The Government’s Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) has today announced that they’ve classed data centres – the buildings which store much of the networking and data generated in the UK – as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). The move affords such sites greater protections, much like energy supply, water supply, transportation, health and telecoms (e.g. broadband and mobile).

Sites or networks designated as CNI are those facilities, systems, sites, information, people, networks and processes, necessary for a country to function and upon which daily life depends. It also includes some functions, sites and organisations which are not critical to the maintenance of essential services, but which need protection due to the potential danger to the public (e.g. civil nuclear and chemical sites).

However, despite the fact that data centres help a lot of critical broadband and mobile networks to function (i.e. most of your internet data will be passing through them), they have thus far not been considered part of CNI. But putting data centres on an equal footing will mean the sector can now expect “greater Government support in recovering from and anticipating critical incidents, giving the industry greater reassurance“.

The CNI designation will, for example, see the setting up of a dedicated CNI data infrastructure team of senior Government officials who will monitor and anticipate potential threats, provide prioritised access to security agencies, including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and coordinate access to emergency services should an incident occur.

The government also claims that CNI status will “deter cyber criminals from targeting data centres that may house vital health and financial data, minimising disruption to people’s lives, the NHS and the economy“, which seems to venture more into the territory of wishful thinking. Granted, having extra legal protection and support is a positive, but that’s never stopped cyber criminals before, particularly state sponsored actors.

“In the event of an attack on a data centre hosting critical NHS patients’ data, for example, the Government would intervene to ensure contingencies are in place to mitigate the risk of damage or to essential services, including on patients’ appointments or operations,” said the announcement. But whether that sort of action is actually a help or a hindrance to recovery is another matter.

Peter Kyle MP, Technology Secretary, said:

“Data centres are the engines of modern life, they power the digital economy and keep our most personal information safe.

Bringing data centres into the Critical National Infrastructure regime will allow better coordination and cooperation with the Government against cyber criminals and unexpected events.

The huge £3.75bn private investment announced today in Hertfordshire is a vote of confidence in those plans and a clear example of my determination to ensure technological advancements are helping to grow our economy and create wealth across the country.”

Bruce Owen, UK Managing Director of Data Centre Provider Equinix, said:

“We welcome today’s announcement by the government which recognises the critical nature of data centres and digital infrastructure to the economy and society.

The internet, and the digital infrastructure that underpins it, has rapidly grown to be as fundamental to each one of our daily lives as water, gas, and electricity, and is now a service that people and the UK economy can no longer live without.

Equinix is happy to have played an important role in the consultation process to bring about today’s critical national infrastructure status, which we believe will help safeguard the industry by ensuring the stability and growth of the UK and global economy and lay the groundwork for the UK’s bright digital future.”

The Government claims this move will provide greater reassurance that the UK is a safe place to invest in data centres, although we don’t think that’s ever been a particular obstacle before. The country is chocked full of data centres, and indeed we’re already home to the highest number of data centres in Western Europe.

On the other hand, this news comes at the same time as a proposed £3.75bn investment in Europe’s largest data centre, as plans are submitted to Hertsmere Borough Council for construction in Hertfordshire by data company DC01UK, which will directly create over 700 local jobs and support 13,740 data and tech jobs across the country.

Lest we forget that the new Government recently proposed to introduce the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (CSRB), which aims to strengthen the country’s cyber defences by mandating that providers of essential infrastructure protect their supply chains from attacks. But this comes only a short while after the previous government introduced a raft of new telecoms and network security laws, which operators are still adapting to.

Too many new rules, in a relative short space of time, risks putting a huge financial and resource strain on some network operators. Not to mention that some of the added government bureaucracy doesn’t always make for the most efficient of processes.

After over 17 months of delays, Ofcom’s new One Touch Switching (OTS) process for fixed line phone and broadband ISPs, which makes it quicker and easier for consumers to switch between providers on physically separate networks (e.g. Openreach to CityFibre or Virgin Media etc.), is today finally going LIVE. But don’t be surprised if your switch doesn’t use it, yet.

Migrating between UK ISPs on Openreach’s (BT) network is currently a fairly easy and largely automated Gaining Provider Led (GPL) process (i.e. just contact your new ISP, and they’ll do the rest). But it’s a different story if you need to change between internet service providers on physically separate networks, which have become increasingly common (Summary of UK Full Fibre Builds).

Customers who want to switch between such separate networks often have to take the manual cancellation route (i.e. order the new service and then contact your old ISP to cancel), which can result in longer periods of downtime (perfect coordination is difficult) and greater uncertainty for consumers. Some people may also end up paying for two services at once for a brief period, even if only one is usable.

