Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Rural-focused UK ISP Quickline, which is deploying a gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) and fixed wireless (FWA) broadband network across rural parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, has announced the opening of a new facility and logistics Hub in Leeds to support their ongoing network build and training for future engineers.

The provider is currently being backed by c.£500m from Northleaf Capital Partners and aims to cover 200,000 premises with FTTP by the end of 2025 (up from 65,000 premises in Nov 2023). The operator has previously indicated a desire to cover 500,000 premises using a mix of both wireless and fibre technologies by the end of 2025.

The new site in Leeds is said to form part of the provider’s delivery under Project Gigabit – the UK Government funded programme enabling hard-to-reach communities to access fast, reliable, gigabit-capable broadband and reaching parts of the UK that might otherwise miss out on upgrades to next-generation speeds.

The four state-aid funded Project Gigabit contracts Quickline holds are aiming to cover 180,000 premises by completion around 2027/28, and they aspire to add another 200,000 commercial premises that will be wrapped around the publicly funded build. This is on top of their existing commercial deployments in other areas.

Sean Royce, CEO of Quickline, added:

“This new facility is a key part of our mission to connect rural communities across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. By bringing materials closer to where we work, we’re increasing efficiency and reducing emissions. More importantly, we’re investing in people – creating a place to train, inspire and support the digital pioneers, entrepreneurs and engineers of tomorrow.”

Telecoms Minister, Sir Chris Bryant, said:

“Quickline’s new training centre in Leeds exemplifies exactly what Project Gigabit was designed to achieve: bringing lightning-fast broadband to rural communities while creating sustainable jobs, skills, and opportunities for local people, helping us delivering on our Plan for Change.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A new economic and social impact report from Grant Thornton has claimed that Infracapital-backed network operator Fibrus, which is building a full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network across several rural parts of the UK, has contributed £431 million (expenditure) to the Northern Ireland economy since beginning operations in 2020.

Just to recap. Fibrus have been primarily focusing their roll-out of gigabit broadband across rural parts of both Cumbria in England and Northern Ireland. The operator’s network currently reaches over 410,000 premises and has connected 100,000 customers. In particular, the deployment in Northern Ireland – supported by a mix of public and private investment – is both one of their oldest and rapidly approaching completion.

According to the new report, Fibrus has generated £431m in total economic impact for Northern Ireland since 2020, which includes £74 million from company operations (turnover, wages, and job creation), £271 million via supply chain investment and £86 million from indirect spending by Fibrus employees across the local economy. Not to mention over £411K in charitable contributions.

When Project Stratum is complete, the report also predicts potential productivity gains of £50.6m per annum (all households connected), driven by the roll-out of Full Fibre broadband. But it’s always wise to take future forecasts with a pinch of salt, not least since accurately gauge the economic impact of deploying faster broadband is notoriously difficult – most premises won’t be starting from a point of zero connectivity, and we’re all very different in our connectivity needs.

Dominic Kearns, CEO and Founder of Fibrus, said:

“When we founded Fibrus five years ago, our sole purpose was to bring communities, homes and businesses a broadband service fit for every day demands.

Thanks to Project Stratum, we have successfully delivered Full Fibre connectivity to almost 80,000 properties that had been left in the digital dark by the incumbent. This June, we will complete Project Stratum, the largest telecoms infrastructure project ever seen here, on time and within budget, changing the lives of those in rural communities and offering them the same opportunities as their urban counterparts.

This economic and social impact report lays out the real-world difference Project Stratum and Fibrus has made to Northern Ireland. It shows in no small terms that we aren’t just about faster internet speeds – we’re serious about driving economic growth, fostering connected communities and creating competition to ensure households get value for money and better customer service.”

Andrew Webb, Chief Economist at Grant Thornton, said:

“The economic impact report highlights the significant contributions Fibrus has made to the Northern Ireland economy since it was founded. The £431 million generated is a testament to the company’s commitment to driving economic growth. This, plus the £50 million in productivity gains that Fibrus broadband enables, proves that the company has been a major contributor to improving Northern Ireland’s competitiveness and has strengthened the pulling power of our regional towns, bringing significant benefits to rural communities.”

As of the end of March 2025, some 79,400 households had now gained access to Full Fibre broadband under Project Stratum, with over 34,500 customers connected to the network. This is said to be generating more than £20.3 million in productivity gains this year alone. By the end of 2027, the network is projected in the new report to grow to around 53,000 customers, thus driving an estimated £33.1 million in productivity gains.

