Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The financially troubled broadband provider TalkTalk has today attempted to start putting the recent past behind it by refreshing their brand identity a bit (inc. new website), while at the same time launching new digital platforms and a supporting marketing campaign. But it may yet take much more than this to help turn things around, although it’s a start.

The brand refresh, which is already live across TalkTalk’s newly designed website today, includes “electric green and shocking pink tones” and underlines how the provider is attempting to “reconnect with its challenger roots“. The accompanying marketing campaign for this will launch on 11th September 2025 across digital, video-on-demand, outdoor, and audio channels.

Expressed as being “aimed at delivering a better way to Wi-Fi for UK consumers“, the new website and customer platform is also being underpinned by their recently agreed long-term partnership with Kraken Technologies (here). The new customer management platform replaces a number of internal legacy platforms, and is Kraken’s first large scale foray into the telecoms market.

The first TalkTalk customers have already been migrated over to the platform, supported by a new customer service model, which is said to “empower customer service agents to solve any problem, rather than passing customers around different agents“. But only time will tell what sort of impact this actually has.

Susie Buckridge, CEO of TalkTalk, said:

“We’re returning to our challenger roots, delivering reliable Wi-Fi for all our customers at the right price, at the same time as challenging ourselves to find new ways of delighting our customers. Our new look website, strengthened by our brilliant new-look brand and engaging marketing campaign, are just the latest demonstration of that, and signal our intent to continue to shake up the industry on behalf of our customers.”

The announcement doesn’t mention anything about new or refreshed broadband packages, although we did find their website ordering systems to be a lot smoother. On the flip side, in areas where we used to get package prices and speeds for CityFibre’s FTTP network, we’re oddly now only getting results for Openreach’s slower FTTP options, which is hopefully just an initial bug with the new website.

As above, only time will tell whether this is enough to help improve TalkTalk’s take-up and stem the recently rapid customer bleed to rivals (420,000 lost in the last year) – all occurring amid their widely reported financial challenges, but it often takes more than this to turn such a situation around.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Wireless infrastructure provider Freshwave has today revealed that they’ve worked with UK mobile operator EE (BT) to deploy a further 50 new small cell based outdoor 4G and 5G mobile (mobile broadband) units across the City of London area, which are helping to expand the network operators coverage and performance.

Small cells are akin to small shoebox sized mobile (radio) base stations, which are designed to deliver limited coverage (usually up to around 100+ metres) and thus tend to be more focused on busy areas, specific sites or even indoor locations – it’s not uncommon to find these sitting on top of lampposts, CCTV poles or old payphone cubicles (i.e. this can be more cost-effective than building new street assets or trying to secure wayleaves on buildings etc.).

EE began trialling Freshwave’s new outdoor small cell mobile network in the central ‘Square Mile’ area of London during 2022 (here) and they’ve since expanded it several times (here). The latest sites will add to the previous delivery of 35 sites for the operator, with a further already 34 in-build.

The network is said to use a “first-of-its-kind design” by Freshwave, which is made to accommodate all the MNOs on 4G and 5G from day one, with no adjustments needed to the infrastructure. The latest expansion should boost mobile signals for EE customers outside iconic City landmarks, including St Paul’s Cathedral, the Old Bailey and Guildhall, extending to areas surrounding the Barbican as well as along Fleet Street.

Simon Frumkin, CEO at Freshwave, said:

“We’re proud to be working in close partnership with the City of London Corporation and EE on expanding this pioneering multi-operator network across the Square Mile. This project is a great example of how innovative engineering can deliver real-world impact in even the most complex urban environments. We’re excited to keep building on this momentum to support the UK’s digital economy.”

James Hope, Director of Mobile Radio Access Networks at EE, said:

“As demand for high-capacity, low-latency connectivity continues to grow, we’re proud to be expanding our mobile network in the heart of the City of London. These additional sites will further boost performance and resilience for residents and visitors alike, with robust mobile connectivity being key to supporting the City’s digital future. Working with trusted partners like Freshwave, we’re committed to delivering the best 4G and 5G experience, even in the most data-demanding environments.”