In response Ofcom ended up developing the new One Touch Switch (OTS) process, which was originally due to be introduced from 3rd April 2023 before it was hit by a long string of delays (here, here, here, here and here). But we’re pleased to say that our focus today isn’t on the regulatory and industry failings, which were the cause of all those woes. Instead, we can finally focus on OTS itself and what it means for consumers.

How Does One Touch Switch (OTS) Work?

The new process works in a roughly similar way to the previous GPL process, but it now includes other networks, is being centrally managed by the industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) and should be faster. For example, Ofcom states that any “loss of service” that might occur during a switch must NOT be allowed to exceed 1 working day (“if technically possible“) and providers will be expected to compensate customers if things go wrong.

The OTS process starts when a customer contacts their chosen (new / gaining) ISP to begin a switch, such as by requesting one of their broadband services (i.e. there is no need to contact your existing ISP). After that both providers will automatically send you important information about the process (e.g. cancellation charges, new package details etc.) and inform you of the final switching date.

The losing provider will be required to continue to supply the end-user on the same terms, until the new service is activated by the gaining provider, and to automatically terminate the end-user’s contract(s) upon conclusion of the switching process. The losing ISP will also be required to reactivate the phone number and all related services where a switching process fails, and until the port is successful.

In terms of phone number porting, Ofcom previously said they will be making some “limited” changes, which includes giving customers the “right to port their number for one month after they have terminated their contract and a prohibition on charging customers to port their number.” At present, it can still be quite difficult to get your number back if it’s lost during a switch, so this will help to tackle that.

However, the OTS process does not currently specify porting arrangements, although the regulator has previously said they do expect “further development in relation to number porting” and that “there may be a need for the Hub to include a communications channel” to help facilitate all of this. In any case, providers will need to comply with all of these new rules.

Finally, Ofcom has also banned notice period charges beyond the switch date for residential customers, which should hopefully prevent situations where a customer ends up having to pay for two services at the same time. A detailed summary of how all of this will work can be found below.

Detailed Summary – One Touch Switching

Step 1: Customer Contacts the gaining provider and provides details

➤ The customer contacts their chosen gaining provider (in store, online or by phone) and requests to switch their services.

➤ The customer shares their:
– name;
– address and postcode;
– contact details;
– losing provider’s name; and
– the services they want to switch.

➤ The customer chooses the new services, confirms if they want to keep their phone number and agrees a switch date (this can be as soon as the next day, but can take longer). The gaining provider confirms whether any engineer visits are necessary.

➤ The gaining provider identifies the correct customer and services to switch.36 If this is unsuccessful (i.e. there is no match against the losing provider’s records), the gaining provider asks the customer for more details (e.g. account number, phone number or serial number on their equipment).

Step 2: Losing provider automatically gives customer switching information and customer gives the gaining provider their consent to the switch

➤ The losing provider automatically gives the customer switching information (e.g. early termination charges, impact on other services) without the need for the customer to request it. The
information is provided by the method and to the contact details the customer chooses e.g. as part of the gaining provider’s online order process (downloadable afterwards), email, text or letter.

➤ The gaining provider gives the customer information about their new contract.

➤ After having the opportunity to consider the information, if the customer is happy to proceed, they give the gaining provider their consent to switch (who retains a record of consent). This can happen in real time during their phone or online conversation.

➤ The gaining provider confirms the start date and the services being provided.

Step 3: Customer’s new services begin on agreed date

➤ On the agreed date the new services will start and the old services will end. If requested, the customer’s phone number is transferred.

➤ The customer does not have to pay any notice period charges beyond the switch date.

The new system marks a significant change, particularly for the new generation of alternative network providers. Many of them won’t have had to deal with too many complicated consumer regulatory measures before, and it will probably take even more time before every ISP is fully up to speed on its implementation.

In terms of cost, Ofcom originally said the impact of this new system across the retail telephone and broadband market, in aggregate, would be equivalent to £0.03 per month per customer or less, which they said is “very small when compared to the typical bill for landline and broadband services of a UK household (c.£41 per month).” But that was back in 2021 and the figure today may well be higher.

Potential Caveats

Sadly, the new process is only a requirement for residential customers, which Ofcom states is because “business and residential customers can sometimes have different needs when switching and that there is diversity among business which means it may not be appropriate to specify certain rules that would apply to all business customers in the same way as to residential customers.” But businesses are still required to follow most of the same rules (i.e. Ofcom simply have not specified what the process should be for business ISPs) and so, in practice, many of those services will end up using OTS too.

On top of that, there are concerns (example) that the new process may not provide enough protection against SLAMMING (i.e. when your broadband and phone service is switched without your consent), which was a minor issue with the old GPL system too. Despite this, Ofcom has previously claimed that the “customer should … have enough time to take action and stop [a wrongful] switch” via OTS.

