Several broadband and mobile operators, including Vodafone, BT, EE, and Plusnet, have this week notified of a small but useful tweak to their mid-contract price hikes policy, which means that new customers who sign-up will not be hit by the price increase that was previously due to start around the end of March 2025.

In the past there have often been complaints from customers who signed up just before the introduction of an annual price hike, since it meant the monthly price they paid increased only a short period after joining the service for the first time. Many consumers rightly view this as being both confusing and unfair.

As everybody should know by now, Ofcom recently required telecoms providers to adopt a new approach to mid-contract hikes, which did away with the old percentage and inflation-based model – replacing it with one expressed in pounds and pence (here). The change meant that, until this week, the aforementioned broadband providers were all due to increase their monthly rentals by £3 extra every March or April.

For example, BT’s 900Mbps package, which currently costs £40.99 per month, was expressed as increasing in price to £43.99 “From 31 March 2025” and then £46.99 from “From 31 March 2026“. Similarly, Vodafone’s packages did the same, albeit with the change being effective from 1st April 2025 and 1st April 2026.

The tweak this week sees Vodafone notifying that their 1st April 2025 price increases will no longer apply to those taking out a new contract/package. Instead, if you’re taking out one of their packages today, for example, then your next mid-contract price increase will hit on 1st April 2026, rather than 1st April 2025. As we say, it’s a small change, albeit one that may carry a benefit for their newest customers.

ISPreview understands that BT, EE and Plusnet are all due to adopt the same change tomorrow (1st March 2025), although the impact of this may vary depending upon how they set their usual discount pricing for each package’s contract term. We believe mobile plans may also see a similar change.

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has just revealed how much they’ll charge ISPs for their new symmetric 1Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband package, which is due to launch on 1st April 2025 and will initially only be available to locations being covered as part of their rural Project Gigabit contracts (here).

Just to recap. Openreach’s full fibre network has so far covered over 17 million premises (there are around 32.5m across the UK), but they aim to reach 25 million by December 2026 and have an ambition to reach “up to” 30 million by 2030. But the fastest FTTP package currently available to consumers on this network gives a top download speed of 1.8Gbps and 120Mbps upload (220Mbps for businesses).

The new symmetric tier goes beyond this by essentially offering customers the same 1000Mbps speed for both downloads and uploads. “On 1 April 2025, we will launch a new 1Gbps symmetric FTTP speed tier (i.e. 1000Mbps downstream and 1000Mbps upstream) to further enhance our GEA-FTTP portfolio offering. This speed tier will be available to all premises built to under the BDUK Type C framework contracts only,” said Openreach.

The 1Gbps symmetric FTTP speed tier will launch with the following prices (excluding VAT).

As usual, we must caveat that these are wholesale charges and thus do not include all of the many other elements that an ISP has to add in order to create the retail price that you or I will ultimately have to pay (e.g. 20% VAT, profit margin, capacity, service / network features etc.). So the monthly rental of £100 (or £120 if you include VAT) is, in reality, likely to be a lot more expensive at retail (c.£150+ seems likely).

The reality at this price is that Openreach are not going to be particularly competitive with other, more residential focused, alternative FTTP providers that already offer symmetric 1Gbps tiers for significantly lower pricing. At this price, the operator seems to be aiming more at small business customers, and this is underlined by the fact that it’s about twice the price of their asymmetric consumer 1.8Gbps package.

On the flip side, Openreach will be deploying this into areas where there are no alternative FTTP operators, thus they probably don’t have to worry too much about competition in these locations.. yet.

News 

AST SpaceMobile has been awarded a $43 million contract to support the US Space Development Agency (SDA), expanding its role in government satellite communications 

The agreement follows successful in-orbit testing of AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker-3 satellite under a previous contract in February last year. The company will deploy its Block 2 BlueBird satellites, which feature large phased-array antennas spanning 2,400 square feet, to improve connectivity. 

The SDA, part of the US Space Force, is responsible for advancing space-based capabilities to support military operations. AST SpaceMobile’s technology will contribute to strengthening communications in this sector. 

“This second contract supporting the SDA underscores the confidence in AST SpaceMobile’s innovative technology and its potential to support critical government missions,” said Chris Ivory, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Government Business of AST SpaceMobile in a press release. 

“We are deploying groundbreaking technology to create robust and resilient communications solutions and to enable new use cases for the U.S. government.”  

AST SpaceMobile holds 3,500 patent and patent-pending claims and develops technology for both commercial and government applications.  

Join us at Connected America next month, 11-12 March in Dallas. Get discounted tickets here! 

