Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The annual Broadband Genie 2025 Awards survey has this morning named UK ISP Plusnet as the “Best Broadband Provider” of the year, while a variety of other internet service providers also scooped various other awards across several different categories.

The results are partly based off a OnePoll survey of 3,997 broadband bill payers (conducted between 4th July 2024 and 15th November 2024), as well as an analysis of 291,467 broadband speed tests that were run over a 12-month period. The Best Social Tariff award was separately chosen by a team of Broadband Genie’s judges.

However, it’s worth noting that ISPs could only qualify for these awards if they met certain criteria, including having 50%+ nationwide coverage across the UK (this excludes a lot of alternative networks), being listed on price comparison websites and with a minimum of 20+ customers being interviewed.

Speaking of which, we also noted that the “Best Altnet” award has been removed from this year’s listing and there’s no longer a general “Fastest Provider” award, only “Fastest Widely Available Provider” and “Fastest Wireless Provider“.

Winners of the Broadband Genie 2025 Awards

Best Provider

Winner: Plusnet (79% of users rated them the best)

Vodafone 78%
Zen Internet 77%
Sky Broadband 77%
BT 75%
Virgin Media 75%
TalkTalk 73%
Direct Save Telecom 71%
Three Broadband (Three UK) 71%
NOW Broadband (NOW TV) 70%

Fastest Widely Available Provider

Winner: Virgin Media 188Mbps (average download)

iDNet 177Mbps
Zen Internet 112Mbps
Cuckoo 99Mbps
Vodafone 95Mbps
Andrew & Arnold 72Mb
BT 71Mb
Sky Broadband 60Mb
Three 55Mbps
EE 51Mbps
Plusnet 50Mbps
uno Communications 45Mbps
TalkTalk 35Mbps
Onestream 32Mbps
O2 31Mbps
NOW 30Mbps
EE Mobile 30Mbps
Vodafone Mobile Broadband 29Mbps
SSE 23Mbps

Fastest Wireless Provider

Three UK

Best Value for Money

Vodafone

Best provider for Speed Satisfaction

Virgin Media

Most Reliable Provider

Plusnet

Best Customer Service

NOW Broadband

Best Social Tariff

Vodafone

Best Provider for Home Working

Virgin Media

Best Provider for Online Gaming

Virgin Media

Best Provider for Streaming

Virgin Media

Most User Friendly

Plusnet

The survey also revealed some areas where improvements need to be made. For example, customers were overall least satisfied with their provider’s customer service. The category has the lowest scores of any, with Direct Save Telecom (58%) and – surprisingly – Zen Internet (64%) being significantly below the average in this area. This is unusual, as Zen usually ranks above the biggest ISPs in a lot of other consumer surveys.

Bill payers also felt they should be getting better value for money; with this category having the second-lowest average score. Virgin Media (64%), BT (64%), TalkTalk (67%) and Sky Broadband (68%), which together form the majority of the broadband market, were well off the pace of the front-runners.

Table: How do broadband provider compare for customer service and value for money?

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

At TM Forum’s DTW 2025 (Digital Transformation Summit), Huawei partnered with TM Forum and 10 global leading CSPs to officially launch the New Generation Intelligent Operations White Paper 3.0. This event drew participation from more than 130 representatives across global operators, industry organizations, analyst firms, and media outlets, all converging to examine the latest trends and share practical insights in intelligent operations transformation.

Lucas Lu, president of Huawei ICT assurance and operation services domain, stated at the launch: “White Paper 3.0 marks a significant breakthrough in the field of ‘service-centric intelligent operations transformation’. By applying innovative technologies such as Agentic AI and Network Digital Twin (DTN), we are redefining the operations model for CSPs.”

Technology Evolution: A Three-Stage Leap from Incremental Change to Qualitative Transformation
White Paper 1.0 phase (September 2023) established the “service-centric” transformation foundation, proposing the “3P+1T” framework – a systematic reconstruction focusing on People, Process, Platform, and Technology.