The company currently employs 435 people, making an Income Tax contribution worth £3.6m to the public purse. Fibrus in 2024 also generated c.£3.5m in National Insurance Contributions, with c.£1.3m being made through employee contributions and c.£2.2m being made through Employer Contributions.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Back in November 2024 we reported that global tech company Dotlines (Dotlines UK) were preparing to launch a new broadband ISP called Carnival Internet UK during “early 2025” (here). The good news today is that this has now gone live and pledges to donate 1% of customer bills to charities to fight digital poverty in the UK (they’ll also plant one tree or kelp plant for every month a customer stays).

The new provider claims to be “promising ultra-reliable, full-fibre broadband without hidden fees, or mid-contract, annual price increases” and will “reward customer loyalty in unique ways” (as above). The service also “guarantees” that all customers, new or existing, pay the same rate for the same package, with a choice of two different routers and speed options ranging from 100Mbps to 900Mbps speeds at the initial launch.

Like some other ISPs, Carnival appears to have adopted Amazon’s eero range of mesh Wi-Fi routers that incorporate TrueMesh, TrueRoam and TrueChannel technologies. The provider’s “Max” plans also include eero’s fastest, most powerful router yet that supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard – the eero Max 7.

Olly Sedden, Director of Product, Commercial and Marketing at Dotlines UK, told ISPreview:

“We believe the broadband industry has long neglected its responsibility to loyal customers and the planet. Carnival Internet’s launch comes at a time when the industry is under scrutiny for rising prices and poor service. By combining sustainability, fairness, and high-performance technology, we hope to lead by example and reshape how broadband providers operate in the UK. Our goal is to build a happy customer community by delivering brilliant, highly automated, and effortless customer experiences – putting people and the planet first.”

In terms of the packages on offer, Carnival’s services start at £35 per month for a 115Mbps (20Mbps upload) pro package on a 24-month term with £20 one-off setup fee, which rises to £45 for their top 1000Mbps (115Mbps) tier. The Max packages tend to cost an additional £5 per month to get that Wi-Fi 7 router. So far as we can tell, these are Openreach based FTTP packages.

There is a link at the bottom of their web page to a “Price & charges list” too, but this returned a page not found error when we tried it while writing this article. Otherwise, in a market that is already crowded with choice, it may be a challenge for any newcomer to get noticed. But this one does at least have some strong backing behind it.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile operator O2 UK (Virgin Media) has today announced, in a “railway first“, that 4G and hopefully 5G connectivity too (mobile broadband) has received a “major boost” after the London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Network Rail and the private sector completed deployment of a new custom-built Distributed Antenna System (DAS).

As we reported over a year ago, the hope is that this work will ensure that customers travelling through the two tunnels (‘Gasworks’ and ‘Copenhagen’) will eventually receive a “more reliable and consistent mobile phone and on-train Wi-Fi connection” (calls, texts and data / broadband), as well as “the removal of ‘not-spots’” (here).

Thousands of O2 customers will now be able to keep their calls connected and meetings online as they approach and leave London King’s Cross station. In the coming weeks, O2 added that customers of Three UK are also expected to benefit from the same improved connectivity.

The antennas are said to have gone through “rigorous testing” at Network Rail’s Innovation and Development Centre and were fitted to the tunnels by rail connectivity and technology integration specialists, Aureos. The Gasworks and Copenhagen tunnels are the first on the UK’s operational railway to benefit from this specific capability, which complements the work that Transport for London (TfL) are currently doing on the underground.

Dr Robert Joyce, Director of Mobile Access Engineering at O2, said:

“As part of our Mobile Transformation Plan, we are focusing investment into parts of the network that experience the highest levels of demand and areas where connectivity is most critical. Our work with LNER and Network Rail will bring reliable coverage to the Gasworks and Copenhagen tunnels and provide dependable connectivity to our customers in moments that matter.”

Rail Minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said:

“This is a perfect example of track and train coming together to provide tangible improvements ahead of Great British Railways and shows our commitment to putting passenger experience at the top of the rail agenda. An integrated railway can be a driving force for innovative and smart solutions that make train travel more comfortable and convenient and deliver changes that passengers actually want.”