Also in the news:
Mavenir and O2 Telefónica Germany renew cloud-native partnership
SAIC and Huawei partner to develop new smart EVs
PODCAST: The fight to win hearts and minds for rural broadband

News 

Telefónica Germany has renewed its collaboration with Mavenir, signing a five-year contract extension to transition its 4G and 5G voice services to Mavenir’s cloud-native IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) technology 

O2 Telefónica Germany has signed a five-year contract extension with Mavenir to upgrade its 4G and 5G voice services with Mavenir’s cloud-native IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) technology. 

The deal strengthens Mavenir’s role in O2 Telefónica Germany’s network evolution, replacing its virtualised IMS (vIMS) with a more flexible, scalable cloud-native IMS platform. The upgrade covers both fixed and mobile networks, serving the operator’s entire customer base. 

Mavenir’s IMS solution supports Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over New Radio (VoNR), ensuring seamless voice continuity across 4G and 5G networks. The cloud-native design, using stateless microservices and containerization, enables fast service deployment on public or private clouds. 

“It was a natural decision to extend our successful technology partnership with Mavenir, which has helped us to deliver our best ever quality of service to our customers and optimise our investment in agile network innovation,” said Matthias Sauder, Director Networks at O2 Telefónica in Germany in a press release. 

“Mavenir’s clear leadership in network functions virtualisation led to its initial selection and has since delivered transformative new capabilities across our operations. As the world embraces the opportunities being created by artificial intelligence and automation to open interfaces for digital transformation, Mavenir’s Cloud-Native IMS will be a core enabling platform for our ongoing network evolution and unlocking new routes to value for our business and our customers.” 

O2 Telefónica Germany recently received a ‘very good’ rating in the 2025 Mobile Network Test by connect magazine. The extended partnership with Mavenir aims to further improve service quality and accelerate digital transformation. 

News

This article was written by Grace Dawes, Editor of Movemnt

Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor and global tech giant Huawei have signed an agreement to create a smart new energy vehicles

The two companies will reportedly work together on product definition, manufacturing, supply chain management and sales and services, to create intelligent new energy vehicles (NEVs) and jointly bring users a smart mobility experience.

At present, SAIC has launched the “seven major technology bases” with internationally leading technology levels, including three major vehicle platforms of pure electric, hybrid and hydrogen energy, as well as batteries, electric drives, super hybrid systems, and full-stack solutions for smart cars.

Huawei has launched a number of smart car products in China with its partners, incorporating smart driving, smart cockpit, smart driving control, and software-defined cars to build a new smart travel experience.

In 2024, the country announced the first batch of L3-level intelligent connected vehicles to enter the pilot list for road access, and SAIC became the only company to be selected for both passenger car and commercial vehicle projects.

The partnership reportedly hopes to push the Chinese auto industry to new heights in the era of intelligence and strive to provide drivers with a more intelligent, convenient and safe travel experience.

More bad news today as alternative rural broadband ISP Wildanet, which is busy deploying a gigabit speed full fibre (FTTP) network across rural parts of Cornwall and Devon in England, has revealed that “external forces” have pushed them into a period of restructuring that is expected to result in a loss of up to 35 jobs (roughly 18% of the workforce).

The operator, which originally started life as a Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) provider in the same area, has recently been building a fibre broadband network – both commercially and via public investment – and is estimated to have so far covered around 30,000 premises (Ready for Service). Since 2023, Wildanet has also secured several contracts – worth £77m in public investment – to deploy FTTP to over 37,000 premises across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly under the UK government’s Project Gigabit scheme (here and here)

However, the provider is understood to have been coming under the same pressures as many other UK network operators, which typically stems from issues such as high interest rates, rising build costs, competition and the associated difficulty of being able to raise fresh investment.

The situation has frequently been causing similar operators to re-focus their efforts away from new network build and more toward greater commercialisation. Consolidation may then become another option.

A spokesperson for Wildanet said:

“Wildanet runs a dynamic operation which is rolling out a major full fibre digital infrastructure upgrade for Cornwall, while at the same time as evolving the business into becoming a leading South West internet service provider (ISP) and it is important we ensure the long-term sustainability of our operations to continue delivering market choice and leading-edge connectivity to the region.

Like all organisations we must continually review our resource requirements in response to the changing needs of our business, the shift in skill sets required as we evolve and the need to adapt to external forces affecting our business.

We are reviewing our resource requirements to align our business with the future full fibre roll-out strategy in the South West. This is in response to increased costs and the need to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving marketplace as well as addressing the changing skills that our business requires as we move forward with our business plan.

We are currently undergoing a consultation with our staff regarding roles impacted by the evolving needs of our operations. At this stage, we cannot confirm exactly how many roles may be impacted, as some positions may be restructured to align with the business’s strategic needs, although we anticipate the number of roles to be affected to be no greater than 35, representing 18% of our current workforce. Where reductions are unavoidable, we are focusing on redeployment, retraining and voluntary opportunities to minimise the impact of any job losses as much as possible. New opportunities have been created in areas such as our sales team for which we are inviting applications from our colleagues in the first instance.