EE is already seeing an average of 125TB (TeraBytes) of data downloaded per week across all its Freshwave-deployed sites in the City (up from 7.5TB last year, in their initial pilot deployment). Freshwave added that more than 5,000,000 sq ft of commercial building space in the City of London also benefits from multi-operator mobile connectivity thanks to their indoor deployments.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

One of the UK’s largest alternative broadband networks, Netomnia (Substantial Group), has revealed that they’re in the process of joining Openreach’s (BT) network in order to harness their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) products in areas where their network doesn’t yet reach or may be unlikely to reach in the future. But the initial reach will be limited.

The change of strategy, which on the surface seems to mirror Hyperoptic’s recent move (here), could help to give both a further boost to customer take-up and also solves the problem of what happens when existing customers on Netomnia’s own fibre (on-net) move house to a location outside their existing network area (off-net).

At present Netomnia’s own full fibre broadband network, which offers blistering speeds of up to 8000Mbps to consumers via ISPs like YouFibre, Brsk and others (and technically c.40Gbps to some businesses on-demand via 50G PON tech), already covers 2.7 million UK premises (375,000 customers). But as above, their on-net deployment will only take them to 5m by the end of 2027 and, even with consolidation, there will be gaps in their reach.

However, ISPreview has been told that their strategy is currently only planned to go as far as Netomnia’s existing reach allows within BT’s exchanges. Put another way, the operator has already connected their network to Openreach using CableLinks (Ethernet capacity), and they have a max presence within about 200 BT exchanges, so this will enable them to reach around 1.5 million extra incremental properties beyond their own fibre.

Just to be clear, this mixed on-net and off-net strategy will thus see Netomnia’s ISPs reaching 5 million premises with their own fibre and then the extra 1.5 million via Openreach (total reach of 6.5 million). Netomnia said they aren’t planning to wait for Openreach to launch their new XGS-PON based symmetric speed FTTP packages (speeds could go up to 3.3Gbps) and plan to launch their new approach around the end of 2025 or early 2026.

At present the operator doesn’t yet know whether they will go beyond 1.5m premises (c.200 BT exchanges) via Openreach’s network in the future, which may well depend upon how successful this strategy becomes. Netomnia also doesn’t seem worried about the fact that Openreach’s current FTTP products have much slower upload speeds and higher wholesale prices, so it will be interesting to see how they balance this for their consumer packages/prices.

Interestingly, Netomnia also hinted to ISPreview that Openreach may not be the only other third-party FTTP network they onboard with in the future, but it’s too early to talk about that with any certainty. Finally, Netomnia also confirmed via a related report on TheTimes (paywall) that their long-held plans for launching a UK Mobile service this year (here) will harness the combined Vodafone and Three UK (VodafoneThree) network.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative network provider and UK ISP CommunityFibre, which has deployed a 5Gbps speed full fibre broadband (FTTP) network to cover 1.342 million UK homes (plus c.200k businesses) – mostly in London, has today reduced their somewhat industry leading 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee to 30 days. But this is still better than many other providers can do.

The Guarantee essentially allows new customers to cancel their broadband contract and leave penalty free, within the first 60 days, if they are unhappy with the connection and CommunityFibre can’t fix the problem. But customers who cancel due to the 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee will not receive any money back for any services they’ve paid for already.

Only a few providers offer a similar guarantee, although they usually run for a much shorter period than 60 days (e.g. 30 days or a couple of weeks).

A spokesperson for CommunityFibre told ISPreview:

“For the small minority of customers who may have issues when they first sign up to Community Fibre, they contact us within the first few days, and we are able to resolve the majority of them swiftly.

Therefore, instead of dragging things out, we want our customers to feel secure right away. That’s why we’ve tightened our guaranteed window – as they can quickly determine if we are the right fit. Even reducing to a 30-Day Guarantee still means we are one of the few ISPs to have a guarantee and additionally have the (joint) longest guarantee of any of the UK broadband providers.”

New customers of the provider’s home broadband packages currently pay from just £19 per month for symmetric speeds of 200Mbps (inc. free router, installation, unlimited usage and a 24-month minimum term) and that rises up to £39 for their top 5Gbps package. Many of CommunityFibre’s packages are currently on a big discount until the end of this week, although monthly prices will rise by £2 from April every year.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A team of Microsoft backed and largely UK based researches, which were originally part of Lumenisity – a spinoff from the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton, appear to have succeeded in reducing attenuation and other signal degradation phenomena in next gen hollow core fibre (HCF) broadband cables – boosting speeds by 45%.

