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A new “independent” report from Frontier Economics claims to show, after its first year of operation, that the merger between mobile operators Vodafone and Three UK (VodafoneThree) is already “delivering tangible consumer benefits, driven by greater scale, faster integration and improved efficiency“.

Just to recap. VodafoneThree quickly established a post-merger plan to invest £11bn into upgrading the UK’s 5G mobile infrastructure and coverage over the next decade (here, here and here). The combined business has also previously stated that it aspires to reach more than 99.95% of the UK population with their 5G Standalone (5GSA / 5G+) network by 2034 and push fixed wireless access (mobile home broadband) to 82% of households by 2030, among other things.

Since the merger, the operators have thus been busy bringing both their operations, products and networks closer together. For example, one of the first big benefits to start rolling out reflected the adoption of a new Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN). This allows customers to roam across both networks at no extra cost (whichever one provides the best signal), but it will take several years to be fully deployed.

The new report – ‘The Vodafone-Three Merger: One Year On‘ (PDF) – reflects those developments and attempts to summarise the impacts. But while the report may be technically independent, it’s still worth highlighting that it was created after Vodafone specifically asked Frontier Economics to assess the progress they’d made in the first year following completion of the merger. Some of the key findings can be seen below.

VodafoneThree one year on – key network stats

➤ Spectrum sharing was deployed extensively within weeks of deal close: additional Vodafone 1800MHz spectrum has been deployed on nearly 15,000 legacy Three sites, boosting 4G speeds for more than 7 million customers by an average of 20%, with increases of up to 40% in some areas.

➤ The implementation of reciprocal site access means that customers can now benefit from the combined geographic coverage of the two networks. By February 2026, MOCN had removed more than 16,500 km² of not-spots.

➤ MOCN has also expanded the areas where customers can access 5G services: between May 2025 and March 2026, 5G population coverage increased by around 9% (from 59% to 64%) for Vodafone customers, and around 10% for Three customers (from 65% to 72%).

➤ 5G speeds have improved materially: Vodafone 5G average download speeds increased by 38%, from 172 Mbps to 237 Mbps, between April 2025 and March 2026, while Three 5G average download speeds increased by 9%, from 313 Mbps to 341 Mbps.

➤ Data usage has accelerated: annual data consumption growth increased from 12% in FY25 to 21% in FY26 on the Vodafone network and from 9% to 26% on the Three network, well above recent market-wide growth of 15.2%.

NOTE: The mobile broadband speed test results above appear to be based on data supplied by Ookla (Speedtest.net).

According to the conclusion, “millions of customers are experiencing stronger, faster and more reliable connectivity without upward pressure on prices” as a result of the merger, although it remains unclear how long Three UK and its MVNOs will maintain their current status as providers for more budget consious consumers.

Over time there remains a deep-rooted suspicion among many consumers that prices will rise, but it’s still too early to judge. On the other hand, the report does claim the merger has delivered “more value for customers from lower cost per GB [GigaByte] and higher usage, driven by expanded network capacity“.

Joakim Reiter, Vodafone Group Chief External & Corporate Affairs Officer, said:

“The UK experience provides clear, real-world evidence that consolidation can deliver better outcomes for consumers. One year on, the Vodafone–Three merger is already driving better networks, broader coverage and improved value, while sustaining healthy retail competition across the market. This shows there is no inherent trade-off between scale and competition in infrastructure-based industries like telecoms.”

Europe is at a critical juncture in modernising its competition framework. The EU now has a unique opportunity to adopt a more future-proof approach, free from outdated biases, with fair, evidence-based assessments in the service of customers, competition and investment. The UK experience clearly shows this is possible.”

At the end of the day, we’d much rather see a truly independent study of mobile network change and performance from organisations that haven’t been given a specific direction by Vodafone, although the reality is that doing something like that is a very difficult and expensive task. Some independent studies, such as from Streetwave, might in the future be better placed to map such changes than others, but they can’t yet present a complete picture of the UK.

