Customers of Vodafone UK’s mobile and broadband services, specifically those that also use their internet anti-malware ‘Secure Net‘ service (included with their ‘Pro II Broadband’ packages), may in the near future be able to benefit from quantum-safe cryptography after the operator collaborated with IBM on a new Proof of Concept (PoC) test.

At present, Quantum Computers are still very much in the early R&D stages of their development. But it is anticipated that, someday, future cryptographically relevant quantum computers could be used to break today’s internet encryption techniques. While this risk may still be years away, cybercriminals are already using “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks to collect and store data for later decryption.

In response, IBM’s cryptography researchers have already co-developed two algorithms, which were recently published as part of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) first three post-quantum cryptography standards.

The new collaboration with Vodafone thus represents a demonstration, supported by Akamai Technologies, of how IBM’s new Quantum Safe technology could be implemented into Vodafone’s existing Secure Net service. This would essentially add new post-quantum cryptography standards to the existing encryption methods, helping to protect users against future threats.

Luke Ibbetson, Head of R&D at Vodafone, said:

“We want our customers to enjoy the internet without worry, now and in the future. On the one hand quantum computing could have many societal benefits such as modelling new medicines and optimising advanced digital networks. But on the other hand, it could be used to undermine the cryptographic principles that the Internet relies on today. That is why Vodafone and IBM are working together with other partners to get ahead of the curve.”

Lory Thorpe, IBM’s Quantum Safe Industry Lead, added:

“As a pioneer in quantum-safe cryptography and solutions, IBM is proud to expand our collaboration with Vodafone to help protect its customers from anticipated quantum risks. It’s crucial for organisations to implement4 post-quantum cryptography, and Vodafone has led by example as an early adopter of post-quantum security solutions.”

The PoC is currently being expressed as a “feasibility test” and no indication is given for how long we might have to wait before this becomes a real feature that existing mobile and broadband customers can enjoy. But Vodafone clearly states that they’re “looking to introduce new, attack-resistant cryptographic algorithms across its networks, as well as business and consumer products“. So hopefully it won’t be long.

New research from Broadband Genie, which surveyed 3,200 people across the UK, claims to have identified the best and worst cities, as well as internet providers, for broadband reliability. Overall, Gloucester was named as the best UK city for reliability (only 8% experienced outages last year), while Belfast (51%) was the worst.

The somewhat anecdotal survey asked participants how many outages they’ve experienced in the last year, where they live and who their broadband provider is. Using this, a reliability score out of 100 was calculated. One possible caveat here is that the survey didn’t attempt to separate broadband from local connectivity problems, since consumers can sometimes wrongfully blame their ISP for problems that could be caused by factors outside the provider’s control (e.g. slow WiFi, power cuts, local network congestion, local network/router configuration problems, third-party device errors etc.).

Suffice to say that opinion surveys like this don’t always tell the whole story and would probably need to be significantly larger to catch a strong enough sample size for each city, as well as each ISP, in order to deliver a truly useful result. Sadly, the survey doesn’t show us how big the sample sizes were for each ISP and city, but we wouldn’t be surprised if some locations and providers only had a fairly small pool of responses.

In terms of the results for ISPs. Utility Warehouse (UW) came top, with some 93% of respondents saying they hadn’t experienced any outages or at least couldn’t remember having experienced one. However, at the other end of the scale, Cuckoo sat at the bottom on a figure of 12%. But as we said before for cities, you’d really need a much bigger minimum sample size per provider to really do this kind of survey justice. Take with the usual pinch of salt.

Top 29 Best and Worst Cities for Broadband Reliability

Top 21 Best and Worst ISPs for Broadband Reliability

Broadband network operator AllPoints Fibre (APFN) has today signed a new “long-term” strategic partnership with UK business ISP Daisy Communications. The deal will see Daisy both take on APFN’s B2B customers and harness their new aquila wholesale platform to access and sell products via their national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network.

Just to recap. Aquila now states that it’s available to 18 million+ UK homes and businesses, which is roughly in keeping with the respective network expansions of major partners at Openreach and CityFibre. In addition, this platform also includes APFN’s own-built FTTP via the recent consolidation of their three alternative networks – Giganet, Swish Fibre and Jurassic Fibre.

However, the new deal with Daisy goes much further than that, not least because it will also see Daisy acquire APFN’s B2B direct customer base, which was previously managed under the Giganet brand. “As part of the migration, both APFN and Daisy have confirmed that all customers will maintain the same level of service at the same in-contract price point,” said the announcement.

Jarlath Finnegan, Group CEO of AllPoints Fibre Networks, said:

“The Daisy deal represents another big milestone for APFN. Daisy now has access to the largest full fibre wholesale offering in the UK which will benefit the loyal customers who have supported us to date. I want to thank them, and we look forward to supporting them via Daisy in the years ahead.”