Conventional optical fibre cables work by guiding laser light through solid glass cores, which need to be extremely transparent in order to avoid signal loss. But even the clearest of fibres can still suffer a slight loss over distance, although researchers have long been refining a possible alternative for the future.

By comparison, HCF cables have an air-filled central core (i.e. light travels faster through the air than glass), with an outer ring of glass to help guide the beam, which helps to resolve some of the aforementioned issues – improving data speeds and latency. BT trialled one such solution back in 2021 (here), but the technology still had some issues with the signal losing too much power.

Modern solid core fibres typically deliver a minimum loss of 0.14 decibels per kilometre (0.14 dB km-1), but the researchers were able to improve their alternative HCF solution to deliver “unprecedented transmission bandwidth and attenuation, with a measured loss of 0.091 dB km-1“. According to The Register, this marks a big improvement, as past HCF solutions delivered a measured loss of more like 1 dB km-1, and you thus don’t need to amplify the signal as much.

Extract from the Paper (Nature)

A critical component of optical communications is the availability of a suitable waveguide technology for the transport of electromagnetic waves with low loss over a broad spectral range. In the past four decades, despite extensive research, the attenuation and spectral bandwidth of silica-based optical fibres have remained relatively unchanged, with state-of-the-art fibres offering values of 0.14 dB km−1 and 26 THz below 0.2 dB km−1, respectively.

Here we report a microstructured optical waveguide with unprecedented transmission bandwidth and attenuation, with a measured loss of 0.091 dB km−1 at 1,550 nm that remains below 0.2 dB km−1 over a window of 66 THz. Instead of a traditional solid glass core, this innovative optical fibre features a core of air surrounded by a meticulously engineered glass microstructure to guide light. This approach not only reduces attenuation and other signal degradation phenomena, but it also increases transmission speeds by 45%.

Furthermore, the approach theoretically supports further loss reductions and operation at wavelengths where broader bandwidth amplifiers exist, potentially heralding a new era in long-distance communications as well as remote delivery of laser beams.

All of this sounds good, although it’s worth pointing out that HCF cables aren’t going to be used to replace all of today’s optical fibres – at least not for many decades (if ever) – because we aren’t even close to maximising the capability of existing solid core fibres. But HCF cables could be more widely deployed as part of new core network links, or for providing backhaul style capacity over longer distances etc.

Microsoft is a data behemoth, and thus their interest in this field is clear to understand.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

The facility strengthens Netomnia’s position as the UK’s fastest-growing Alt-Net, supporting its path to profitability in 2025 and rollout target of five million premises by 2027.

Netomnia, the UK’s second-largest alternative network provider (Alt-Net), has completed its £300 million junior debt raise. This includes £160 million from existing investors I Squared Capital and Palistar Capital, originally part of the May 2025 funding, and an additional £140 million subscribed through increased commitments from I Squared Capital and Palistar Capital alongside new lenders Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Bain Capital. This latest investment builds on Netomnia’s £880 million senior debt commitment, bringing total debt funding support to £1.2 billion.

Netomnia, together with YouFibre and brsk, now serves 2.7 million premises serviceable and 375,000 premises connected. With an annual build rate of one million premises, Netomnia is on track to achieve three million premises serviceable by the end of 2025 and is targeting five million by the end of 2027. The group has also achieved positive EBITDA.

“The last funding round was oversubscribed, showing the clear demand for Netomnia from both new and existing lenders,” said Jeremy Chelot, Group CEO of Netomnia, YouFibre, and brsk, “This £140 million extension reinforces confidence in our ability to deliver at scale while staying firmly on track with our build plan and profitability targets. Our mission remains clear: connecting millions more homes and businesses with the UK’s most powerful internet.”

“Netomnia has established itself as one of the UK’s leading digital infrastructure players, combining rapid rollout with cost efficiency while driving the delivery of critical connectivity across the UK. RMB is proud to partner Netomnia and its shareholder grouping once again as part of our sponsor led strategy”** Robert Leon, Global Co-head of IBD and Sponsor Client Segment at RMB David Haswell, a Director at Bain Capital, added**: “Bain Capital is delighted to support Netomnia as they reshape the UK fibre market by delivering both innovation and resilience in critical infrastructure. The leadership team has an impressive track record of execution and a clear vision for the next phase of bringing affordable, full-fibre connectivity to more UK consumers.”