The full report is worth a read, although it’s worth remember that it will take several more years for the benefits of this merger to be fully realised and so there’s a long way to go yet.

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Carlisle-based broadband ISP Grain (Grain Connect), which has already built their 2Gbps speed point-to-point full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 270,000 UK premises (aiming for 600,000 in the future) and in 2025 secured a £225m funding boost (here), appears to have confirmed that they’ve started a new roll-out across the South Yorkshire city of Doncaster.

At present Doncaster, which is home to a population of over 87,000, already has wide access to three gigabit-capable broadband networks via Openreach, Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre) and CityFibre. In addition, there’s also a small bit of full fibre coverage from alternative networks like Hyperoptic, OFNL, Quickline and possibly others. Suffice to say, it seems like a risky bet for an altnet like Grain Connect, but that’s not stopped them before.

According to Business Doncaster, the local roll-out technically began in June 2026 and the first customers are set to be connected this Autumn 2026. “We’re excited to offer Doncaster residents an internet service that can keep up with their digital lives,” said Richard Cameron, CEO of Grain broadband. The City will thus soon join some of Grain’s other haunts across Yorkshire, including parts of Bradford, Castleford, Goole, Grimsby, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Scarborough and Sheffield.

ISPreview had a closer look at Doncaster and identified that Grain’s initial deployments appear to be taking place across various streets just above and below Balby Road, which leads into the city centre. As usual, Grain intends to try and undercut the established networks on price, with early sign-ups during July 2026 being offered symmetric package speeds from £19.99 per month for 250Mbps (four months of free service is also being promoted for faster speeds). All packages promise no in-contract price rises, no installation fees, and a Price Match Guarantee.

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Mobile and broadband operator EE (BT) has announced that they will help football fans stay connected by zero-rating data (mobile broadband) across their UK mobile network all day on Wednesday 15th July, which is intended to help celebrate the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final match between England and Argentina at 20:00.

In short, EE Pay Monthly, PAYG and even “SME consumer” customers (confusingly the latter does not include business plans) will be able to enjoy free data throughout the UK – whether streaming the game, messaging friends, checking the latest scores or celebrating every goal online. So hopefully the match won’t suffer a delay and end up continuing past midnight.

EE notes how customers generated an all-time record peak in traffic during England’s knockout match against DR Congo, which was 42% higher than normal, although Wednesday’s match will take place well outside of normal working hours (i.e. most people will be connected via home broadband or using a TV).

Kelly Engstrom, Brand and Marketing Communications Director at EE, said:

“As proud lead partner of the Home Nations Football Associations, we know the power football has in bringing people together and creating positive moments that inspire the next generation. Through our Yes Boys campaign, we are supporting young people both on and off the pitch – and by offering free data all day, we are helping our customers get closer to the game and the moments that matter most. Whether watching at home, in the pub or following every moment on the move, our customers can count on the UK’s best network to stay connected and get behind England.”

The operator added that if customers have already used up their monthly data allowance, they’ll still be able to access mobile data at no additional charge throughout the free data period. But it’s worth noting that EE hasn’t strictly gone quite as far as O2 (Virgin Media), which recently extended their inclusive roaming benefit for eligible Pay Monthly customers travelling to the USA to include pay monthly Classic Plan customers until midnight on 20th July (PT) – here.

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Press Release

Sowmyanarayan Sampath appointed CEO to drive the company’s next phase of AI-related and enterprise growth; Steve Smith to remain on Board following retirement

Zayo (“the Company”), the leading digital infrastructure network provider, today announced a planned CEO transition, appointing former Verizon executive Sowmyanarayan Sampath as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective September 1, 2026. Sampath will succeed Steve Smith, who will retire as CEO following a transformative tenure that established Zayo as the foundational backbone of the AI economy. Smith will continue to serve as a member of Zayo’s Board of Directors.

Under Steve’s leadership, Zayo has evolved from an acquisition-built network operator into the largest independent digital infrastructure network provider and a powerhouse of connectivity serving AI companies and enterprises across the U.S. Sampath’s appointment provides long-term leadership and bolsters Zayo’s market-leading position.