Dave McGinn, CEO of Daisy Communications, said:

“We’re delighted to have signed a deal with AFPN to bring the UK’s largest full fibre wholesale offering to our customers. We’re also pleased to welcome several customers into Daisy as part of our deal and we’re looking forward to working alongside them to keep Britain working.”

Customers impacted by the migration have already been informed, and the partnership goes live immediately.

Press Release

Boost Mobile, the newest US nationwide carrier, has deployed Nokia’s fully cloud-native 5G Voice Core to enable even faster delivery of advanced services, enhanced network automation, and more efficient cloud utilization than its Open RAN cloud-native network could before.

The deployment includes the consolidation of several IMS voice 3GPP functionalities into a single cloud-native network function (CNF), called Nokia Cloud Native Communication Suite (CNCS). This migration, from Boost Mobile’s previous distributed IMS voice core by Nokia, provides automated deployment and configuration, reduced infrastructure and carbon footprint, and lower operational costs through streamlined life cycle management.

“We anticipate Nokia’s 5G Voice Core to help reduce our network infrastructure costs by about 70 percent in addition to delivering new 5G services faster, with significantly streamlined network operations,” said Dawood Shahdad, Vice President of Core Engineering at Boost Mobile. “Boost Mobile continues to push boundaries with our Open RAN 5G network and the successful nationwide deployment of Nokia’s cloud-native next-generation voice core marks a pivotal moment in our network evolution, as this new network element advances our vision of end-to-end orchestration and dynamic scaling on our path toward 6G.”

CNCS improves energy efficiency by about 10 percent to 20 percent, relative to a standard IMS Voice Core, according to Nokia data.

“As the sole 5G Voice Core provider for Boost Mobile in the US, Nokia is extremely pleased to support Boost in this modernization project and the close partnering that enabled it. This is another demonstration of Nokia’s technology leadership in helping our customers solve problems, address their customer needs, and generate new revenue streams,” said Marcelo Madruga, Head of Technology and Platforms, Products & Engineering, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia.

Nokia had the most 5G Standalone Core operator customers, with 123 in total, at the end of 2024.

Learn more about this…
Boost Mobile Executive Vice President, Wireless Engineering & Operations, Jeff Mcschooler will join the keynote panel on mobile future at Connected America, March 11-12, 2025 at Irving Convention Center, Dallas. Joining Jeff on the panel are Adam Loddeke of AT&T and Ahmed Khattak of US Mobile. The discussion is moderated by Kelcee Griffis of Bloomberg News.
Get your tickets at totaltele.com/connectedamerica 

Alternative network operator CityFibre, which has so far deployed their 2.5Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network to cover 4.3 million UK premises (4.1m RFS), is reportedly close to reaching agreement on a much needed £500m equity financing deal to support its existing roll-out and fuel consolidation.

The alternative network operator currently still aspires to cover up to 8 million UK premises with their new full fibre network (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and c.£865m of BDUK / public subsidy) – representing c.30% of the UK. But their original target of hitting that by around 2025 will not be achieved, and have previously indicated a desire to boost their growth by consolidating many smaller alternative networks.

At the start of 2024 the operator signalled that, over the next two years (i.e. by the start of 2026), merger and acquisition (M&A) activity alone could theoretically add up to 1.5-3 million extra premises to their full fibre network coverage. This is on top of the 1.3m expected to be built as part of their rural focused Project Gigabit contracts. But actually delivering on all this will take a few years.

However, CityFibre’s consolidation drive has so far only been able to add a single altnet, LitFibre, since early 2024 (here), and last year’s accounts revealed a clear need for fresh funding (here). But securing fresh investment in a climate of high interest rates (i.e. rising debt repayments etc.), rising build costs and strong competition is not an easy task, much as many smaller players have already discovered.

The good news, according to a Sky News report and its sources, is that existing investors including Mubadala are allegedly in talks to provide around £500m in equity financing to the company. The refinancing deal is expected to form part of a wider balance sheet strengthening, which may also include a “substantial new debt-raise” (i.e. the overall value of both equity and debt may well be a lot more than £500m).

As part of this effort, a syndicate of CityFibre’s lenders, which is said to be led by the NatWest Group, this week appointed advisers from Lazard to assist them during talks with the company.

A CityFibre spokesperson said:

“We are financing the business from a position of strength, with the full backing of our shareholders and investors. We look forward to further expansion as we launch [Sky Broadband] across our nationwide footprint later this year.”

The operator, which recently reported having grown their live customer base by 54% in the year to total 518,000 and delivering adjusted EBITDA of £5m (up from -£55m), is expected to finalise the new funding deal in the “coming weeks“. But we also wouldn’t be at all surprised if a deal this big took until Easter or just after Easter to fully complete.

As above, the funding will enable CityFibre to continue their network expansion and to engage in a new round of consolidation.