Our priority at this time is to support our people through this transition.

Our commitment to continue delivering and building a new full fibre network across Cornwall, servicing our customers, our investment in our training academy, apprenticeship programs and our position as a pioneering B Corp remains unaffected.”

At the time of writing, it’s not yet clear what this will mean for the fate of Wildanet’s contracts under the government’s Project Gigabit programme, although other operators in this boat have tended to scale-back or pause their commercial builds in order to stay focused on the state aid project. We will attempt to seek an answer to this and report back later.

UPDATE 11:49am

Wildanet has informed ISPreview that this “won’t impact” on their ability to deliver on those Project Gigabit contracts.

Hull-based phone and broadband ISP KCOM, which have deployed a full fibre (FTTP) network across 305,000 premises in parts of East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (England), has taken the decision to close a tiny “community library” in Skidby, that was set up during 2020 inside the village phone box, because it posed a “serious fire risk“.

KCOM, not unlike BT, are known to have converted or helped to convert a number of their classic cream-coloured K6 phone boxes to mini-libraries. In practice, this just amounted to stacking some books up inside the box, which local residents could then take out and replace at their leisure. But some of those conversions took place inside phone boxes that were no longer carrying an active phone service.

However, the phone box in the village of Skidby now includes an additional sign, which asks disappointed residents not to put books inside as they “pose a series fire risk“. A spokesperson for KCOM told the BBC News that, as the box is still providing an active service, they are “regulatory obliged by Ofcom to make sure it is in working order in case anyone needs to make a call, including in 999 emergencies.”

The operator added that they were “keen to work with the local community to see if there are other solutions to creating a book space,” you know, like an actual library, back when we used to have those.

Broadband ISP Sky Business (Sky UK) has announced a new multi-year agreement with Caffè Nero, the premium coffee house group, which will see them upgrade the digital infrastructure of 787 stores in The Caffè Nero Group (about 90% of their estate) across the United Kingdom.

The deal is expected to introduce “next-generation connectivity solutions” to the stores, ensuring secure, high-speed connectivity for both customers and employees. This investment is said to enable frictionless transactions, enhanced public WiFi, and a scalable network supported by a resilient, end-to-end failover solution.

Damian Saunders, MD of Sky Business, said: “At Sky Business, we’re relentless in delivering cutting-edge, fully managed solutions for Caffè Nero. Their continued trust over the past decade is a testament to our innovation and reliability. This expanded partnership reinforces our commitment to powering exceptional digital experiences for their customers and employees.”

Network operator nexfibre and supporting retail broadband ISP partner Virgin Media (O2), which share some of the same parentage, have today announced that they’ve expanded the reach of their symmetric 2Gbps speed capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to more than 6,000 homes in the Falconwood area of South East London for the first time.

The area is currently already well covered by Openreach’s and CommunityFibre’s gigabit-capable FTTP broadband networks, not to mention some smaller deployments by Hyperoptic. But there should still be enough room in the local market for Virgin Media’s network, even if they are arriving a bit late to the party.

Nexfibre itself has already covered over 2 million premises across the UK with their new full fibre network (here) and many more will follow. Just for some context. Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners originally set up their new £4.5bn nexfibre joint venture in 2022 (here), which aims to deploy an open access fibre network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT currently served by Virgin Media’s network of 16m+ premises. The funding reflects £3.3bn of fully underwritten financing and up to £1.4bn in equity commitments.

Most of the major broadband ISPs in the United Kingdom (BT, Sky Broadband, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, EE and Plusnet) have just been handed a new court order to block an Israel TV video streaming site, which was found to have been facilitating internet copyright infringement (piracy).

At present such blocking orders, which in the UK flow from Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA), aren’t cheap to bring but have over the past 15 years or so become very common. Hundreds of websites have been blocked through this approach (thousands if you include their associated proxies and mirrors), which usually include illegal file sharing (P2P / Torrent), streaming sites, Sci-Hub and those that sell counterfeit goods etc.

In this case, the UK and international law firm, Penningtons Manches Cooper, which was acting on behalf of United King Film Distribution (1990) Limited, Keshet Broadcasting Limited, Hot Telecommunications Systems Limited and Reshet Media Limited, were successful in securing a blocking injunction against the providers.

The injunction itself, which was granted by Richard Smith J, targets an unlicensed website called Israel TV (inc. including various associated domains) that had been live-streaming, as well as offering a large unlicensed collection of recorded content, the claimants’ broadcasts and content without their permission.

The judgement itself was handed down after a hearing on 23rd January 2025 and the ISPs have since introduced the new block. Such restrictions don’t always stop the targeted websites, and indeed they may even help to advertise their existence. Naturally, those who actively engage in internet piracy will no doubt still be able to circumvent the restrictions by using all sorts of different approaches.