Sampath brings more than two decades of large-scale digital infrastructure experience, most recently serving as CEO of Verizon Consumer, after previously leading Verizon Business and BCG’s global telecom practice for carriers across the world. His extensive background in leading multi-billion-dollar enterprise and wholesale businesses through transformation and rapid technology shifts positions him to accelerate Zayo’s commercial execution, scale for the demands of AI-driven growth, and meet rising demand for high-capacity connectivity.

“On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Steve for his leadership and the important role he has played in strengthening Zayo’s market position,” said Kevin Turner, Chairman of Zayo’s Board of Directors. “Steve has sharpened Zayo’s strategy and positioned the Company for its next phase of growth. This planned transition reflects the strength of our business, the depth of our leadership team, and the Board’s confidence in the path ahead. Sampath’s track record of scaling complex networks and driving enterprise revenue makes him the right leader to maximize the potential from Zayo’s market-leading assets.”

The post Zayo brings in Verizon’s Sampath as CEO appeared first on Total Telecom.

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Rural broadband ISP Wessex Internet has today announced that they’ve completed their publicly funded deployment of full fibre broadband under the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) programme, which has seen 4,190 hard-to-reach rural homes and businesses across South Somerset in England gain access to their gigabit speed network.

Just to recap. The Phase 2 CDS contract, which was first awarded at the end of 2020 (here) and initially supported by £4.7m of public investment (partly from the Building Digital UK agency), originally committed Wessex Internet to expand their full fibre network to cover over 3,618 premises in remote rural parts of South Somerset. This was extended in 2022 (here), with an extra £1.7m of public funding, to reach a further 1,110 premises.

The network build phase eventually commenced in May 2021 and was technically completed in January 2026, although there’s usually a period of verification that then has to take place before the work is formally finished (hence why it’s only being announced now). The expansion of rival commercial networks has also eaten into their original coverage target, albeit only a bit.

Some of the locations that have benefitted from this FTTP build include Alford, Ashington, Babcary, Cary Fitzpaine, Charlton Mackrell, Closworth, Corton Denham, Hadspen, Hardington Mandeville, Limington, Lovington, Marston Magna, Milborne Wick, Mudford Sock, North and South Barrow, Sutton Montis, Woolston, Yeovil Marsh, Chilthorne Domer, East Coker and Wyke Champflower etc.

Councillor Mike Rigby, CDS Board Member, said:

“Our thanks and congratulations go to Wessex Internet for their work in fulfilling this contract with CDS. Delivering full fibre broadband in hard-to-reach areas is challenging in itself, but Wessex has had to contend with some awful weather extremes during the time they’ve been working on this contract in South Somerset. However, the importance of this work can’t be overstated, and it’s certainly been worth the effort that has been needed. The difference these full fibre connections make is highlighted by the experience of the owners of North Perrott Fruit Farm, and I’m sure that’s echoed by the thousands who have benefited from this new full fibre broadband network.”

Juliet Mance, Chief Operations Officer of Wessex Internet, said:

“Connecting more than 4,000 rural homes and businesses in South Somerset with reliable, gigabit‑capable broadband is a milestone that truly reflects the dedication of multiple teams across both organisations. Their hard work, resilience and commitment have delivered a project that is already transforming daily life for the communities we serve.

Communities like Compton Dundon, Babcary and North Perrott have been waiting years for broadband that genuinely supports the way they live and work. Since the network has been live in South Somerset, the response from residents and local businesses shows just how quickly better connectivity can change daily life. Projects like this are exactly why CDS and Wessex Internet exist: to deliver future‑proof digital infrastructure that strengthens rural communities – because that’s the real measure of success.”

In total, 1.28 million metres of new fibre was installed by Wessex Internet to bring reliable, ultrafast broadband to 85 rural communities and isolated properties under the contract. The build also wasn’t without its challenges, with the county’s rural nature requiring an average of 306 metres of fibre per property to be installed using Mole Ploughs – leveraging the provider’s unique approach to rural delivery.