However, under the old system, it tended to take around a week or more to migrate between providers on the same Openreach based network, which allowed time for both providers to issue notices to customers and also afforded customers the ability to request that the switch be stopped. But that’s much harder to achieve via a rapid one-day switching process and, under OTS, a customer can no longer request that the switch be stopped.

Ofcom claims that the new OTS approach is designed to “safeguard against slamming“. Such safeguards include the requirement for the gaining ISP to take all reasonable steps to ensure that it does not switch customers without their consent, and in particular, that it does not engage in slamming, and that any customer who is requesting a switch is authorised to do so.

In addition, in OTS, the losing provider will be required to inform the customer of the identity of the gaining provider, which the regulator claims “should act as an additional safeguard against slamming.” But plenty of ISPs we’ve spoken to remain concerned that OTS could still make SLAMMING harder, not easier, to tackle and prevent. Time will tell.

Separately, Ofcom will also improve the information that providers must give to customers who are considering switching their mobile service. Your existing operator will now need to tell you about the impact of the switch on other services you have with the operator (e.g. any bundled services or specific services for disabled customers), which should help consumers to better understand the implications of switching.

A Bumpy Launch

However, the feedback from ISPs suggests that TOTSCo’s messaging platform for OTS is still a bit on the buggy side and needs more testing, which means that teething issues are expected during the early launch phase. Quite how much of an impact this will have remains unclear and experiences may vary between ISPs, but if you were planning to switch this month then Ofcom’s previous announcement may give some pause (here).

According to the aforementioned announcement, the testing of TOTSCo’s messaging platform still needs a bit more time to “ensure the matching process achieves a sufficiently high success rate to effectively support all customer switching journeys“.

In response, Ofcom has ordered ISPs to retain the old migration process for an additional six weeks: “This would enable customers to be switched using the [existing process] as a back-up option, and only in those circumstances where communications providers, having started the switching process via OTS, find that it is not possible to technically proceed.”

Suffice to say, consumers (i.e. those trying to switch) and ISPs may find the next few weeks to be a bit of a mess tedious. Prior to publishing this article ISPreview also asked a cross-section of ISPs about their thoughts on OTS / TOTSCo and their own readiness to support it, here’s what they said:

Ryan Battle, Managing Director of YouFibre, said:

“YouFibre has been at the forefront of testing the TOTSCo system, collaborating with various ISPs for weeks. We’re fully prepared for the launch and anticipate that the broader industry will meet the deadline.

The One Touch Switch system represents a significant leap forward for our sector, promising to streamline the customer switching process unprecedentedly. This aligns perfectly with our commitment to customer-centric innovation and service excellence. Our readiness for this transition is underpinned by our commitment to customer satisfaction, reflected in our excellent Trustpilot score. With a strong base of 122,000 satisfied customers, we’re excited to leverage this new system to further expand our reach and deliver our superior service to more UK households.

While we recognize the challenges that led to previous delays, we believe the TOTSCo system is now poised for a successful launch. We’re prepared to embrace this change, seeing it as a catalyst for enhanced consumer choice and market dynamism in the UK broadband landscape.”

Adrian Kennard, MD of A&A (AAISP), said:

“Andrews & Arnold Ltd have been ready for months, and we are extremely confident that we are fully ready. We have been using One Touch Switching live with over a dozen other large CPs for over a week now and *our* systems are working correctly.

I am not allowed to comment on individual CPs on the ramp up, but I am seeing lots of errors of various levels of severity. Even so, I am reasonably confident that at least the major issues will be fixed by these CPs by the launch date. All the CPs involved are working hard on this, but some have very complex and time consuming processes for even small changes, which is understandable.

We then expect lots of CPs to join on the 12th Sep. We don’t even really know how many, it could be hundreds! I have voiced my concerns with the totally inadequate testing systems in place. I even created a free test platform, and over 50 CPs are signed up on it, because TOTSCO have nothing like it. www.notsco.co.uk

How bad it will be on the 12th is something none of use can really know, but I am not hopeful that more than the few large CPs will actually be working correctly. That said, I do know of a lot of small CPs that are doing things right, as I can see from the test platform, so it may be that many work as well, if not better than, the major CPs.

I am also very concerned over slamming, and the removal of the 14 day cooling off period. Really, only time will tell.”

Ben McKee, Systems Programmer for Freeola, said:

“We’re using a MAP provider who have been involved with the development of the hub from an early stage so we’re confident things should work properly … we will be ready for launch day.”