The development follows the publication of a separate study from Streetwave (here), which found that O2 and Three UK delivered some of the poorest mobile coverage and performance on the line, while EE offered some of the best. But the latest development may well change that dynamic and the team have also published a supporting video:

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Openreach (BT) has released the next May 2025 batch of exchanges (Tranche 20) in their “FTTP Priority Exchange Stop Sell” programme, which reflects areas where over 75% of premises are able to get full fibre lines and will thus stop selling copper based legacy phone and broadband products (i.e. FTTP becomes the only product option).

Currently, there are two schemes for moving away from old copper lines and services, which can sometimes cross over. The first starts with the gradual migration of traditional legacy voice (PSTN / WLR) services to digital all-IP technologies (e.g. SOGEA), which is due to complete by 31st January 2027 and is occurring on both copper and full fibre products (i.e. ISPs are introducing digital voice / VoIP services). The national “stop sell” on legacy phone services began on 5th September 2023 (here).

The second “FTTP Priority Exchange” programme involves the ongoing rollout of gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines – using light signals via optical fibre instead of electrical signals via slow copper lines. Only after this second programme has largely completed (75%+ FTTP coverage) in an exchange area can you really start to completely switch-off copper-based products, which will come later as you have to allow time for natural customer migrations.

Between the scrapping of legacy phone services, the full fibre rollout and the gradual switch away from copper lines themselves, this process will take several years in each area to complete, and the pace will vary (i.e. some areas have better coverage of full fibre than others). Naturally, premises that can’t yet get FTTP will continue to be served by copper-based broadband products.

163 New Exchange Locations (Tranche 20)

In this programme, the migration process away from legacy services starts with a “no move back” policy (i.e. no going back to copper) for premises connected with FTTP, which is followed by a “stop-sell” of copper services to new customers (12-months of notice is given before this starts and that is what today’s list represents). This stage is then followed by a final “withdrawal” phase, but that comes later.

The stop sell is applied at premises level, so it shouldn’t impact you if you don’t yet have access to FTTP, although edge-case conflicts may still occur due to rare quirks of network availability.

The 163 exchanges announced today takes the total number of exchange upgrades that have already been notified as part of the aforementioned process (including trial exchanges), or which are actively under “stop sell” to 1,516. The “stop sell” in the Tranche 20 areas will be introduced from 5th June 2026.

The operator also has a Stop Sells Page on their website, which makes it easy to see all the planned changes. Otherwise, the following list is tentative, so changes and delays will occur (exchanges can and are often shifted around into different tranches).

163 Stop Sell Exchanges in Tranche 20

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

London, United Kingdom, 6^th May 2025 – XConnect, a Somos Company, the provider of world-class numbering intelligence solutions has launched a report with Mobilesquared, the leading provider of business messaging intelligence, revealing that over 50% of telecoms service providers expect SMS to experience an increase in fraud in 2025, with less than a third expecting SMS to become a cleaner channel in this period.

The report, ‘How Do We Create a Sustainable Future for A2P SMS?’, found that total SMS traffic is expected to fall by 25.9% between 2024 and 2029. This drop in traffic can also be attributed to the overall health of the SMS marketplace. At the same time, the average cost to send an SMS internationally leapt by 85.2% between 2020 and 2024. The research revealed that exclusivity agreements between an aggregator and mobile operator are one of the main contributing factors for excessively driving up international termination rates (ITR).

“After the meteoric growth and global adoption of SMS over the last decade, the channel has been exposed to a set of dynamics that come with maturity: over-monetisation, price increases, interconnect fraud and artificially inflated traffic (AIT)”, said Tim Ward, at XConnect. “The users of SMS have been responding to these challenges in many different ways. One of the key conclusions from the report is that there are precautions that can be taken by identifying the high-risk destinations and applying simple real-time checks to guarantee the safe passage of traffic. This becomes essential to restoring trust in SMS as the messaging market grows more complex.”

According to Mobilesquared’s findings, markets have the ideal conditions for fraudulent activity where the average failed/invalid Number Information Service Query (NISQ) percentage is over 20%. The majority of these markets are in Africa (16), Asia (7), and the Caribbean (5). Mobilesquared trend analysis highlighted Africa as the next hotbed for AIT fraudulent activities, which are already prevalent in Asia and the Caribbean. The research found that NISQ customers are looking to increase their protection against fraud, while maximising SMS revenues and margins via efficient and accurate routing of SMS traffic.

