Network benchmarking firm Opensignal, which uses crowdsourced data from its app to test broadband and mobile networks, has published a new report that shows how Vodafone’s mobile network performance compares across the UK and nine other European countries in which it operates. The Netherlands ends up being the Group Winner, with the UK placing 7th.

The study bases its comparison on their Consistent Quality (CQ) metric, which collects data on several key performance metrics (e.g. download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss and time to first byte). The results are then represented as a percentage of users’ tests that have met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to perform common tasks (e.g. video calling, uploading an image to social media, or using smart home applications without disruption etc.) – these are mostly linked to mobile broadband (4G, 5G etc.) capabilities.

Overall, Vodafone (Netherlands) came out as the Group Winner, with a score of 85.3%, six percentage points ahead of its closest sibling, Vodafone (Albania). However, unlike their Netherlands base, Vodafone (Albania) and Vodafone (Italy) are still outright winners for Consistent Quality in their home markets.

However, it’s important to remember that studies like this don’t tell the whole story, not least because each country and operator within a group can still be very different due to variable product selections, network reach and spectrum allocations, regulation and the differing dynamics of each local economy and company history or service coverage. Put another way, we’re not sure how practically useful this all is to end-users, but it is at least interesting.

Take note that Opensignal only included Vodafone (Italy) for the sake of completeness, though the group is in the process of selling it for €8bn to Swisscom. Similarly, the planned merger between Vodafone and Three UK in the UK has yet to take place, with the market awaiting the Competition and Market Authority’s final decision. The firm also excluded Vodafone Spain as Vodafone Group sold it to Zegona in May 2024.

CityFibre has begun the build phase of their £58m state-aid supported Project Gigabit broadband rollout contract for Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire & East Berkshire (LOT 26) in England (here), which will see them expand their full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 34,000 of the hardest-to-reach premises (150,000 if you include their complementary commercial build).

The government’s Project Gigabit programme, which is overseen by the Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency, aims to help extend 1Gbps (download) capable networks from 85% coverage today to “nationwide” coverage (c. 99%) by around 2030 (here). Commercial investment has already delivered more than 80% of this, which leaves the government’s scheme to focus on tackling the final 10-20% (mostly rural and some sub-urban areas), where the private sector alone often fails.

CityFibre’s engineers have initially begun their construction work for Lot 26 in rural parts of East Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, with works in Hertfordshire set to follow sometime in 2025, although the operator hasn’t said precisely where the build is initially taking place within those counties.

The work will also support CityFibre’s aspiration toward covering up to 8 million UK premises with their new 2.2Gbps speed network (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and c.£800m of BDUK / public subsidy) – representing c.30% of the UK. So far, they’ve covered around 3.8m premises and have connected 400,000 customers (8th May 2024).

Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer at CityFibre, said:

“We’re thrilled to be bringing world class digital infrastructure to East Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, helping to ensure no one is left behind. With build now underway, we look forward to helping communities free themselves from the copper networks of the past and experience next generation full fibre services that are revolutionising how people work, relax and communicate.”

CityFibre is currently contracted to build its 10Gbps capable FTTP network to a total of almost 465,000 hard-to-reach homes through the Project Gigabit programme over the next few years. This represents a total of over £782m in government subsidies for the operator and is said to unlock almost £1.2bn in combined public and private investment in rural broadband (pushing the total build to 1.366 million extra premises).

CityFibre’s Project Gigabit Contracts

Lot no.
Location
Subsidised Premises
Public Subsidy

5
Cambridgeshire
45,000
£69m

2
Suffolk
80,000
£100m

7
Norfolk
62,000
£114m

27
Hampshire
76,000
£104m

26
Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire & East Berkshire
34,000
£58m

11
Leicestershire & Warwickshire
38,000
£71m

16 & 1
West & East Sussex
52,000
£100m

29
Kent
50,000
£112m

12
Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire & Milton Keynes
25,000
£51m

Network builder Netomnia (inc. retail ISP YouFibre), which is currently merging with Brsk (here) and rolling out a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across the UK, has today announced that they’ve secured an additional investment (loan) of £25m from the National Wealth Fund (NWF) to help accelerate their deployment.

