Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Project Gigabit (546 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Project Gigabit

EU Reveals 2025 Gigabit Broadband and 5G Coverage Progress vs UK

27th June, 2025 (16 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) recently published their annual 2025 study of broadband coverage in Europe, which reveals how the EU’s fixed gigabit broadband (FTTP and Hybrid Fibre Coax) and 5G mobile networks compare across all of its 27 countries. We compare this with the United Kingdom below.

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

26th June, 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.

Freedom-Fibre-female-engineers-next-to-van

Freedom Fibre Scales Back North Shropshire Project Gigabit Broadband Contract UPDATE

25th June, 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).

hand with fiber network cables connected to servers in a datacenter by 123rf

National Security Strategy Lacks Detail on UK Telecoms and Subsea Fibre

24th June, 2025 (0 Comments)

The UK Government has published its National Security Strategy (NSS), which may or may not confirm earlier reports (here) that broadband (inc. telecommunications) will now be considered part of national security investment in order to help reach a new NATO target for spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035. Subsea fibre protection also gets a brief mention.

£50m Funding Boost for Wessex Internet’s Rural UK Broadband Network

23rd June, 2025 (1 Comment)

Rural-focused ISP and alternative network builder Wessex Internet, which is building a mix of full fibre (FTTP) and fixed wireless network across Southern England, has today announced that they’ve secured a £50m investment from the National Wealth Fund (formerly known as the UK Infrastructure Bank).

Big Ben, London Westminster Bridge and Houses of Parliament - 123rf

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

19th June, 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“.

Government Appoints Lesley Cowley as Chair of Building Digital UK Agency

18th June, 2025 (2 Comments)

The Government (DSIT) has this morning announced that they’ve appointed Lesley Cowley OBE to be the new Chair of their broadband and mobile centric Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency. The development comes after former Chair, Simon Blagden, resigned from his position back in July 2024 (here) and was replaced by Hazel Hobbs (Interim Chair).

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

17th June, 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.

tank pointing at bt openreach engineer long

Government May Reclassify UK Broadband as Defence Spending

17th June, 2025 (15 Comments)

A major newspaper has today claimed that the UK government’s imminent National Security Review (NSR), which is due to be published next week, will expand the definition of national security spending to include everything from a third runway at Heathrow Airport to food prices and rural broadband provision (e.g. the £5bn Project Gigabit scheme).

Pound sterling broadband voucher by 123rf (100296328)

Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme Tweaks UK Eligibility Criteria

13th June, 2025 (13 Comments)

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has tweaked the eligibility criteria for their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) again, which among other things now requires that a home or business must have existing available broadband download speeds of less than 1Gbps in order to be eligible (previously it was 100Mbps).

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

9th June, 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+.

Fibrus Name on Engineering Van below Door Mirror

Fibrus Hits EBITDA Breakeven as UK Broadband Customers Top 113.5k

9th June, 2025 (9 Comments)

Infracapital-backed alternative network operator Fibrus, which has been rolling out their full fibre (FTTP) broadband network across Northern Ireland and Cumbria (England), has today published a summary of their latest results. The data reveals that they achieved EBITDA breakeven in March 2025 and are now home to 113,500 customers (up from 100k in Nov 2024).

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

7th June, 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.

INCA Calls on Lords to Address UK Broadband Woes for Remote Working

6th June, 2025 (19 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA), which represents many of the UK’s alternative broadband operators, has today proposed several priority recommendations to help address – as part of a Lords Select Committee inquiry – the gaps in critical broadband infrastructure that could be holding back home-based working.

GoFibre Connect 500 Customers to FTTP Broadband in Barnard Castle

3rd June, 2025 (3 Comments)

Edinburgh-based UK ISP GoFibre has revealed that their roll-out of a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in the County Durham market town of Barnard Castle, which forms part of their £6.6m state-aid supported Project Gigabit contract to cover 4,000 hard-to-reach premises in rural Teesdale (here), has now connected over 500 customers.

GoFibre Expands Project Gigabit Broadband Rollout in Teesdale UK

30th May, 2025 (0 Comments)

ISPreview has spotted that the Government’s (DSIT) Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency have issued a contract modification notice for alternative network ISP GoFibre. This modestly expands their state aid funded Project Gigabit broadband roll-out of full fibre technology for hard-to-reach rural parts of Teesdale (Lot 4.01) in County Durham.

Gov Reveal More on Ofcom’s Planned Change to Improve 4G Mobile Maps

23rd May, 2025 (25 Comments)

The UK Government’s Minister for Telecoms, Sir Chris Bryant, this week provided more details to parliament on how Ofcom would soon improve the accuracy and relevance of their mobile coverage maps, which made particular reference to the minimum required 4G mobile broadband speed (currently 2Mbps) – this will shortly be more than doubled to 5Mbps.