Interview

Take-up of fibre services by customers has been slower than anticipated in the UK, but this is not necessarily a problem in itself, says F&W Networks’ Executive Chairman Carlos Bock.

Talking at this year’s Connected Britain, Carlos explores why altnets need to have patience when it comes to take-up and why that makes operational efficiency all the more crucial.

Check out our full interview below!

Is the UK’s fibre rollout moving fast enough to hit government targets? Join the industry in discussion at Connected North 2025

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Nokia and Lenovo forge partnership to drive AI and automation in data centers
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“We’re on track to close the loop”: Adtran talks data, AI, and network automation at Connected Britain

News

The new investment brings Netomnia’s total investment from the National Wealth Fund (NWF) to £100 million

UK fibre altnet Netomnia has today announced it has secured a further £25 million loan from the NWF, which they say will help accelerate their rollout of full fibre across the country.

This new funding is in addition to the £75 million debt commitment from the NWF (then the UK Infrastructure Bank) in March last year, bringing the total NWF backing to £100 million.

According to Netomnia, this funding has already helped the company connect 100,000 additional homes, with around 10,000 signing up for services.

“This additional £25 million investment from NWF is a powerful vote of confidence in Netomnia’s vision and execution. It will significantly accelerate our ability to deliver fast, reliable broadband to more homes and businesses across the UK, particularly in underserved communities,” said Jeremy Chelot, CEO at Netomnia and Group. “We’re not just building infrastructure; we’re laying the foundation for the UK’s digital future, and Netomnia is committed to ensuring no one is left behind.”

Netomnia is currently in the process of merging with fellow altnet Brsk, with the network integration process now underway. Combined, the two altnets currently reach 1.82 million premises with their fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, 190,000 of which are ISP customers.

The newly merged entity aims to increase its footprint to 3 million premises by the end of 2025, targeting 1 million customers by 2028.

For the NWF, supporting this ambitious rollout plan represents government efforts to better support crucial broadband infrastructure deployments across the country, particularly in rural areas.

“This investment will directly support improvements in areas that would otherwise miss out on the opportunities fast, reliable broadband affords, and so we’re pleased to extend our support to Netomnia as an existing client of the National Wealth Fund,” said Stuart Nivison, the National Wealth Fund’s Head of Portfolio Management.

This new investment from the NWF coincides with its significant restructuring earlier this month. Previously the UK Infrastructure Bank, the reformed NWF is now set to play a more significant role in the new Labour government’s industrial strategy. According to the government, the formation of the NWF will expand the organisation’s remit beyond purely infrastructure, as well as providing it with more funding – up to £27.8 billion – for private sector investments to support the UK’s economic development.

Is the UK’s fibre rollout moving fast enough to hit government targets? Join the industry in discussion at Connected North 2025

Also in the news:
Nokia and Lenovo forge partnership to drive AI and automation in data centers
UK govt announces £22m investment in ‘smart data’
“We’re on track to close the loop”: Adtran talks data, AI, and network automation at Connected Britain

News

The new rules introduced by the regulator are part of the Biden administration’s attempt to tackle ‘junk fees’ for US consumers

After around a year of deliberation, earlier this month the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) introduced new ‘click to cancel’ rules, obligating companies to simplify the process of cancelling subscriptions and memberships.

More specifically, these rules require companies to allow customers to cancel their subscriptions through the same method that they used to sign up; i.e., if you signed up to a service online, you should not be forced to call customer services in order to cancel.

Speaking in an interview at the time, FTC Chair Lina Khan explained that the new rules were in response to the growing number of consumer complaints about services that are “extraordinarily easy to sign up for a subscription, but absurdly difficult to cancel.”

“Companies shouldn’t be able to trick you into paying for subscriptions that you don’t want,” she said.

But while this rule change seems like a clear benefit for consumers, not everyone is happy about it.

The NCTA (The Internet & Television Association), which represents broadband and cable TV companies, has this week announced it is suing to block the ruling, claiming the rule is a regulatory overreach from the FTC.

The lawsuit describes the move as “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion,” arguing that a multistep cancellation process protects customers and allows companies to offer them better deals.

The lawsuit is also supported by the Electronic Security Association and the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

It is worth noting here that the ruling has a highly political element, having been passed 3–2 by the FTC, with both the FTC’s Republican commissioners voting against it. The Biden Administration has made it a priority to tackle ‘junk fees’ for consumers, a fact that Republicans decry as placing onerous and unnecessary regulatory handcuffs on the free market.