Supported by Advencap, DigitalBridge, and Soho Square Capital, Netomnia, YouFibre, and brsk remain firmly on track to become the UK’s most scaled and capital-efficient retail, wholesale, and consolidation platforms.

Join the UK’s biggest digital economy event, Connected Britain on 24-25 September 

Also in the news:
US judge rules Huawei must face charges of fraud and racketeering
Optus ditches football rights to focus on telecoms
Nokia launches digital twin platform Enscryb to digitalise energy sector

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Edinburgh-based UK alternative network GoFibre, which is rolling out a gigabit broadband (FTTP) network across remote parts of rural Scotland and Northern England, has today announced the first four charities in North Northumberland to secure investment under their community fund.

Just to recap. The GoFurther Fund offers grants worth up to £3,000 to help local charity projects and community organisations in the regions of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Fife, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders etc. But in March 2025 (here) this was extended to include their network build areas in North Northumberland too, with local projects invited to apply for a slice of the £15,000 allocated to that region.

The fund forms part of GoFibre’s delivery of their state aid backed Project Gigabit contract, which sees them committing to various social value initiatives that will bring wider benefits to local communities. In North Northumberland, GoFibre is building its gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP) network to over 3,750 more homes and businesses through Project Gigabit (7,500+ premises in the region have already been covered by the provider).

• Hospice Care North Northumberland (Berwick / Alnwick): £3,000
• Border Links (Berwick / Scottish Borders): £2,700
• Inky Fingers Art Club (Wooler): £2,914.85
• Berwick Rangers Juniors Youth Development Trust (Berwick): £2,000

Meanwhile the operators network build in North Northumberland already covers parts of Berwick, Wooler, Belford, Seahouses, Beadnell, Bamburgh, Cornhill-on-Tweed, Eglingham, Harbottle, Otterburn and Milfield, as well as Ladykirk, Upsettlington and parts of Coldstream in Scotland.

Neil Conaghan, Chief Executive Officer at GoFibre, said:

“We know that charities continue to play a valuable role within communities, bringing people together and supporting vulnerable individuals. This is why we set up the GoFurther Fund.

These organisations have been chosen as the first winners in North Northumberland for each making the kind of positive impact within the local community that the GoFurther Fund is designed to support.

Through everything we do at GoFibre, we are all about connecting communities in as many ways as possible, building long-standing relationships and contributing much-needed funding where we can to make sure our network has a lasting impact.”

Key projects supported to date, by the fund, include education and employability initiatives for young people, as well as efforts to help tackle loneliness and social isolation and after-school support activities designed to empower young people from all backgrounds. For organisations in GoFibre’s build area who wish to apply, more information on the funding criteria and how to apply is available at gofibre.co.uk/gofurtherfund.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

Telecoms infrastructure provider Speed Fibre Group has officially completed its acquisition of BT Communications Ireland Limited (BTCIL), marking a significant consolidation in the Irish telecommunications market. The deal, valued at €22 million, sees Speed Fibre take ownership of BTCIL’s domestic network infrastructure, co-location facilities, and wholesale and enterprise customer bases.

Speed Fibre Group, which owns the Irish fibre operators Enet and Magnet+, will integrate BTCIL’s operations into these two brands. Enet will continue serving wholesale customers, while Magnet+ will focus on enterprise businesses. The acquisition is expected to generate significant synergies, allowing for greater scale, deeper building connectivity, increased customer choice nationwide, better value, expanded reach, and enhanced service quality.

This acquisition significantly expands Speed Fibre Group’s network footprint to nearly 10,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable, connecting 94 towns and cities across Ireland and over 6,000 buildings, including more than 2,500 in Dublin alone.

The deal also secures a long-term agreement for BT and Speed Fibre Group to continue sourcing connectivity from each other, ensuring service continuity for both organisations and their customers.

“This acquisition also aligns with our long-term plans to future proof Ireland’s telecommunications landscape and support Ireland’s growing digital economy,” said Speed Fibre Group’s CEO Peter McCarthy.

Speed Fibre Group is owned by the London-listed investment company Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited, which sees the acquisition as a strategic investment advancing its digital infrastructure portfolio in Ireland.

The acquisition was first announced in February this year and had to undergo customary conditions, including approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), which was recieved in April.

