The High Court in London has dismissed an appeal by investment firm LetterOne, which had been asking the court to rule that it was unlawfully ordered, under the new National Security and Investment Act (NSIA), to sell Upp’s full fibre broadband network by the UK Government. The company is now considering whether or not to challenge the outcome.

Just to recap. Upp was originally established as a £1bn project that aimed to deploy a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network across 1 million premises in the East of England (here). But their efforts were dealt a significant blow in December 2022, after the UK Government ordered LetterOne – an investment firm that previously received significant backing from several prominent and now sanctioned Russians – to sell its entire stake in Upp in order to “prevent, remedy, or mitigate the risk to national security” (here).

The move came despite the fact that LetterOne itself was not under any sanctions after its oligarch founders resigned from the group’s board in 2022. The investment company then froze the shareholdings of those individuals (who jointly own less than 50% of the company) and said they had no operational involvement in the business.

At the time, LetterOne said they “believe that L1 ownership of Upp is not a threat to national security in any way” and pointed out that “L1 is not sanctioned and has taken fast, decisive action to put in place strong measures to distance L1 from its sanctioned shareholders. They have no role in L1, no access to premises, infrastructure, people and funds or benefits of any description.”

However, despite LetterOne launching a legal challenge against the government’s decision (here), the investor ended up selling Upp at a loss (i.e. “less than the £143.7m that (LetterOne) had by then invested“) to rival operator nexfibre in September 2023 (here). At that point Upp’s network had only covered 175,000 premises and is today still in the process of being integrated into nexfibre’s network, while their customers (c.4,000) were shifted to nexfibre’s retail ISP partner Virgin Media (O2).

The High Court in London has now dismissed LetterOne’s appeal against the decision. According to Reuters, LetterOne’s lawyer, Tom Hickman, had argued that its proposals to prevent Upp’s ultimate beneficial owners from exerting any improper influence over the operator were wrongly rejected and that the government wrongly took into account a potential risk that Britain’s allies might perceive its response as being too soft on Russia. But Mrs Justice Farbey DBE ruled the suggestion that the company’s proposal was rejected “for diplomatic rather than national security reasons” was not correct.

A spokesperson for LetterOne said:

“This is a disappointing decision, given the swift, robust and decisive action LetterOne undertook in the aftermath of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

The investment firm is now “considering whether to appeal” the ruling, although at the time of writing we’ve been unable to find a copy of the decision online and so can’t yet assess how likely such a move would be to succeed.

Rural broadband ISP Airband, which has deployed a full fibre (FTTP) and wireless (FWA) broadband network that covers parts of Wales and South West England, recently published their latest accounts to the end of 2023 and revealed a sharp fall in employees (from 485 to 235) and the urgent need for new funding by 1st February 2025.

The operator recently stated that their broadband network now spans “more than 440,000 premises in over 200 communities across 7 counties“ (here), which we’re told breaks down as being 175,000 premises via “fibre” (FTTP) and 265,000 premises via wireless (FWA) – all Ready for Service (RFS).

However, the company has also had a rough couple of years, which saw recent restructuring impact their pace of build and result in redundancies as they shifted their focus toward growing take-up via greater commercialisation of their existing network (here). One of the other fallouts from this was the recent move to scale-back their deployment contract with the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) programme (here).

Airband’s latest accounts show that the operator has now spent a total of £207m on their network build to-date (up by £72m in 2023 alone) and is at risk of running out of funding. “The revised funding requirements of the business exceeds the current available facilities and new funding will be required by 1st February 2025,” said the results.

Despite the problems, the company’s Directors said they remain confident that “further strategic funding will be secured to allow the Group and Company to continue in operation for at least until 1st November 2025“.

Summary of Key Airband Figures to Dec 2023

➤ Revenues of £4.857m (up 41% this year vs 28% last year)

➤ Operating loss of £37.064m (2022: £20.972m)

➤ Total assets of £181.92m (2022: £151.14m)

➤ Total liabilities of £159.83m (2022: £116.41m)

➤ Shareholder funds of £22.086m (2022: £34.73m)

➤ Closing cash balance of £4.946m (2022: £15.809m)

News

Channels being spun off include MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, and E!