Perhaps it should come as little surprise, then, that the industry associations’ lawsuit has been filed with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, where 12 of the 17 active judges were appointed by Republican presidents, including six by former President Donald Trump.

Indeed, some supporters of the FTC’s ruling are accusing the associations of ‘venue shopping’ by filing the lawsuit with the most conservative-leaning federal appeals court in the country.

Join the US telecoms industry in discussion at this year’s Broadband Communities Summit West

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“We’re on track to close the loop”: Adtran talks data, AI, and network automation at Connected Britain

Press Release

RETN, the leading independent global network services provider, and CRATIS, Croatian ICT solutions provider, are proud to announce the commissioning of a new Point of Presence (PoP) in Croatia’s newest state-of-the-art data centre, DC North, located in Varaždin.

DC North, situated approximately 100 kilometres north of Zagreb, is currently Croatia’s only Tier 3 certified facility by the U.S. Uptime Institute. The new RETN POP in DC North is connected via two diverse paths to RETN’s existing node in Zagreb, provided by CRATIS.

By integrating IP Transit services and leveraging the state-of-the-art infrastructure at DC North, RETN and CRATIS ensure unparalleled service quality and network performance, enhancing both domestic Croatian and international connectivity.

“We are excited to expand our presence in Croatia with the new PoP in DC North,” said Amy Bajer, Managing Director, RETN Poland & CEE at RETN. “This collaboration not only strengthens our network but also reinforces resilience and disaster recovery, providing exceptional connectivity solutions to our customers.”

“We are excited to partner with RETN to bring advanced technological infrastructure and robust network services to the region, fostering economic growth and digital advancement,” said Darko Pintarić, Chief Data Centre Officer at CRATIS.

For more information about DC North, please visit the DC North website.

World Communication Awards finalist
RETN are shortlisted for the Cyber Security Award category for the 2024 World Communication Awards. Others shortlisted in this category are: BT Group, Cradlepoint, Enea, Liberty Global, and SK Telecom. The winners will be announced in London on the 10 December 2024. Find out more at worldcommsawards.com

News 

The “5G am Gleis” (5G on the track) project will bring boosted connectivity to the country’s railway network 

The railway line between Hamburg and Berlin is set to receive ‘seamless’ 5G coverage, thanks to a declaration of intent signed by Deutsche Bahn, the federal government, and the German telcos 1&1, Deutsche Telekom, O2Telefónica, and Vodafone.  

The partners announced the deal at the Digital Summit in Frankfurt this week, , pledging to jointly test, develop, and install 5G masts across the 278km long Hamburg–Berlin route.  

This route is already scheduled for renovation between August 2025 and April 2026, providing a 9-month window in which to explore infrastructure deployment options and ensure gigabit-capable connectivity for passengers. 

The project, dubbed the Future Rail Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), will see the deployment of shared mobile masts besides the tracks, with the partners working together to overcome technical challenges.   

“Our gigabit strategy aims to enable gigabit bandwidths wherever people live, work and travel. With the MoU, we are setting an equally ambitious gigabit timetable alongside the ambitious schedule for the upcoming general refurbishment of the Hamburg-Berlin line. Through the joint rail and mobile expansion, we are realising considerable synergies and cost savings hand in hand. This will benefit all travellers, who can look forward to high-performance and uninterrupted mobile communications coverage in the future,” said Dr Volker Wissing, the German Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport said in a press release. 

One of the major challenges the FRMCS is seeking to tackle is how to get the 5G signal into the train carriages themselves. Currently, the metal coating on the train windows makes them difficult for 5G signals to penetrate, meaning mobile signal is often delivered to a carriage’s interior by a repeater connected to an antenna on the carriage’s exterior. However, new window technology, which works by etching tiny holes in the metal coating, could allow 5G signals to penetrate the carriage directly from outside.  

“Our goal is to make digital work and entertainment on the train as easy for customers as at home,” explained Valentina Daiber, Board Member for Legal and Corporate Affairs at O2 Telefónica, noting that it was a matter of “technical feasibility and identifying the most effective approaches”. 