BT Communications Ireland, prior to the sale, managed approximately 3,400 kilometres of fibre and served around 400 customers across telecoms, enterprise, and government sectors. Despite the sale of this wholesale and enterprise business unit, BT retains a separate presence in Ireland, focusing on cloud, security, and multinational connectivity services, with an estimated 400 employees spread across these operations.

The divestment represents the latest step in BT’s journey to streamline its operations and pare back its international businesses.

“We are delighted to conclude this successful transaction which represents the next step in our strategy to become a more agile and focused business. We will continue to invest in this important market for our multinational customers to provide them with secure multi-cloud connectivity and deliver on our purpose to connect for good,” said Bas Burger, CEO of BT International.

Join the UK’s biggest digital economy event, Connected Britain on 24-25 September 

Also in the news:
US judge rules Huawei must face charges of fraud and racketeering
Optus ditches football rights to focus on telecoms
Nokia launches digital twin platform Enscryb to digitalise energy sector

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

ISPreview has discovered that the Crawley Borough Council (CBC) in West Sussex (England) has just awarded the ITS Technology Group with a contract for their new £1.5 million (state aid) project, which aims to provide every business in Manor Royal (business park) with the ability to connect to gigabit broadband.

The new network, which is being supported by funding from the previous Government’s £3.6bn Towns Fund programme (details), is expected to be built using a combination of new infrastructure, as well as reusing existing assets (e.g. ducts).

Whilst the provision of gigabit-capable connectivity to the Manor Royal business park is the “minimum requirement” for this project, elements of the funding may also be used for complimentary initiatives to further enhance the economic benefit. Such initiatives may potentially involve extending the network and deploying FTTP to other regions within Crawley, as well as possibly a resilient backhaul fibre route to connect the nearby business parks of Lowfield Heath and Three Bridges (this is still tentative).

In addition, there may also be indirect benefits to residents as the infrastructure could support additional FTTP broadband deployment within the town, which would bring further choice for consumers and enable Crawley to be a truly ‘digital’ town. But that may require additional private investment to realise.

Contract Description

Up to GBP1.5 million in funding has been secured through the UK Government’s Towns Fund initiative for this project, and will be allocated towards the deployment of fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) digital infrastructure throughout the Manor Royal business park, enabling access to gigabit-capable connectivity for 100% of premises in the park. As such, the Council is seeking to engage a partner to build, operate, maintain and commercialise this network.

The establishment of a commercial partnership, achieved through a combination of public and private investment, is central to maximising the project’s economic benefit, by increasing the capital that can be deployed and thereby expanding the potential FTTP coverage across Crawley.

Just for some context. The Manor Royal Business District is the biggest business park of the Gatwick Diamond area and one of the South East’s premier mixed activity employment hubs. Situated on the Sussex and Surrey county borders adjacent to London Gatwick Airport, it covers an area of 540 acres and is home to over 600 businesses generating 30,000 jobs.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Streaming platform provider Roku UK has announced the imminent roll-out of their “first-ever” FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels. A total of 40 FAST channels are due to go live across the company’s Apps, TVs and streaming boxes at no extra cost, starting from October next month.

Just to recap. Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels require a broadband connection for internet access and tend to reflect special dedicated channels that usually only offer content and schedules based on either a single TV show or theme. Roku has already deployed FAST channels in North and South America, but they’re now also brining them to the UK.

The new UK lineup will include channels dedicated to popular series and genres, with content spanning entertainment, lifestyle, true crime, classic TV, documentaries, and more. New channels include PGA TOUR for golf, This Old House for home and garden, Unsolved Mysteries for crime, NatureTime for wildlife, Love Pets for animals, and more.

FAST Channels can be accessed through The Roku Channel and new Live TV zone. The Roku Channel is available exclusively on Roku streaming players and Roku TV models in the UK. Roku also offers What to Watch, featuring personalised recommendations on all devices in the UK, and recently launched two new streaming players.

Richard Halton, Country Manager of Roku UK, said:

“With the launch of our first FAST channels in the UK this October, we’re giving viewers more choice than ever before – from iconic series and films to new favourites and niche genres – all for free. It’s an exciting step forward as we continue to expand and open up new opportunities for advertisers to reach highly engaged audiences.”

The full lineup of FAST channels will be announced in the near future and just ahead of the launch, although we don’t know why they couldn’t just confirm it today.