In addition, Wessex Internet was building the network and connecting properties during unexpected and harsh weather conditions – including facing one of the wettest winters on record for Somerset (2023-24). The operator, which has already covered 66,000 rural premises with their broadband network(s), is currently working to expand their rural full fibre infrastructure to cover 137,000 premises (here).

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The UK telecoms, media and internet content regulator, Ofcom, has today announced that Lord Richard Allan has stepped down early from his position as a Non-Executive Director of the regulator’s board. The Secretary of State originally appointed Lord Allan for a four-year term at the end of 2024.

According to the announcement, Lord Allen, who has over three decades of experience in communications and technology policy (he’s also been a Member of the House of Lords since 2010), is standing down from his role immediately due to a “personal family matter“. We wish him and his family well.

“Richard Allan has decided to stand down from the Ofcom Board due to a personal family matter with immediate effect. We respect his decision and thank him for his significant contribution to Ofcom,” said a spokesperson for Ofcom. The government will now need to go on the hunt for a replacement. Non-Executive Directors of the Ofcom Board typically receive £42,519 per annum (2024 figure).

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Yesterday saw the UK Government sign one of its largest services-focused trade deals to date, this time with the beautifully mountainous Central European country of Switzerland, which among other things included an agreement to support surcharge-free international mobile roaming.

At present a lot of UK mobile operators already offer roaming options, either as an inclusive part of your mobile plan or as a paid add-on, although it’s worth noting that the data (mobile broadband) side of such allowances usually still come attached to a Fair Usage Policy (FUP); the latter is a fairly standard practice, even for many mobile operators within Europe.

The good news is that the new UK-Switzerland trade deal will officially scrap roaming charges between the two countries, although precisely when this will be introduced across the primary UK mobile operators of EE, O2 and VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) remains unclear.

“The UK and Switzerland intend to include surcharge-free international mobile roaming. This would mean that UK tourists and business travellers would be able to use their mobile phones in Switzerland as part of their regular phone contract and without incurring extra roaming charges,” said the official announcement.

ABTA – The Travel Association Chief Executive, Mark Tanzer, said:

“We want travel to be as easy and smooth as possible, so this announcement includes great outcomes for British holidaymakers and business travellers, particularly the permanent arrangement for visa-free service supply for 90 days per calendar year.

Removing roaming charges would give people one less thing to think about before their trip and should make it cheaper to stay in touch too.

Plus, giving UK visitors access to Swiss eGates will make going through the airport smoother and quicker for tourists and business travellers alike. We know it’s not something that can just happen overnight, but it is encouraging to see that Switzerland has a plan in place to make it happen. Removing travel frictions like these with major European partners is so important for UK tourism and exports.”

The official government FTA announcement ranked free mobile roaming as no.4 on its list of top benefits from the deal.

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New customers looking to join broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2) should note that the ISP has introduced a big discount on their 1,130Mbps download (104Mbps upload) package, which has been reduced to just £24.99 per month (affiliate link) on a 24-month minimum term (price increases to £28.99 from April 2027 and £32.99 from April 2028).

We’ve had some conflicting communications about when this new pricing would go live over the past few days and what level it would be set at, but a quick check shows that it is currently available to order via their website for those in Virgin’s Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC / DOCSIS 3.1) areas. But the price is currently different for those covered by nexfibre’s FTTP network, where it’s £26.99.

Otherwise, all of the provider’s plans include a wireless router and free setup, although the 1Gbps package mentioned above also bundles a 3-month free trial of Advanced Security, powered by F-Secure. We believe the new pricing will run until the end of this month.

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Another day, another launch of a new eSIM focused virtual mobile provider. The latest to join the rapidly growing club is called Simp Mobile, which has spent the last few months in testing with a limited base of users and is now launching publicly. The operator proclaims itself as being “aimed squarely at a younger audience“.