In related news, earlier this month Deutsche Telekom shared that they had made significant improvements to mobile coverage across the national rail network roughly two years ahead of schedule. According to the operator, 99% of German rail passengers on ‘main routes’ can access speeds of at least 200 Mbps. 

Join us at next month’s Connected Germany, 5-6 November in Munich. Get discounted tickets here 

Also in the news:
Nokia and Lenovo forge partnership to drive AI and automation in data centers
UK govt announces £22m investment in ‘smart data’
“We’re on track to close the loop”: Adtran talks data, AI, and network automation at Connected Britain

Interview

At Connected Britain 2024, we sat down with Matt Hunter, managing director at HellermannTyton, to discuss why an intimate understanding of customer needs should be at the heart of a company’s R&D process.

From supply chain and sustainability, to sharing learnings from diverse markets around the world, Matt explores how best to meet the unique requirements of the UK fibre market.

You can watch our full interview from the link below

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News

The operator says around 70% of the site’s energy needs are expected to be generate by on-site wind turbines and solar panels

Today, BT has announced the activation of a new mobile site powered by on-site renewable energy generation.

The 4G/5G site, located in the Shropshire Hills, is supported by a bank of solar panels and a miniaturised wind turbine, which combine to provide up to 70% of the site’s power. Energy generated from these renewable sources is stored in the on-site batteries, which then release it as needed.

In total, BT expects the site to generate 17,000kWh of energy per year, delivering a cost saving of over £10,000.

Back-up power to the mast is provided by a Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) generator, which powers the site if the stored energy is fully depleted.

“Delivering ubiquitous coverage is critically important in an age where connectivity has never been so central to everyday life, but it absolutely must be done in a responsible and sustainable manner. It’s paramount that we increase the energy-efficiency of our networks, and so we’re really excited about the potential of self-powering sites in enabling us to meet both our sustainability and connectivity ambitions,” said Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer and BT Group.

BT says it has already identified ‘hundreds’ of additional locations that are suitable for the deployment of on-site renewable energy generation.

This concept of powering mobile sites using locally generated renewable power is not new. Indeed, Vodafone UK began a similar initiative in 2021, with the first deployments taking place in 2022. The trial, which took place at Home Farm in the village of Eglwyswrw, Wales, was expected to take two years and so should now be complete, but no results have yet been published.

Perhaps one of the most exciting elements of on-site power generation for mobile sites – beyond the obvious reductions to energy bills and carbon emissions – is its potential to allow for deployment in remote areas without being connected to the national grid. This would reduce a significant pain point for rural mobile deployments, potentially making it viable to deploy sites in some of the remotest areas of the country.

On the other hand, deploying wind turbines and solar panels come with their own challenges, such as requiring additional permissions from landowners and maintenance obligations. Couple this with the fact that only a small number of locations around the country (typically hills and coastal locations) are suitable for this type of deployment, and it seems unlikely that these self-sufficient sites will become a major feature of the operators’ rollout plans.

Join us at next year’s Connected North, 23-24 April in Manchester. Early discounted tickets are available here! 

Also in the news:
Singtel becomes latest telco to launch AI cloud services
South Korean telcos accused of collusion, may face fines of $4bn
Hexatronic: Innovation will be needed to reach rural customers

News 

Oracle will modernise the platforms in four different government departments 

Four major UK government departments have chosen Oracle Cloud to modernise their corporate services in a decade-long deal worth £1 billion.  

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), and the Home Office will all use Oracle’s platform to streamline their finance, HR, and supply chain operations, affecting nearly 250,000 civil servants. 

Part of the government’s Synergy Programme, this move will introduce a common operating model and a single SaaS platform backed by common data standards across the departments, helping to improve efficiency and cut costs. By adopting Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the departments aim to boost productivity and make better use of data for decision-making. 

DWP, Oracle, and Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) members IBM and Deloitte will jointly implement the programme. 

“We are building a common operating model and establishing business processes that will be used collectively across four Departments that employ nearly half of all civil servants in the UK,” said Chris Murtagh, Chief Technology Officer and ERP Programme Director of the Synergy Programme in a press release.  

“Oracle Cloud will create a single platform that will expand insights, increase efficiency, and allow us to better meet the needs of citizens,” he added. 

 “Governmental departments are under ever-increasing pressure to make sure they are working efficiently and cost effectively,” said Siobhan Wilson, senior vice president and UK country leader, Oracle. “The move to Oracle Cloud will increase efficiency and deliver more value to UK citizens.” 