“Our analysis of market data reveals that the overall state of the SMS market is actually improving, in spite of the harmful traffic and associated activities that have blighted the landscape since 2021 and created the lasting damage that we’re now tackling,” said Nick Lane, Chief Messaging Officer, at Mobilesquared. “Despite this, SMS is still the business messaging channel of choice and continues to be the platform upon which brands are building their rich messaging offerings for the long term. The findings of the report pinpoint where fraudulent traffic levels are expected to increase and the challenges facing the industry. In turn, this will help contribute towards building a more sustainable and trusted future for A2P SMS.”

The ‘good’ markets (NISQ growth below 500% and an international termination rate below $0.10) account for 84.2% of total A2P SMS traffic in 2024. By region, 67% of North America and 60% of West Europe are good markets. The ‘bad’ markets (NISQ growth in excess of 500% and an ITR over $0.10) accounted for 3.58% of total traffic. Almost 80% of total NISQs in 2024 occurred in good markets, 13.5% in bad markets, and 6.94% in indifferent markets. This confirms the research data from XConnect customers that they are using NISQ to ensure safe passage of their SMS traffic.

Download the full report here to learn more.

Methodology

Mobilesquared created a survey exploring how XConnect customers use Number Information Services and whether the potential threats from fraud are having a greater impact than in previous years. Over 400 companies were invited to participate across the globe, focussing on the 2020 -2024 period. By focusing on the failed and invalid number queries, XConnect and Mobilesquared have compared their data to find the benefits for NISQ customers, specifically with efficient routing and the elimination of fraud threats.

About Mobilesquared

THE WORLD LEADER IN MESSAGING INTELLIGENCE

Mobilesquared is the #1 global authority on business messaging and CPaaS, with our data shaping business plans, strategy, and customer engagement modelling, for some of the world’s leading brands, mobile operators, and messaging providers.

In 2025 we merged with roaming and IOT specialists Kaleido Intelligence.

mobilesquared.co.uk

About XConnect

XConnect, a wholly owned subsidiary of Somos Inc, consolidates, maintains and delivers trusted telephone number intelligence to world leading telecommunication service providers. It processes information from hundreds of different global datasets and ensures that customers solve routing, validation and fraud challenges in real time.

XConnect’s Number Information Services are used for voice and messaging routing, fraud protection and to identify and validate insights. They also support the deployment and evolution of next-generation communications, such as VoLTE and RCS.

Its service is accessed through its global distributed hybrid cloud platform using simple, secure, scalable real-time protocols and APIs.

Learn more: https://www.xconnect.net/

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Rome/Washington, 5 May 2025

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, has entered into a strategic agreement with Orchest Technologies, a leading LATAM connectivity and automation provider, to enhance mutual network coverage and streamline service orchestration, accelerating the adoption of Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) solutions..

Under the agreement, presented in Washington during International Telecoms Week (ITW), Sparkle and Orchest will interconnect their networks in an automated and dynamic way, enabling seamless end-to-end service provisioning across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe through global optical and IP backbones. This initiative will allow both operators to offer reliable, real-time, scalable, and flexible connectivity solutions to their customers, reinforcing their commitment to open and standards-based innovation.

The agreement leverages MEF LSO APIs for automated service orchestration across networks, enabling dynamic quoting, ordering, and delivery of services at scale. This strategic move supports the industry’s shift towards NaaS, defined by MEF as a combination of on-demand connectivity, application assurance, cybersecurity, and multi-cloud networking within an automated, standards-based ecosystem.

“The collaboration with Orchest Technologies marks a pivotal step in our commitment to develop a truly global NaaS ecosystem,” said Daniele Mancuso, Chief Marketing and Product Management at Sparkle. “By seamlessly interconnecting our networks, we are enabling next-generation services, fueled by Sparkle’s global footprint and strong innovation capabilities.”

Jeremy Villalobos, CEO of Orchest Technologies, added: “Joining forces with Sparkle is a significant milestone in our journey toward global automation. Our shared commitment to delivering an automated, transparent, and customer-centric experience positions us to unlock new levels of value across regions.”

This agreement is part of a broader vision to support NaaS federations, enable real-time serviceability across partner networks, and ultimately empower enterprises with intelligent, agile network solutions on a global scale.

