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Latest Key Developments

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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).

Welsh Government Quietly Reopens ABC Broadband Voucher Scheme UPDATE

13th May, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) appears to have quietly reopened their Access Broadband Cymru (ABC) grant scheme during the middle of last week. This is being backed by an investment pot of £1 million (annual budget) and offers funding to help rural homes get a 30Mbps+ broadband service installed in areas of slow connectivity.

Ofcom Spring 2025 Data – Gigabit Broadband Covers 27.24 Million UK Premises

8th May, 2025 (6 Comments)

Ofcom has today published its Spring 2025 update on UK fixed broadband and mobile coverage, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) lines now reach 74% of homes (up from 69% in July 2024), while 86% are within reach of a gigabit network (up from 83%) and 62-85% of premises can get an outdoor 5G signal (up from 61-79%).

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Government Rejects Amendment to Push FTTP Broadband into Flats UPDATE

7th May, 2025 (10 Comments)

The government has rejected an Openreach (BT) supported amendment to the new Renters’ Rights Bill (RRB) for England, which aimed to make it easier to deploy gigabit broadband into large residential buildings (blocks of flats / apartments) where deployment has been unreasonably refused or landlords cannot be contacted. But they claim to be “actively working” on a solution.

Nexfibre Cut 2025 UK Full Fibre Target to 2.5m Premises as VMO2 Pause NetCo Plans

2nd May, 2025 (21 Comments)

Liberty Global has confirmed that sibling nexfibre, which is working alongside UK ISP partner Virgin Media to deploy a new 10Gbps full fibre broadband (FTTP) network across over 5 million premises (c.2.2m have already been built), has scaled back its coverage target for 2025 to 2.5 million premises passed. At the same time, VMO2 “have paused our NetCo plans“.

Openreach Win £157m Project Gigabit Broadband Build Contract for Scotland

1st May, 2025 (1 Comment)

The UK Government today confirmed that Openreach (BT) have been formally awarded the £157 million state aid supported Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contract for Scotland (Call off 6). The deal will see the operator extending their full fibre (FTTP) network to cover an additional 65,000 of the hardest to reach rural premises.

Progress on GBP70m Extending High Speed Broadband in Wales Project

28th Apr, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has moved into the final market engagement phase of their proposed £70m (state aid) “Extending High Speed Broadband Reach in Wales” (EHSBRW) project, which aims to help upgrade broadband for some or all of the remaining 84,000 premises (i.e. those that can’t yet get “superfast” speeds of 30Mbps+).

UK Government Confirms Europe-first Ban on SIM Farms

24th Apr, 2025 (18 Comments)

The UK government has today confirmed its intent to ban SIM Farms (both possession and supply) some 6 months after the new Crime and Policing Bill (CPB) receives Royal Assent. The move is designed to better protect the public from fraudsters and scammers who also use the devices for criminal purposes (e.g. sending scam/spam messages and calls to mobile users).

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Ofcom Confirm Ban of Global Titles to Tackle Abuse of UK Mobile Networks

22nd Apr, 2025 (3 Comments)

The national telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today confirmed that it will ban UK phone operators from leasing Global Titles (GTs) – numbers like +44 (for the United Kingdom) that support mobile services – to third parties. Sadly, such leasing can be misused to try and intercept messages and calls, disrupt the operation of networks and track the location of users of other networks.

Giffgaff Launch Trial of UK Full Fibre Broadband via Nexfibre and Virgin Media

15th Apr, 2025 (42 Comments)

Mobile network provider giffgaff, which is owned by Telefónica and naturally uses O2’s virtual operator (MVNO) platform, has today confirmed their intention to trial and launch a range of full fibre (FTTP) home broadband packages via nexfibre and Virgin Media’s national networks. Much as ISPreview first leaked last year.

Housing Search and UK Broadband Under Magnifying Glass

Wales Adopts Rules to Ensure New Build Homes Get Gigabit Broadband

1st Apr, 2025 (2 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) has confirmed that new rules will be introduced across wales from 1st July 2025, which broadly follow England’s own updated Building Regulations by requiring housing developers to “ensure all new build houses be equipped with gigabit broadband capability” (some exceptions apply).

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Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme Expanded to UK Urban Areas

31st Mar, 2025 (6 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has today tweaked the language on the information page for their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) in a number of key ways. This sees the removal of “rural” specific language and the introduction of language stating that some areas are “open for urban voucher projects“.

ISPA and INCA Set Out New UK Guidance for Deploying Telegraph Poles

25th Mar, 2025 (10 Comments)

The ISPA and INCA have today published new ‘Best Practice Guidance’ for gigabit broadband operators that are building new poles as part of their UK network expansions. The guidance aims to support the Government’s goal of “ending the deployment of unnecessary telegraph poles” (here), not least by requiring providers to engage more closely with communities before they build.