According to various news reports today, US telco giant Comcast is set to spin off some of its largest TV channels, including MSNBC, CNBC, and E!

The channels, which generated a collective revenue of around $7 billion over the last year, will form a new entity that is currently being referred to as ‘SpinCo’.

The news comes following an earnings call last month in which Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said the company was considering a major restructure of its media assets.

“Like many of our peers in media, we are experiencing the effects of the transition in our video businesses and have been studying the best path forward for these assets,” Cavanagh said at the time.

“To that end, we are now exploring whether creating a new well-capitalized company owned by our shareholders and comprised of our strong portfolio of cable networks would position them to take advantage of opportunities in the changing media landscape and create value for our shareholders,”

In a memo to staff today, Cavanagh further explained the structure of the spin off.

“Today we announced the exciting news that we intend to launch a new publicly traded company comprised of a strong portfolio of our cable television networks, including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Golf Channel, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and Sports Engine,” he wrote.

“I believe the effort will be well worthwhile, as this project will inject energy and renewed focus in both the new company and the future NBCUniversal. When you combine our assets, talented management team, and balance sheet strength, we are uniquely positioned to set both SpinCo and NBCUniversal up to play offense in a complex and evolving media landscape,” the letter concluded.

The new business will be run by Mark Lazarus, the current chairman of NBCUniversal’s media group, while NBCUniversal’s Chief Financial Officer, Anand Kini, will serve as CFO and operating chief.

While the transition process currently does not have a precise timetable, the decoupling is expected to be completed in approximately one year.

“I believe the effort will be well worthwhile, as this project will inject energy and renewed focus in both the new company and the future NBCUniversal. When you combine our assets, talented management team, and balance sheet strength, we are uniquely positioned to set both SpinCo and NBCUniversal up to play offense in a complex and evolving media landscape,” concluded the letter.

The rise of streaming channels and a shift in viewership preferences have seen pay-TV revenues sliding for years, leaving traditional broadcast players struggling to pivot. Comcast’s own streaming platform, Peacock, has been attempting to carve out a niche in the streaming market with moderate success, recording around 33 million paid subscribers as of Q2 2024.

Join the US telecoms industry in discussion about the sector’s hottest topics at Connected America 2025

Also in the news:
VMO2 launches UK’s first 5G standalone small cells in Birmingham
BT says Labour’s budget will cost company £100m
Vodafone Spain and Telefonica complete FibreCo deal

Dotlines UK, the latest venture from global tech company Dotlines, has officially launched with a mission to transform business solutions, digital security and connectivity across the UK.

Aiming to address key challenges in the UK telecoms industry, Dotlines UK sets out to deliver innovative, user-friendly solutions that empower telecommunication network providers, small businesses and households. Its approach centres on creating technology that makes life and business simpler.

Building on its rapid success in South and Southeast Asia, the UK launch is a strategic move for the company. Led by Jaki Chowdhury, former Product Director at TalkTalk, Dotlines UK aims to replicate its proven model here, blending local insights with global expertise.

Jaki Chowdhury, CEO of Dotlines UK, who has nearly two decades of experience in the telecoms industry, said: “We believe it’s time for a change. The telecoms industry has long grappled with issues such as legacy infrastructure and the need for more efficient, accessible services. With a focus on simplicity and user-centric design, our solutions aim to streamline operations, bridge connectivity gaps, and provide robust security measures for businesses and consumers alike.

“Dotlines UK isn’t just about selling products, it’s about building meaningful connections between people, processes and technology, with a focus on delivering simplicity through tech solutions. Our goal is to help businesses grow efficiently, in turn, allowing them to deliver value to their users.”

Dotlines UK will serve as the parent brand to a portfolio of technology solutions set to launch in early 2025. The products, designed for telecommunication operators, small businesses and consumers, will span business management, security and connectivity to meet modern demands.

Positioning itself as an “impact-driven” brand, Dotlines UK is dedicated to making a positive difference. A portion of profits will be directed toward charitable and environmental initiatives, including tree planting, carbon offsetting and not for profit partnerships, ensuring that the company’s success directly benefits communities and supports sustainability efforts.

For more information visit Dotlines UK.

News 

India’s second largest telco has taken nearly a quarter stake in the company 

This week, Bharti Global, the investment arm of Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises, has became the largest shareholder of the UK’s BT after completing its 24.5% stake purchase from Altice. 