About Sparkle

Sparkle is TIM Group’s Global Operator, first international service provider in Italy and among the top worldwide, offering a full range of infrastructure and global connectivity services – capacity, IP, SD-WAN, colocation, IoT connectivity, roaming and voice – to national and international Carriers, OTTs, ISPs, Media/Content Providers, and multinational enterprises. A major player in the submarine cable industry, Sparkle owns and manages a network of more than 600,000 km of fiber spanning from Europe to Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and Asia. Its sales force is active worldwide and distributed over 32 countries.

Find out more about Sparkle following its X and LinkedIn profiles or visiting the website tisparkle.com

About Orchest Technologies

Orchest Technologies is a US-based carrier and pioneer of the fully automated end-to-end customer experience with presence in 17 countries in Latin America and The Caribbean and more than ten years delivering innovative Network Solutions, Cloud Connection and Data Center Services throughout the Americas. Over the last five years it has rewritten the rules of data transport and connectivity services in LATAM by providing a holistic approach to network intelligence and transparency, groundbreaking process automation, and a world-class customer engagement.

Sparkle Media Contacts

sparkle.communication@tisparkle.com

X: @TISparkle

Orchest Media Contact

Erwind Martinez

390440@email4pr.com

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Some customers of Sky’s broadband-based Sky Glass pay TV streaming service and device, including those on both their first and latest second generation TV sets, appear to be suffering from a frustrating bug that is disrupting their ability to view content (TV channels, streaming apps etc.) – often showing black screens, incorrect audio or error messages.

The majority of the problems appear to have started in early April 2025, although we did find some sporadic reports dating back to last year. In most cases, those impacted find that, when they turn their TV on, it just sits there saying “waiting for programme to load” and the screen stays blank. On other occasions, it can happen while you’re in the middle of watching something.

The same TVs can also manifest other problems and error messages (e.g. “technical fault“, “device not working” etc.), such as the wrong audio playing on the wrong channels or audio that plays with a blank screen. Customers can often resolve these problems with a quick device reset, but the issues usually come back (often within a few minutes, or the next day if you completely unplug the TV for a short period). Sadly quite a few users report that they’re now having to reset Sky Glass multiple times every day.

Several other customers have been able to resolve the problem by conducting a factory reset of their Sky Glass TV, although it’s wise to discuss this with Sky first, as their TVs can sometimes throw up other problems and annoyances when needing to perform such an operation (i.e. you might end up with a bigger problem during the setup phase). Furthermore, quite of few of these customers have found that the problem returns again after a few days.

In a few cases, Sky even appears to have replaced the odd TV set, only for the problem to reoccur. The fact that these issues all started at around the same time, and impact both older and newer kit, does tend to indicate that a firmware update or remote device / software configuration change may have gone a bit wrong somewhere. Sadly, it wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened (here), but they seem to be taking a longer time to resolve this one.

Sample Sky Customer Complaint 1

“So this last week When i turn the Sky Glass on, on a morning it comes up with the usual page, i go to put a channel on and it says Channel loading then says technical fault after a few mins. Internet is all working and hasn’t changed.

If I take the plug out and plug it back in it seems to then work but has gone blank screen with sound a few times.”

Sample Sky Customer Complaint 2

“I’m having this issue every morning I have to do a restart or I only get sound no picture.”

Sample Sky Customer Complaint 3

“I have the same issue, it’s happened every morning this week. When I turn the TV on it just says ‘waiting for programme to load ,then just stays blank. I unplug the TV, wait, plug it back in then a channel will come up. Sometimes after a few minutes I have to do the same process again. I thought I would try to kick the TV into life by going to Netflix, I can sign into Netflix and select a programme but I’m told my device is not working and I need to power off the TV.”

The issues are currently being discussed in a mega thread on the Sky Community Forum, where Sky itself acknowledges that the problem exists and are continuing to investigate the cause. A Sky support agent said on 2nd May 2025: “Thank you for your patience as our support teams continue to investigate this issue. To gain a broader understanding and examine individual disruptions and stream performance, we’re looking for more customer examples.”

We have asked Sky for an update and will report back later (credits to Cord Busters for spotting the bug).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative operator Netomnia (Brsk and YouFibre), which last week reported expanding their 10Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to cover 2.4 million UK premises (RFS) and connecting 310,000 customers (here), has today published their Q1 2025 results and seen take-up grow to 12.4% (up from 11.5% in Q4 2024). But revenues fell.

