigabits per second).