The investment bolsters a £75m debt commitment made in March 2023, which occurred before the recent transformation of UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) into the NWF – bringing the total NWF backing to £100 million. To date, this specific part of their funding has been credited with helping to facilitate the connection of more than 100,000 premises to their network, with around 10,000 customers live and growing.

The combined networks of Netomnia and Brsk currently reach over 1.82 million UK premises as ‘Ready for Service‘, which is home to a total customer base of 190,000 (30th Sept 2024). But the merged group also has a short-term target of growing this FTTP coverage to reach 3 million premises (coverage) by the end of 2025, as well as 1 million customers by 2028 – cementing their position as one of the largest national fibre networks.

Jeremy Chelot, CEO at Netomnia and Group, said:

“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. 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.”

Stuart Nivison, NWF Head of Portfolio Management, said:

“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.”

Take note that the UKIB officially became the NWF on 14th October 2024. The new NWF will expand UKIB’s remit beyond infrastructure in support of the Government’s new industrial strategy. With additional financial capacity and an enhanced risk budget, the NWF will be capitalised with £27.8bn to catalyse private investment in the market.

A new petition, which has already been signed by over 56,200 people across the UK, has called on Ofcom to tackle the issue of “loyalty penalties” by changing the rules so that existing broadband ISP customers can access the same offers as new ones and that any end-of-contract price increases be “limited to a maximum of 30% of their current contract price“.

The issue of “loyalty penalties”, which are not to be confused with the similar debate over annual mid-contract price hikes, is an old one. In short, new customers (i.e. those who hunt around for a better deal and switch ISPs) often benefit from big discounts that are designed to attract them, while existing customers who reach the end of their initial contract can be hit with huge price rises.

The practice is fairly common among the largest providers and, indeed, somewhat normal in any truly competitive market. In recent years, Ofcom has implemented various changes to tackle this, such as the introduction of more Social Tariffs and the new End-of-Contract Notifications (ECN) system. The ECN system requires all fixed broadband, mobile, home phone and pay TV providers to issue such notifications to existing subscribers at the end of their term, which is designed to keep customers informed about the best deals on their current provider and to boost switching.

On top of that, the regulator has also made it quicker and easier for consumers to switch providers via their new One Touch Switching (OTS) system, and they’ve fostered a new Fairness Framework (guidelines), although the latter doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact upon this particular issue. The new Change.org petition thus represents another attempt by consumers to resurrect the issue of loyalty penalties.

The argument is a valid one, although finding a solution remains challenging, and scrapping discounting entirely would of course hit savvy consumers who save money by switching more often or haggling (Retentions Tips). Not to mention that it may be difficult to police, given the variety of different ways in which consumer packages can be constructed, and could make it harder for some smaller providers and new altnets to compete against the incumbents.

On the other hand, there’s certainly something to be said for fostering a more simplistic approach to pricing, which would make comparisons between different providers and packages a lot easier and potentially fairer all-round. The current approach does of course rely on the fact that a good proportion of customers will, at the end of their first contract, choose to remain with their ISP – even though prices may rise. As above, this means that scrapping the approach could result in higher prices for new customers.

One other issue, which still hasn’t been fully addressed, is that not all providers are clear about how much you’ll pay post-contract from the product summaries on their front page. Sometimes, even after you’ve gone through the entire order system, the provider still won’t tell you what the normal post-contract price is – unless you dig into their small print. Ofcom and the ASA’s recent changes around mid-contract pricing (here and here) may indirectly help to change that, but the results are still a bit hit-and-miss.

At this point we should highlight that not all providers adopt the same model and many smaller providers, which may also offer a selection of advanced features (static IP etc.), simply charge a set monthly fee that rarely ever changes.

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

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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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
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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 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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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 

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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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