The network access provider is now currently in the process of completing their merger with Brsk (here) and aims to expand their full fibre (FTTP) broadband network to reach 3 million premises by the end of 2025, which will be followed by 5 million come the end of 2027 (inc. 1 million customers by 2028). The service is currently available across parts of over 90 UK cities and towns.

The latest results for Q1 2025 represent slightly older data than some of the figures that were released last week as part of their £160m funding (debt) announcement (inc. an increased coverage commitment). But we also get some useful new updates on customer take-up, revenue, net debt and EBITDA (i.e. earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation).

The group is currently still expecting to achieve positive EBITDA in 2025. “We’re poised to reach 3 million premises serviceable and achieve EBITDA positivity in 2025. Our success is underscored by securing a £160 million junior debt facility, affirming our robust business model. In a UK market ripe for consolidation, we stand out as the premier platform to lead this transformation,” said Group CEO, Jeremy Chelot.

Key Figures from Netomnia’s Q1 2025 Results

➤ Revenue:

Q1 2025 Result: £19.9m (304% YoY increase), but a quarterly fall

Q4 2024 Result: £38.6m (321% YoY increase)

➤ Premises Serviceable:

Q1 2025 Result: 2.32m (up 239k in the quarter)

Q4 2024 Result: 2.08m (up 255k in the quarter)

➤ Premises Connected:

Q1 2025 Result: 288k (up 50k in the quarter)

Q4 2024 Result: 238k (171k added in 2024, 48K in the quarter)

➤ Take-up Rate:

Q1 2025 Result: 12.4% (up 9% Quarter-on-Quarter)

Q4 2024 Result: 11.5% (up 38% YoY)

➤ Adjusted EBITDA (excludes exceptional items):

Q1 2025 Result: (£5.3m) (up 21% YoY) – suggesting Q2 may turn positive

Q4 2024 Result: (£29.6m)

➤ Net Debt (debt drawn to date including accrued interest less cash.):

Q1 2025 Result: £610m (up 15% Quarter-on-Quarter)

Q4 2024 Result: £531m (up 223% YoY)

We note that Netomnia doesn’t shy away from proclaiming itself in the results to be the “UK’s 2nd Largest Alt-Net“, which is likely to remain true now that nexfibre seems to have taken a backseat with their own roll-out plans due to changes at Telefonica (here) – unless they go aggressive on their proposed talk of a consolidation drive. Meanwhile, CityFibre remains the largest alternative network with around 4.4 million premises passed (4.2m RFS).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative network ISP CommunityFibre (CF), which has deployed their 5Gbps speed full fibre (FTTP) broadband network to cover 1.35 million UK premises (mostly in Greater London), has reportedly “posted its maiden profit” after recording earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £8m in 2024. Customers also grew to 336,000.

The provider, which is currently being backed by funding of around £1.1bn, has had a rough couple of years due to the rising cost of build, strong market competition and high interest rates (a common challenge in the current market). This all caused a previous slowdown in network build and related redundancies during 2023 (here and here), which resulted in CF pivoting their strategy to focus more on growing customer uptake.

The current situation was well reflected in the company’s most recent annual accounts to the end of 2023, which were published in October 2024 (summary). At the time CommunityFibre separately noted that it had been EBITDA positive since April 2024, although the specifics of this now appear to have been confirmed by a new FT (paywall) report, which put the figure at £8m for 2024 (we’ll have to wait until later in 2025 for the full results).

The ability to achieve a positive EBITDA (i.e. earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) can indicate that a company’s core operations are becoming profitable (banks use this to help assess whether a company is able to pay off its debts). But the catch is that it doesn’t fully consider non-core financial expenses, which can make a great difference to the financial health of a business.

As the newspaper noted, CommunityFibre is also expected to report a pre-tax loss of £118.5mn last year off the back of substantial investments in its network. By comparison, the operator’s most recent accounts reported total losses before tax of £134.6m for 2023 (2022: £50.4m).

The CEO of CommunityFibre, Graeme Oxby, said their latest preview of results for 2024 proved “broadband competition could be financially sustainable in the long run“. The provider is also said to have reported an 82% increase in annual revenue to £76m in 2024 (up from £41.7m in 2023 and £20m in 2022) and its customer base grew to 336,000 (up from 222,000 in 2023 and 310,000 on 24th Oct 2024).