Good news. Business broadband ISP and communications provider Northern Telecom, which normally focuses on serving the North of England, has announced the acquisition of Wales-focused wireless provider Dyfed Telecom. The move comes shortly after HMRC filed a winding-up petition against the Kidwelly-based business (here).

Just to recap. Dyfed Telecom has spent the past few years helping to connect various premises across rural Wales to broadband using a mix of mobile (EE powered 4G/5G), satellite (Starlink) and WiFi based solutions. But the provider recently got into difficulty, which may have been partly fuelled by the Welsh Government’s (WG) recent suspension of the long-running Access Broadband Cymru (ABC) grant scheme (here).

The good news today is that Northern Telecom has announced an agreement to acquire Dyfed Telecom, which will bring 4,000 of their customers into the base and provide opportunities for 22 existing employees of the business.

Jon Graves, Founder and CEO of Northern Telecom, said:

“I’m thrilled to announce the acquisition of Dyfed Telecom Ltd, bringing 4,000 customers and an incredibly talented team of 22 into the wider Northern Telecom business. Over the coming weeks and months, we look forward to integrating Dyfed Telecom and ensuring a smooth transition for both customers and employees.

A huge thank you to Mary Daniels Marco Piacquadio & Jordan Martine for their support in making this happen. These deals are never straightforward, and their expertise has been invaluable in getting this over the line.

Coupled with rapid legals from Chris Hughes and the rest of the Mincoffs Solicitors team.

We’re excited about the future and can’t wait to welcome the Dyfed Telecom team into our business! If you’re a customer or partner, rest assured that you’re in safe hands.”

The CEO of alternative broadband operator Netomnia, Jeremy Chelot, has provided a small update on what was previously merely a future aspiration to potentially introduce a mobile phone service to their retail ISP YouFibre (inc. Brsk). The plan now is to launch their first mobile plans sometime this year.

Just to recap. Netomnia is currently in the process of completing their merger with Brsk (here) and aims to expand their full fibre (FTTP) broadband network, which already covers over 2 million UK premises, to reach 3 million premises by the end of 2025 (inc. 1 million customers by 2028). The service is currently available across parts of over 90 cities and towns.

At present, the operator is still laser focused on broadband connectivity, although anybody who read our interview with Jeremy last April (here) will know that, when asked where the operator would be in 2030, he responded to say that they would “be in talks with a mobile operator to become a fixed and mobile provider“. But as it turns out, this seems to be happening considerably sooner than that.

According to a new interview with Jeremy, which was conducted by strategic consultancy firm Eight Advisory (see bottom of article for the video), the plan is to launch a mobile service this year. In addition, on the subject of FTTP take-up, Jeremy said their target is to hit 33% after 5 years, although “currently it sounds like we are getting there more in a 4-year type of period“, unless Openreach’s FTTP is there, then it tends to take about a year longer than that.

Jeremy Chelot, CEO of the Netomnia Group (inc. Brsk, YouFibre), said:

“There is a level of market share I will struggle to break, until I have a proposition which is a bit more complete. And that’s why we are planning to launch, for example, a mobile service at some point this year. Because I think otherwise there is a segment of the market that you can never tap.”

The difficulty above is that the mobile market is already extremely competitive and a lot of consumers often prefer to keep this part of their service separate (not bundled), as it allows for more flexibility when switching between deals. Lest we forget that trying to establish your own MVNO, assuming this is the approach Netomnia will take, can be an expensive process, and it’s one that doesn’t always work out (just ask TalkTalk).

In addition, once you have an MVNO relationship running, then that usually lasts 5-7 years before coming up for contract renewal. Often at this point, an internet provider may choose to switch Mobile suppliers, which is a process that can generate some problems for customers (SIM swaps, account/billing errors etc.) and thus a fair bit of negative press.

Suffice to say, we’d caution ISPs against taking a truly deep dive into mobile, although those that take a softer approach (closer to being a branded reseller) may sit at a disadvantage by virtue of only being able to offer less competitive plans. On the other hand, if anybody can come up with an attractive and different way of doing things, then Netomnia already has a good track record.

In somewhat of a surprising development, global software and technology giant Microsoft has just announced that they intend to close one of the internet’s most familiar Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) style brands, Skype, during May 2025.

Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5bn in 2011, which was intended to deepen the company’s longstanding focus on real-time video and voice communications. But since then, many users have moved to alternative platforms, such as WhatsApp, and Microsoft itself has increasingly put more of their energy toward the ‘Teams’ platform.

Jeff Teper, the company’s president of collaborative apps and platforms, said: “With Teams, users have access to many of the same core features they use in Skype, such as one-on-one calls and group calls, messaging, and file sharing. Additionally, Teams offers enhanced features like hosting meetings, managing calendars, and building and joining communities for free.”