White Paper 2.0 phase (June 2024) achieved a critical breakthrough: the integrated application of Digital Twin Network (DTN) and LLM technology enabled operations systems to begin possessing semantic understanding capabilities, marking a new phase in human-machine collaboration.

The newly released White Paper 3.0 brings fundamental change: Agentic AI-based closed-loop automation capabilities drive the transformation of the operations model from “human-machine collaboration” to “a new era of intelligent operations model”. This transformation is not a simple overlay of technology, but a reconstruction of operational philosophy – where agents can autonomously identify high-value scenarios, dynamically decompose operations tasks, and achieve autonomous closed-loop through the “Think-Act-Verify” cycle.

Reshaping the Operations Model: From Automation Tools Assistance to a New Era of Intelligent Operations Model

As network architectures and service scenarios grow increasingly complex, traditional operations models face severe challenges. Operations engineers need to concurrently operate multiple system tools, perform cross-dimensional data queries, and conduct manual analyses. Over the last 12 months, Huawei, based on Digital Twin Network (DTN), Large Language Model (LLM), and Agentic AI technologies, has successfully built several innovative application scenarios. These technologies enable the operations system to autonomously identify anomalies, diagnose faults, prioritize high-value service scenarios, and achieve closed-loop automation for network anomalies.

Agentic AI is fundamentally changing the operations model, and the shift from “automation tools assist human” to “humans-AI collaboration” will propel the operations system towards true autonomous evolution.

Continuous Innovation: Building an Intelligent Operations Ecosystem Together
Digital transformation is not only about technology—it’s a systematic shift in ways of working. White Paper 3.0 not only provides a clear evolution roadmap but also compiles practical cases from global leading CSPs. Looking ahead, Huawei will continue to deepen cooperation with TM Forum and industry partners to accelerate the translation of technological innovation into operational capabilities, jointly building an open and collaborative intelligent operations ecosystem.

Lucas Lu, president of Huawei ICT assurance and operation services domain, interpreting White Paper 3.0

Official download link for the New Generation Intelligent Operations White Paper 3.0

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

Ekinops, a leading optical transport and network access specialist, today announced that Global Caribbean Network (GCN), a provider of wholesale capacity to telcos in the Caribbean region, has upgraded its existing subsea cable network using the Ekinops360 WDM platform with FlexRate™ technology.

GCN operates a cable system in the Guadeloupe region of the Caribbean consisting of critical routes unserved by other cables. With service areas separated by long spans that have challenging optical requirements, GCN needed a solution that could support services from 10G to 100G on extended links over 350Km. Using the 400FRS04-SF module, ROADMs and low noise amplifiers from Ekinops, GCN is now able to deliver the bandwidth needed for the local service providers throughout the region to offer high bandwidth internet services to the local populations.

GCN built its original cable system as part of a public service delegation contract with the regional council of Guadeloupe. By its nature, the contract requires control of the cable be returned to the regional government after a fixed period of time. As a pre-requisite GCN needed to modernize the infrastructure with a future-proof network capable of supporting higher capacities. Recognizing Ekinops’ ability to deliver the solution, services and support it needed within a tight schedule, GCN selected the Ekinops360 even after comparing it to purpose-built submarine systems.

“We were very impressed with Ekinops ability to not just meet our requirements but also their willingness to work with us in finding the best solution,” commented Axel Adenet, Chief Operations Officer at GCN. “We made it our mission to upgrade the network with cutting-edge equipment and technology, as we wanted to ensure that the cable system may continue in operation for many years and Ekinops proved to be the best partner for doing that. Being able to use a French technology company has also been a key factor in our choice since national sovereignty stakes are high for these strategic data flows.”

“The platform flexibility of the Ekinops360 makes it highly efficient for a wide range of applications, including subsea deployment,” said Frank Dedobbeleer, Chief Revenue Officer, EMEA & APAC at Ekinops: “Ekinops origins are actually in the submarine world, so we are able to leverage our deep expertise in this area to address the needs of customers like GCN.”