“Going eSIM-only lets us run a fully digital, app-first operation – no physical SIM logistics, no retail, no call centres. Everything (activation, number port, roaming, rewards) happens in the app, and because we’re software-led we ship updates and new features regularly, with a lot more in the pipeline,” said a spokesperson for the operator to ISPreview. But we’re not sure how much of a positive selling point being app-based and having “no call centres” is going to be for potential customers.

Otherwise, the operator features just two primary mobile plans, both of which include “unlimited” data (mobile broadband), calls, texts (fair usage policy of 750GB applies to UK data) and apply a regular monthly rolling contract. Customers can also save money by paying their subscription three months in advance and the service uses the VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) network.

The service also supports mobile roaming across 130+ countries worldwide. Outside of Europe you get a 5G data allowance [3GB Standard / 5GB Premium], which then claims to offer “unlimited data” at 4G, although the small print seems to interpret “unlimited” data on roaming in an.. unusual way: “Global roaming runs at 5G speed up to your plan’s allowance, then continues unlimited at 4G speeds in the supported countries listed in our terms (up to 10GB of usage).”

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Six years ago the UK’s major mobile operators began to deploy a service called ‘Number Verify’ (here), which made it both easier and more secure to authenticate a user’s identity for online transactions. Vodafone has now announced that the UK, Germany and the Netherlands will be the first countries to get v2.0 of the phone number authentication API.

Most consumers are probably already aware of the common Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) process, which works to verify users with a login/password (or other method) by sending a one-time passcode (OTP) to the consumer’s mobile phone. The customer then inputs that code into an app or website and are then able to complete the login.

However, SMS OTP only confirms that someone entered a code sent to a mobile number. It does not prove that the real subscriber is present or that the authentication journey has not been compromised, which is something fraudsters often try to manipulate.

The original Number Verify service simplified that process by verifying customers through matching phone numbers used in a website or app session, which ensured the details being provided are the same registered on the customer’s account (this method was also PSD2 SCA – Strong Customer Authentication – compliant). But this still wasn’t perfect and over time fraudsters are adapting.

By comparison, Number Verify 2.0 improves that process and can now work over Wi-Fi as well as mobile data, including while roaming (v1 only worked with mobile data). Various other improvements have also been made, such as via OS-level integration and cryptographic SIM tokens (TS.43) – the latter are temporary, tamper-proof network tokens. The CAMARA API (Application Programming Interface) is now also much more standardised.

The new version thus gives businesses a “simpler, more secure and seamless way to verify a user’s mobile phone number without SMS one-time passcodes“. It uses the mobile network to verify that a user’s phone number is associated with their SIM and device across both app and web journeys, whether the user is on mobile data or Wi-Fi.

Johanna Wood, Director of Network APIs at Vodafone, said:

“SMS OTP has been the default for over a decade, but it was never built for the threat environment we operate in today. Number Verify 2.0 changes that by giving developers a way to verify phone numbers that is faster, safer and seamless for the user.

Launching Number Verify 2.0 simultaneously in three countries marks the start of our global rollout for enterprise customers.”

The mobile number remains one of the most widely used identifiers for registration, login, account recovery and transaction confirmation, yet Vodafone notes that the industry’s default verification method has “not kept pace with modern fraud threats or user expectations“. The new version is an attempt to address those shortcomings.

Number Verify 2.0 is also said to offer enterprises, such as banks, retailers and social media platforms, multiple benefits, including:

Higher conversion rates: removing manual mobile number entry, SMS wait times and code typing from onboarding, login and account recovery flows.

More secure by design: eliminating human-readable OTPs that can be phished, intercepted or socially engineered.

Keeps costs down: reducing unnecessary SMS spending, failed OTP attempts and exposure to artificial traffic.

The upgrade is already said to be “now available” in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, albeit initially only on Android based devices (Smartphones, tablets etc.). But this is a system that is designed to ensure interoperability across other mobile operators and markets, so Vodafone won’t be the only one to deploy it.