The financial value of the deal was not officially announced, but is reportedly around £4 billion. 

The deal for Bharti to acquire the 24.5% stake was struck in August, with BT CEO Allison Kirkby calling the decision a vote of confidence in the UK incumbent’s growth prospects.  

 “We welcome investors who recognise the long-term value of our business and this scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy,” she said.  

“Bharti has long recognised the enormous potential of the business. BT’s renewed focus on optimisation, strengthening networks and driving consumer growth makes it well placed to consolidate its position as a leading global telecoms company that delivers long-term value for investors,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises in a statement. 

After building up its stake in BT over the past three years, Altice’s decision to offload the stake represents a significant change in strategy.  

Altice’s debt pile stands at around €60 billion, leading billionaire owner Patrick Drahi to shift focus towards streamline the business and selling off its non-critical assets.  

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter     

Also in the news:
VMO2 launches UK’s first 5G standalone small cells in Birmingham
BT says Labour’s budget will cost company £100m
Vodafone Spain and Telefonica complete FibreCo deal

News 

The deal follows rumours last month, with the Indian Economic Times reporting that the two companies were in late-stage talks 

Colt Data Centre Services (DCS) has announced a 50:50 joint venture with RMZ, an Indian real estate developer, to invest $1.7 billion in the data centre market. 

The investment will begin by focusing on Colt’s existing sites in Navi, Mumbai, and Ambattur, Chennai, with a third site will be added in the near future.  

Upon completion, the data centres will have a combined capacity of 250MW. 

Currently, Colt owns and operates sixteen data centres across Europe and Asia, including in Osaka, Mumbai, and London. 

“In terms of our expansion India remains a strategic country of focus and key in terms of delivering against our aggressive growth strategy,” said Niclas Sanfridsson, CEO of Colt DCS in a press release. 

“The partnership with RMZ will provide the opportunity to further accelerate and execute our ambitious plans,” he continued. 

“We are witnessing an extraordinary shift in the data centre landscape, driven by the accelerating demands of cloud adoption and the AI revolution,” said Deepak Chhabria, CEO of RMZ Infrastructure. 

India’s demand for data centres is growing rapidly due to increased internet usage, as well as the rise of 5G, AI, and cloud computing.  

Indeed, the Indian government is hoping to make the country a regional data hub, offering a variety of subsidies for the deployment of new data centres in key states.  

According to data from a recent Omdia report, India already has over 130 data centres in the country, with more than 35 additional deployments currently planned for 2024–2026. 

Keep up to date with the latest telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news: 

VMO2 launches UK’s first 5G standalone small cells in Birmingham
BT says Labour’s budget will cost company £100m
Vodafone Spain and Telefonica complete FibreCo deal

Global tech company Dotlines has today launched into the UK (Dotlines UK) with a plan to offer a variety of business and household solutions, from digital security to connectivity. A quick look at the company’s website shows that one of their brands will be a new broadband ISP called Carnival Internet UK.

The chances are reasonably good that most of our readers won’t have heard of Dotlines before, which is because they’ve tended to focus more on South and Southeast Asia. The company, which in the UK is being led by Jaki Chowdhury, a former Product Director at TalkTalk, now aims to replicate their model over this side of the world.

Speaking of which, if you Google (UK site) “Carnival Internet” today, then the top result is currently still their outlet in Dhaka (Bangladesh), rather than the UK (here). But that’s not surprising because most of the brands under Dotlines UK aren’t yet due to be fully launched until sometime in “early 2025” and the website for Carnival Internet UK is currently just an uninformative pre-registration page.

Speaking of brands, Dotlines UK will separately sell their business internet security services via Audra, while telecoms operators should also be able to improve staff satisfaction and productivity by taking services from Purplecube 360 (i.e. designed to improve customer services / systems etc.).

Jaki Chowdhury, CEO of Dotlines UK, said:

“We believe it’s time for a change. The telecoms industry has long grappled with issues such as legacy infrastructure and the need for more efficient, accessible services. With a focus on simplicity and user-centric design, our solutions aim to streamline operations, bridge connectivity gaps, and provide robust security measures for businesses and consumers alike.