However, I personally still use Skype to communicate with quite a few family and friends around the world, not least because it still works across a lot of platforms where other apps do not. But now customers have been given a choice, switch to Microsoft Teams or export our Skype data (chats, contacts, history etc.). Nice, thanks Microsoft.

The Skype Website currently states: “Skype is retiring in May 2025. Beginning March 2025, you will be able to sign into Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype credentials, and your chats and contacts will be right there ready for you. Enjoy the features you love about Skype, including free calling and messaging, as well as new features like meetings and communities, all on Teams app.”

The only problem is you can’t currently access ‘Teams’ on nearly as many platforms as Skype.

Back in May 2024 we reported (here) that internet provider Yayzi Broadband were preparing to make some big changes, not least by launching a Mobile (SIM) service. The good news is that the ISP recently put their new mobile service live, which is harnessing Three UK’s national 4G and 5G network.

The “Stupidly SIMple Plans” attach no contracts or credit checks and start at £10 per month for a 10GB data (mobile broadband) allowance, which rises to £15 for 100GB and £20 for unlimited data. Each SIM-Only plan (available via either an eSIM or Physical SIM) also includes EU roaming, as well as unlimited UK calling minutes and texts. Yayzi are separately also selling refurbished Smartphones.

“I genuinely feel that there’s a symbiotic relationship between broadband and SIMS, as some of the leading providers have already incorporated, but as part of this we are also introducing eco sims in 2025 due to the environmental impact of plastic,” said Martin Gardner, CEO of Yayzi, to ISPreview.

Finally, the ISP’s website states that existing broadband customers will benefit from a 10% discount on their mobile plans. Yayzi also vaguely mentioned something about a “new partner being launched in March,” but this wasn’t given much detail or context.

Copenhagen – February 27th 2025 – Anritsu, a global leader in service assurance and network monitoring solutions, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with Ookla®, a leading authority in network intelligence and connectivity insights. This collaboration will bring real-time visibility into network performance by integrating Ookla’s Downdetector® insights with Anritsu’s advanced anomaly detection solutions, providing operators with a more comprehensive understanding of user experience on the network.

By linking Ookla’s real-world user data with Anritsu’s AI-driven anomaly detection, service providers will gain proactive intelligence into customer-affecting issues before complaints escalate. This integration will enable telecom operators to identify, analyze, and resolve network disruptions faster, ensuring an optimal experience for subscribers worldwide.

Additionally, Anritsu and Ookla are exploring integrating Ookla’s Speedtest® data into Anritsu’s Service Assurance platform. This initiative will provide deeper insights into end-user performance, enabling CSPs to correlate real-world results taken with Speedtest alongside network-level analytics. Beyond this, the two companies are investigating the potential of Ookla’s broader portfolio of network intelligence solutions to further enhance Anritsu’s real-time monitoring, troubleshooting, and AI-driven automation capabilities.

“At Anritsu, our goal is to empower operators with real-time, data-driven insights to enhance service reliability and customer experience,” said Ralf Iding, CEO at Anritsu Service Assurance. “Our partnership with Ookla ensures operators have access to critical, real-world user insights, helping them stay ahead of network issues and deliver best-in-class connectivity.”

“Ookla is committed to providing data-driven intelligence that enhances network performance and customer satisfaction,” said Chip Strange, Chief Strategy Officer at Ookla. “By collaborating with Anritsu, we are bridging the gap between network analytics and real user experiences, and enabling CSPs to take a more proactive approach to service assurance.”

This partnership underscores both companies’ commitment to driving innovation in network intelligence and service assurance. It ensures that operators have the tools they need to deliver the highest-quality experience to their subscribers.

ABOUT OOKLA®

Ookla is a global leader in connectivity intelligence that provides consumers, businesses, and other organizations with data-driven insights to improve networks and connected experiences. We help our clients efficiently solve their biggest connectivity challenges and drive forward innovation.

Ookla is a division of Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD), a vertically focused digital media and internet company whose portfolio includes leading brands in technology, entertainment, shopping, health, cybersecurity, and martech. Ooklaʼs world-renowned brands include Speedtest, Downdetector, Ekahau, RootMetrics, and more.

ABOUT ANRITSU SERVICE ASSURANCE

At Anritsu Service Assurance, we lead the evolution of automated networks through advanced customer, service, and network assurance solutions. Leveraging cutting-edge AI and machine learning, we enhance network performance and user experience, ensuring that our clients and their subscribers enjoy seamless connectivity.

As trusted advisors in the journey to 5G SA, automation, and AI, our solutions empower Mobile Network Operators to efficiently manage their networks with full visibility across all technologies and services, significantly reducing downtime and operational costs. We streamline the detection and resolution of network issues with automated, proactive monitoring and troubleshooting. Our end-to-end solutions support Operators in their cloud-native journeys, enabling rapid deployment, scalability, and improved service agility.