Featured Event
Submarine Networks EMEA is the largest annual subsea connectivity event, bringing together 1,000 senior leaders from the global subsea market –  www.totaltele.com/subnets

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

Speaking at DTW in Copenhagen, Vikram Sinha, CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH), called on operators to go ‘all in’ on AI transformation

As was to be expected, the topic of AI dominated discussions on the opening day of DTW this year. Numerous operators took to the stage to exhort the technologies potential to transform the telecoms world and help telcos return to growth. Chief among these AI cheerleaders was IOH CEO Vikram Sinha, who said telcos should be embracing the new technology as much as possible.

“AI is not the metaverse – it’s real today,” said Sinha. “We have to go all in. We have to get serious. We need to see how we can make 12-15% growth the norm for telcos,” he said.

Sinha explained how IOH’s AI strategy revolved around turning the network and its wealth of data into a ‘product factory’ for consumer AI use cases.

“We want to solve customer problems and we want to be with them on that journey,” he said, adding that IOH was targeting use cases across the consumer value chain.

“AI has to be for all. It cannot be only for high end customers,” he said. “We have been working on creating a product on SMS – this would touch everyone. Similarly, you can have an [AI] personal tutor. Everyone can have a personal nurse, and farmers and have AI support. If our customers start seeing a product which is helping their daily life better, that is solving their problem, the respect for you will go up. Your ARPU will really go up.”

In-house AI capabilities

IOH has been positioning itself as an AI company for a number of years now, seeing the emerging technology as a key driver of revenue growth on their journey from telco to techco. Earlier this year, the company launched a Sovereign AI Factory, powered by Sahabat-AI, a 70-billion parameter large language model that operates in Indonesian and five additional local languages. This, IOH says, will allow GenAI services to be delivered to all Indonesians, not only those that speak English. This large language model (LLM) will form the basis of numerous IOH products, expanding on their ability to create AI use cases in-house.

With digital sovereignty of ever increasing importance, being able to create these products independently and with local partners is a growing focus.

“We have created a vertical Chief Product Officer,” said Sinha. “Telco never had a product team[…] but in three years time you’ll need to have product capabilities to make sure that you don’t outsource everything.”

But while many of AI-driven use cases are already in development, both by IOH and other telcos, few are currently commercially available at scale. For Sinha, part of the challenge lies in how telcos frame these AI use cases in discussions with customers.

“Don’t talk about POC [Proof of Concept], talk about Proof of Value,” said Sinha. “Once customers talk about value, we’ll have a flywheel effect.”

“Progress is better than perfect,” he added.

A platform for AI innovation

Speaking on stage alongside Sinha, Danish telco Nuuday’s CEO Christian Thrane took a different approach to AI use cases, noting that a telcos size and the size of its target market would impact its ability to develop AI use cases alone.

“For us, it’s a lot more about creating the platform and working with partners,” he said. “I always say to partners, we’re a small market, one of the most advanced markets globally, so come and test it out.”

Perhaps more importantly, Thrane highlighted the importance of collaboration across the telco industry, working together to create solutions that only telcos can provide.

“It’s almost impossible to think about the role of AI and not be a bit nervous at times right? I think the purpose is right there, staring in our face. It’s about stepping into it and not trying to outsmart each other as an industry […] really leaning into what can we do together quickly and to make sure that AI models rely on trusted, reliable data for the customers in a private way.”

“Five years from now, if we haven’t done this right. We’re toast,” Thrane concluded.

Also in the news:
SWR deploys Europe’s first ’Rail-5G’ Wi-Fi  
BT accelerates fibre rollout amid cost cuts
AT&T agrees $5.75 billion deal for Lumen’s consumer fibre asset

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The CEO of BT Group, Allison Kirkby, has hinted at the possibility that network access provider Openreach could be spun off into a completely separate company in the future. But this would only be considered once their roll-out of a national gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network completes (i.e. after 2030).