Dotlines UK isn’t just about selling products, it’s about building meaningful connections between people, processes and technology, with a focus on delivering simplicity through tech solutions. Our goal is to help businesses grow efficiently, in turn, allowing them to deliver value to their users.”

The company adds that a portion of its profits will be directed toward charitable and environmental initiatives, including tree planting, carbon offsetting and not for profit partnerships, ensuring that the company’s success directly benefits communities and supports sustainability efforts.

Gigabit broadband ISP YouFibre, which sells packages via Netomnia (inc. Brsk) and Cityfibre’s respective 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) networks – across different parts of the United Kingdom, has today announced that they’ve more than doubled their customer base in just 10 months to total 150,000.

At present Netomnia’s full fibre network currently covers over 1.8 million premises (over 90 cities and towns). But the operator is aiming to reach 2 million UK premises (homes and businesses) and 235,000 customers by the end of 2024, before then rising to 3 million premises by 2025 (inc. 1 million customers by 2028). However, these figures also include the impact from their Brsk merger, while today’s figure of 150,000 is just for Youfibre.

Ryan Battle, Youfibre’s Managing Director, said: “We’re so proud to have connected over 150,000 customers in our first few years in business. But we’re not going to stop there. Our growth plans for 2025 are even more ambitious as we continue to work towards our vision of fast and fair internet for everyone.”

Speaking of growth, Youfibre recently launched a series of Black Friday discounts across their broadband packages, which, for example, slashes the price of their 500Mbps (symmetric) speed package to just £27.99 per month and 900Mbps to £29.99 per month.

News

The governments of Germany and Finland fear the damage is the result of deliberate sabotage

A pair of submarine cables in the Baltic sea were severed this week in a move European governments fear is the result of deliberate sabotage by malicious actors.

On Sunday morning, the 218km BCS East-West Interlink cable, which connects Gotland, Sweden, and Lithuania, was damaged and taken offline.

A spokesperson for Arelion, which owns and operates the BCS East-West Interlink, described the damage to as “not partial damage, it’s full damage”.

The following day, the 1,200km C-lion-1 cable between Helsinki, Finland, and Rostock, Germany, was also severed. This cable represents the only direct data connection between Finland and Central Europe.

German and Finnish governments quickly released a joint statement on the damage, saying it must be treated as suspicious.

“We are deeply concerned about the severed undersea cable connecting Finland and Germany in the Baltic Sea. The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times,” said the foreign ministers of both countries in a joint statement.

Russia, while not specifically blamed by any of government spokespeople, is the prime suspect for the attack, given the ongoing war in Ukraine and its attempts to destabilise Europe.

“Our European security is not only under threat from Russia‘s war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors. Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies,” continued the joint statement.

“We have to say, without knowing exactly who it came from, that this is a hybrid action. We also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it was sabotage,” added German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters today.

According to Finland’s cyber security and telecoms firm Cinia, repairs on the cables should be completed within 15 days

The incident harkens back to 2022, when the Nord Stream gas pipelines were destroyed around the onset of the Russia–Ukraine war. Investigations are ongoing, but deliberate sabotage is strongly suspected.

However, while submarine cables are no doubt increasingly enticing targets for asymmetrical warfare, it should be remembered that the vast majority of submarine cable incidents are accidental or environmental in nature.

Last year, two cables and a pipeline in the Gulf of Finland were cut, sparking similar rumours of Russian sabotage. However, the damage was quickly linked to a Chinese merchant vessel in the area that had (intentionally or not) dragged its anchor through the impacted cables. Similarly, a pair of submarine cables in the Red Sea were damaged early this year, with blame initially pointed at Yemeni Houthi rebels that were attacking local shipping routes; today the mostly likely explanation appears to be more indirect, with the leading theory suggesting that the cables were cut by the trailing anchor of the Rubymar, a ship that had been hit by a Houthi missile.

Regardless of the cause of the damage to these cable routes, the potential impact on the surrounding data landscape has the potential to be severe. In areas served by multiple subsea cables, data traffic is typically rerouted quickly and with minimal impact to the end user. For countries that rely on only a single cable, however, cable damage can leave the entire nation cut off from the global data backbone, leaving them reliant on satellites to communicat. This is often the case for smaller island nations, for example Tonga, which had its only submarine cable cut off by a volcanic eruptuion in 2022.