Join us at next year’s Connected North, 23-24 April in Manchester. Early discounted tickets are available here!  

Also in the news:
Singtel becomes latest telco to launch AI cloud services
South Korean telcos accused of collusion, may face fines of $4bn
Hexatronic: Innovation will be needed to reach rural customers 

Ofcom has published the results from a new survey that is intended to help monitor how well the UK mobile market is functioning and whether it continues to deliver good outcomes. For example, the work reveals that unlimited data (broadband) tariffs accounted for 13% of mobile plans in 2023 (up from 5% in 2019), but plans with smaller allowances are now less common.

The survey – ‘Monitoring Consumer Outcomes in the Mobile Sector‘ – similarly noted that consumers typically used only a small share of their mobile data allowance, and 67% of customers did not use their full monthly data allowance at any point during their contract or PAYG tariff.

Younger mobile customers also tended to choose tariffs with higher allowances, while older customers typically chose tariffs with lower allowances. Almost a quarter of customers in the 16-24 and 25-34 age groups, for instance, held tariffs with an unlimited data allowance. These customers were also more likely to purchase contracts with higher limited data allowances (>100 GB and 30-100 GB) compared to older customers.

By contrast, less than 10% of customers in the 65-74 and 75+ age group held unlimited tariffs and more than half of customers who are 75+ held a tariff with a data allowance of less than 3GB (GigaBytes). But for the median (average) consumer, data allowances increased from 4GB in 2019 to 12GB in June 2023, which is a threefold increase.

Ofcom also analysed mobile data usage. The median data usage more than doubled from about 1GB in 2019 to about 2.7GB in June 2023. The 75th percentile showed a similar increase from around 3.5GB to about 8.7 GB during the same period.

Elsewhere, the average monthly spend gradually declined between 2019 and 2021, by around £2 (or 7%) (in nominal terms). But after that period the analysis shows prices rising in early 2022 and early 2023 when monthly spend rose by around 5% and 7%, respectively. “These increases were most likely due to the high inflationary environment resulting in high in-contract price rises but also potentially due to higher prices for new tariffs,” said Ofcom’s report.

The full report covers a variety of different areas around consumer choice of package, data usage and pricing. The report is in a format that makes it difficult to summarise and put into a simpler context, but hopefully the above summary offers some insights.

Customers looking to take one of Virgin Media UK’s (VMO2) top broadband, pay TV, phone and or O2 SIM bundles – specifically ‘Mega Volt‘ and their ‘Biggest Combo‘ – should note that the ISP has quietly downgraded the Netflix plan they include in these packages with a much cheaper option.

Several of ISPreview’s readers (credits to Brad and Luke) have recently pointed out that the aforementioned bundles previously included Netflix’s Standard plan, which normally costs £10.99 a month when taken directly from the streaming provider. But the provider has now quietly downgraded the Netflix plan they include to adopt ‘Standard with Ads‘, which normally costs £4.99 when taken directly, albeit forcing users to view adverts.

The change is similar to EE and Sky’s (Sky Broadband) recent decision to swap their bundles with Netflix ‘Basics’ plan for the same ‘Standard with Ads’ (here), although in that case the adjustment made more sense because ‘Basics’ had already been retired by the streaming provider in favour of the ads tier and the pricing difference was much smaller. By comparison, Virgin Media can’t use the same excuse.

The change wouldn’t be so bad if the price of the packages had been decreased by a similar amount to reflect the cheaper plan, but so far as we can tell they’re still being promoted at roughly the same price as before (e.g. Mega Volt still starts at £84.99 per month on an 18-month term).

A spokesperson for Virgin Media told ISPreview:

“These changes were introduced on 14 October, bringing us in line with competitors. It will apply to new customers only, with existing Biggest Combo and Mega Volt customers continuing to have access to Netflix Standard.

We always look to give our customers the best value possible, and the inclusion of Netflix Standard with Ads for new customers means we can continue to offer our customers a competitive package that includes all of the entertainment they enjoy. Customers have the option to upgrade to Netflix Standard or Netflix Premium should they wish to.”

Existing customers with the same bundles will naturally continue to receive the regular ‘Standard’ plan, although there may come a time when they want to re-contract and find that this means having to downgrade the Netflix plan at the same time to ‘Standard with Ads’.