Openreach is currently busy investing around £15bn to cover 25 million UK premises with their new full fibre network by December 2026 (inc. 6.2m in rural or semi-rural areas), which is then expected to reach up to 30m by 2030. But analysts at New Street Research have previously estimated Openreach’s current value to be about £30bn – more than BT Group’s current market value of £18.5bn.

However, Allison has previously expressed some frustration with the fact that the value of Openreach was not being properly reflected in the company’s share price (here), which in fairness is partly because that value is subject to many other factors that shareholders often have to consider (e.g. the state of the competitive market, declining broadband customers and network overbuild etc.).

According to a new interview with the FT (paywall), Allison suggested that, if the above situation didn’t change, the group would “absolutely have to look at options” and the time to “reconsider” whether to spin off Openreach might then come after its national roll-out of FTTP technology had completed. At that point, she expects that the company’s capital expenditure would naturally reduce to normal levels and its free cash flow should rebound. However, Allison also expressed that her preference was to get the value of Openreach’s fibre network reflected in BT’s shares, rather than spin it off.

In addition, Allison confirmed that she expected Openreach’s build rate for FTTP to fall from around 4 million+ per year today to about 1 million a year after 2026, which roughly aligns with the premises gap to their next target (30m). Most likely this would be a slow reduction over that four-year period (1m being more of an average), as stable network builds usually have ramp-up and ramp-down phases.

The same interview separately noted how BT Group’s forecast for future job loses, which is currently targeting a total labour resource of around 75-90k by 2030 (currently c.116k), might end up being wrong (note: many of these cuts will reflect engineers who are no longer needed for the FTTP build). “Depending on what we learn from AI … there may be an opportunity for BT to be even smaller by the end of the decade,” she said, albeit without being too specific about numbers (i.e. expect more use of AI for tackling internet challenges and customer support etc.).

Finally, Allison indicated that she would also be open to the idea of reaching a partnership with an alternative network for their BT retail (consumer) business in the future, but she added that this might only be considered for the minority of areas where Openreach’s own FTTP lines fail to reach (expected to reflect the final c.4 million premises – often remote rural premises). But we suspect they won’t even consider that until after 2030 and the market could be very different in five years’ time, after consolidation has had its way.

We should point out that Openreach is already a distinct “legally separate” company from BT, which is a requirement that stemmed from Ofcom’s original 2016 Strategic Review of Digital Communications (full summary). But Allison appears to be talking about a much fuller separation, although for now this is all very hypothetical talk.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The ongoing c.£100m legal dispute between mobile and broadband giant Vodafone and a group of 62 current and former UK franchisees (here) recently experienced another twist. This came after the network operator confirmed that it had terminated the contracts of 12 franchisees who had continued working with them while also being party to the case.

Just to recap. The affected franchisees, many of which say they have been “loyal ambassadors for the brand over the years“, claim that Vodafone – which recently left the British Franchise Association (BFA) – has “breached its duty of good faith and the terms of the Franchise Agreement“. They allege that Vodafone did this by imposing “irrational and arbitrary business decisions” on them from July 2020.

Andrew Kerr, Rikki Lear and Donna Watton, three former franchisees and members of the claim, previously accused the network operator of causing them and their families “severe financial and personal distress including reaching the edge of bankruptcy, potential repossession of their homes, and serious mental health issues” – impacts they allege are felt by others across the programme.

Some of the allegations claim that Vodafone’s commission payments and remuneration to the affected franchisees was “cut drastically and with little or no explanation“. The group also claims that the operator benefitted from government business rates reliefs that “were intended for the franchisees“, when they were facing financial distress during COVID-19. Not to mention some claims about Vodafone failing to “pass on rent free periods in its underlease terms to affected franchisees and charged them full rent“.