As a result, it should come as no surprise that the submarine cable community is using this most recent incident of cable damage to promote the deployment of additional subsea routes, highlighting the growing need for alternative data traffic in an increasingly volatile geopolitical world.

“There have been many stories of high-profile cable cuts this year, highlighting the need for greater network redundancy. We are so reliant on these vital pathways to transport data, that more investment into alternative paths is needed to ensure that when a cable is down, whatever the reason, traffic isn’t impacted,” said Steve Roberts, SVP Network Investment at EXA Infrastructure. “We are seeing governments and regulators starting to take the security of subsea cables more seriously, and this, coupled with continued investment into new projects, will mean that the impact of outages can be lessened in future.”

Join the submarine cable community in discussion at Submarine Networks EMEA 2025

Also in the news:
VMO2 launches UK’s first 5G standalone small cells in Birmingham
BT says Labour’s budget will cost company £100m
Vodafone Spain and Telefonica complete FibreCo deal

A new survey conducted by business ISP bOnline, which interviewed 407 small business owners during October 2024, has claimed that 74% of respondents are not sure if an alternative broadband network (altnet) is available in their area, and amongst those that believe there is, the majority (65%) have not yet tried to access them.

The top reasons for not giving an altnet a try appear to range from a belief that there will be no real price advantage (35%), to too much hassle to switch (30%), with 11% simply “not trusting them”. Trust and reputation is naturally something that grows organically with time (i.e. it’s always an issue for new entrants in any sector), although switching is now much easier with OTS and there usually is a price advantage to altnets (often a big one).

Summary of Additional Findings:

➤ 58% are unaware that there are now over 20 independent full-fibre altnets across the country

➤ 53% understand that major broadband service providers such as Sky Broadband and TalkTalk are not building out their own full-fibre networks, but providing their services via other network operators such as Openreach, Virgin Media and CityFibre (among others). The remainder either did not know (38%) or did not care (9%).

➤ 51% of all respondents also expressed concern over the reported levels of debt taken on by the altnets to build out their respective networks.

➤ 43% were not convinced that the level of choice being provided by the UK’s approach to introducing FTTP will be helpful, with half of those (52%) thinking the roll-out is “way too complicated”, while 10% felt that all the services will end up similarly priced and 7% are concerned that “many won’t survive”.

At present over 98% of UK premises are within reach of a 30Mbps+ capable “superfast” broadband service, which drops to over 85% for gigabit-capable (1000Mbps+) lines (mix of full fibre FTTP and hybrid fibre coax HFC). The vast majority of premises are served by ISPs that use Openreach’s (OR) network, while over half (17m+) can also access Virgin Media’s and nexfibre’s combined network (mostly in urban areas).

On top of that, there’s a huge and rapidly growing market for altnets, which often overbuild the incumbents. Some of the biggest are CityFibre (c.4 million premises), Hyperoptic (1.73 million with FTTP/B) and Netomnia (1.82 million), but there are many more (c.80 in total) and they now have a sizeable impact upon the market (covering c.35-40% of premises). See our Summary of Full Fibre Build Progress for more.

Anthony Karibian, CEO and founder of bOnline, said:

“Britain’s small and micro businesses deserve better and the country’s patchwork approach to building out its FTTP network is not helping. SME’s require solutions today that both enable them to compete on an equal footing with corporates and bring down their costs given the imminent squeeze on margins from the National Insurance increase. That is what bOnline is in the market doing – unlike the incumbents who continue to gouge their long tail of smaller customers with twice yearly price increases and the altnets whose primary focus is on the residential market.

Failure to properly mobilise the UK’s SMEs will only further hold back the country’s growth.”

Naturally, bOnline has its own vested interests here, which means that we have to take their survey with a pinch of salt. But the study does still manage to raise some relevant points about trust, familiarity and a lack of awareness about today’s market that remains very difficult to tackle. Not to mention that the more altnets and ISPs this market produces, the more complex and confusing it becomes for end-users, be they SMEs or consumers.

Some of this may be ironed out by natural market consolidation, but that will take time, and meanwhile altnets might be wise to increase their focus and marketing budgets toward growing more business customers.