However, Vodafone has already said they “strongly refuted“ the claims, while at the same time saying they were “sorry to any franchisee who has had a difficult experience” and “acknowledged challenges were faced by some franchisees”. But over the weekend it also emerged (The Guardian) that the operator had now terminated the contracts of 12 current franchisees because of their involvement with the dispute.

A Vodafone spokesperson said:

“We are focused on building a successful and thriving franchise programme. As a result, we have a clear duty to do everything we can to support those franchise partners who are committed to our joint success.

The dispute has been ongoing for over two years and a number of the claimants have remained within the franchise programme and had their contracts renewed during that time. However, we are increasingly concerned about the impact negative campaigning is having on our franchise programme.

After careful consideration, and with disappointment, we therefore decided it was no longer viable for us to work with franchise partners who are supporting the negative campaign against the business.”

As reported last month, initial attempts to mediate a solution came to an end “with no resolution“ (here), which suggests that the case may now progress toward the High Court. This is likely to be a long and expensive process.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

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).

The move, says the Telegraph (paywall), could make it easier for the Government to reach a hypothetical future defence spending target of 5% of GDP (currently it’s at 2.33% and could reach 3% by around 2029) and, in fairness, telecommunications networks are already considered to be part of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).

Suffice to say that there might be at least some merit in considering broadband / mobile / internet connectivity related investment as part of national security, and most of us do depend upon it as a critical service. But even so, many people would probably expect national security spending to be focused squarely on areas like the military (soldiers, drones, tanks etc.) and the new approach risks being a bridge too far for how we define such investment. We’re also unsure whether such a change would bring any tangible benefits.

On the other hand, it wouldn’t be the first time that a government has utilised a touch of creative accounting in order to make something seem bigger than it actually is. But we’ll need to wait until the full NSR is published in order to find out exactly how it might choose to categorise broadband investment. Time for a quick poll while we await a response from the government to our hails.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

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.

Just to recap. The move comes after the SG stopped their existing tender a couple of weeks ago (here), which aimed to find a supplier to deliver on their proposed £43m (state aid) Project Gigabit broadband roll-out scheme for 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 (i.e. premises that weren’t due to benefit from their existing R100 contract with Openreach)

However, the SG stopped this effort after discovering that “there had been a significant increase in the number of premises which have been delivered to or are now included in commercial build plans” across the same area, which is a nice problem to have. But it also meant that the foundation for the original procurement was now incorrect.

A spokesperson for the SG told ISPreview at the time: “In agreement with the UK Government, we have therefore discontinued the procurement for Fife, Perth and Kinross in its current form and will engage with the supplier market to determine interest in bidding for a revised procurement in this area. The outcome of these discussions will inform next steps.”

The latest development is that the SG has today issued a new Prior Information Notice (PIN) for the same area and programme, which is intended to judge market (supplier) interested in launching a revised procurement for the area during September 2025.

Extract from the Prior Information Notice

Working with [Building Digital UK], the Scottish Government is carrying out Soft Market Testing in June 2025 and Pre-procurement Market Engagement in mid/late July 2025 to establish whether a procurement will attract market interest in the Fife, Perth & Kinross area and result in compliant bids.

BDUK and the Scottish Government are also offering, as part of this engagement, 30-minute one-to-one Teams sessions with suppliers. These sessions will be held on either the 27th or the 30th June 2025 via MS Teams.

The new procurement, assuming it does re-launch in September (this is currently still very tentative), will no doubt focus on a smaller intervention area than the original one. But it remains subject to the Scottish Government and BDUK “being confident that there is the market interest in each procurement to lead to successful contract award“.

In our earlier report we noted how several network operators had a presence in the area, including Openreach, Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre), Hyperoptic, Netomnia, GoFibre, CityFibre and Highland Broadband. But we also highlighted how most of those players lacked the funding or interest to take on the original contract, which is a calculation that may change depending upon the details of the SG’s re-launch.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

Vodafone Germany has taken a decisive step in its digital transformation journey by deploying EXFO Context, a semantic modelling platform that creates a digital twin of its mobile and fixed networks. This move significantly advances Vodafone’s Zero-Touch Automation ambitions, positioning the company to deliver more efficient, resilient, and intelligent network operations.

The deployment of EXFO Context allows Vodafone to gain unparalleled visibility into its multi-layered, multi-technology infrastructure. By modelling both service and network layers, the platform enhances end-to-end assurance and fulfilment workflows, streamlining processes such as root cause analysis, network optimisation and security management, all with minimal human intervention.

For Vodafone, this investment strengthens its capability to drive automation through accurate, dynamic network data. The semantic model underpinning EXFO Context supports real-time insights, enabling faster service impact analysis and change audits. It also paves the way for Generative AI integration, introducing natural language interfaces to previously siloed datasets and empowering teams across the organisation to make more informed, autonomous decisions.

Ultimately, this partnership with EXFO equips Vodafone Germany with a scalable foundation for closed-loop automation and future-ready network operations. By leveraging advanced modelling and AI, Vodafone reinforces its commitment to innovation, operational excellence and superior customer service in the highly competitive telecoms landscape.

CONNECTED GERMANY an event by Total Telecom return to Munich on 18 – 19 November 2025. Find out more at https://totaltele.com/connectedgermany

DISCLAIMER
This article relating to AI has been created by AI based on content supplied by EXFO – do let us know if you spot any inaccuracies and whether the method of creation impacts the value of the content.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI) today announced it has been selected by the Band Administration Entity (EAF), an organisation created by the Brazilian Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), to implement a new federal mission-critical communications solution that will enable Brazil’s defense and public safety organisations to seamlessly collaborate during joint missions. Motorola Solutions will integrate multiple existing land mobile radio (LMR) systems and add new mission-critical Push-to-X (MCX) broadband services to enhance interagency interoperability and access to data applications to better protect Brazil’s communities.

Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world by land mass, with a population of over 210 million people. Federal and public safety organizations across the country have historically faced significant challenges coordinating front-line teams during emergencies that span multiple jurisdictions.

To address these challenges, Motorola Solutions will implement WAVE PTX, a 3GPP standards-compliant communications platform that will run on the government’s private 4G network, and Critical Connect, a service that will enable interoperability between the 4G network and P25, TETRA and DMR land mobile radio systems. As a combined nationwide solution, organisations like the Brazilian Army, the Federal Highway Patrol and the Distrito Federal Military Police will be equipped with the trusted reliability and resiliency of LMR voice communications together with advanced broadband capabilities, including video streaming and the ability to share rich data and multimedia.

Rolling out from the capital, Brasilia, the new solution will make it possible for agencies to coherently share information, coordinate responses and ultimately make better informed decisions, for the better protection and service of Brazil’s communities.

“Efficiently addressing drug trafficking, organized crime and natural disasters demands highly coordinated multi-agency responses,” said Geraldo Segatto, head of Government Private Network Project at EAF. “In the past, defense and public safety agencies, each using separate communication systems, struggled with real-time coordination, causing delays that undermined response efforts. The new solution eliminates these communication barriers, enabling reliable connectivity for federal agencies and, in its next phase, state military and civil police, to significantly improve response times and mission success.”

“Motorola Solutions is proud to support Brazil’s vision for public safety modernization by delivering a communications platform that bridges the proven reliability of land mobile radio technology with the media-rich capabilities of MCX broadband services,” said Edison Ambrosio, sales director, Defense and Federal Markets, Motorola Solutions. “This integration provides Brazil’s defense and public safety agencies with resilience, enhanced situational awareness and seamless interoperability for faster and more effective emergency response across the nation.”

Responding to natural disasters is at the core of the Crisis Response Award at the World Communication Awards – find out more about what it takes to win this category by downloading the SUBMISSION GUIDE