A Vodafone spokesperson said:

“Vodafone is ready for One Touch Switching (OTS) launch day and intends to send all its switching traffic through TOTSCo’s OTS Hub from 12 September 2024. Evidence from our own testing and within the industry suggests that the OTS Hub is functioning as required, delivering the capability to exchange messages between gaining and losing Communication Providers.”

A Spokesperson for Hyperoptic said:

“As a consumer champion, Hyperoptic has been fully supportive of One Touch Switch (OTS) because we believe it offers a significantly improved switching experience. The success of OTS, in ensuring a seamless experience for consumers, requires all ISPs to be diligent in running as many switching scenarios as possible – however, this sentiment isn’t necessarily shared across the board.

The success of any systems-led project is determined by the level of testing across the industry, and the management of issues reported. Robust testing is crucial, and it is clearly apparent from the low number of switches carried out to date (and the number of issues being reported) that there is a varying level of commitment to testing. It is no surprise that larger providers are keen to hold on to their customers, so may be more reluctant to test with other providers.

We know the importance of hyper simple switching, so we have been working hard to ensure that we are ready to launch; we recently completed a switch in less than 30 minutes, so are confident in the success that OTS will achieve. Hyperoptic is fully prepared and ready to support and work with TOTSCo’s new switching system on launch day. We have taken the necessary steps to be prepared and look forward to delivering a seamless experience for our customers.”

Sarah Howells, Managing Director at Cuckoo, said:

“We really hope Ofcom’s backstop measure to One Touch Switching isn’t used by some in the industry to delay full implementation. At Cuckoo, we are ready to go. There were always going to be potential issues – for the customer’s sake, let’s get on with it.

Broadband should be fast, fair, and feel-good, and changing providers should be as simple as flipping a switch. From customer service to contracts to confusing delay clauses on One Touch Switching, customers continue to be kept in the dark while the industry fumbles around.

Delays shatter trust, and with the latest setbacks, we risk annoying already disillusioned customers further. Customers deserve a hassle-free way to switch broadband providers.

We’re ready for One Touch Switch – it’s time for the industry to start putting the customer first.”

Sadly, neither TalkTalk, Sky Broadband nor EE (inc. BT, Plusnet) were able to provide a public comment. But Sky did express broad optimism and expected to be ready, while EE echoed an almost identical sentiment.

By comparison, TalkTalk spoke of the unprecedented technical complexity of the new system and confirmed they’re fully participating in the trials, but they otherwise appear to be working toward delivering OTS as quick as possible for consumers (i.e. we’re unsure whether they’re fully ready and live today).

SCCI Alphatrack (SCCI Group), which is a specialist in the design, supply, installation and maintenance of Fibre, Media and Fire Life safety systems, has today announced that they’ve secured a wayleave agreement with housing and care provider Sanctuary to deploy their neutral, shared full-fibre network across large residential buildings (MDUs) – serving “thousands of residents“.

Sanctuary, which is a trading name of the Sanctuary Housing Association (SHA), is a not-for-profit housing association that owns and manages around 125,000 units of accommodation (c.250,000 people) across England and Scotland. Many of those can be found inside “tricky“ Multi-Dwelling Units (MDU), which often present challenges for broadband operators looking to roll out FTTP networks.

The new agreement (approved by their Building Safety Team) will thus see many of Sanctuary’s MDUs deploying SCCI’s 4Fibre solution, which will build a neutral, shared full-fibre network that can support multiple providers over a single installation.

Marie Bush, Wayleave Manager, SCCIA, said:

“This partnership with Sanctuary goes beyond providing infrastructure, it’s about improving lives by connecting residents with the digital world and creating opportunities for the community to come together. We are delighted to bring not only full fibre but also meaningful social initiatives to enhance the lives of residents.”

Mia Edwards, Senior FTTP Project Manager, Sanctuary, said:

“This partnership will improve the fibre connectivity of our high-rise buildings and help keep our customers safe.”

The new agreement is a big deal for SCCI, although it’s currently unclear which broadband ISPs / network operators are likely to hop on board with the new approach. The 4Fibre approach typically creates a very simple network that allows up to four ISPs to connect over a single infrastructure and protects the fabric of the building at the same time.

Each ISP owns a separate part of the network and has their own cabinet and fibre line. Installing the network once not only reduces duplication across the whole supply chain, but also disruption for the landlord and residents. To make the ISPs life even easier they can connect blocks together in clusters, further reducing the amount of PIA required and making it more cost-effective for ISPs to buy into the network.

The approach works best in large MDUs that require internal wiring, listed buildings or sites with challenging installations. Crucially, there are no ongoing costs (unlike some past approaches by other companies), and the ISPs take the responsibility for maintaining their part of the network.

Not content with becoming the first broadband ISP and network builder to deploy Nokia’s 25G PON technology commercially in the UK in 2023 (here), Ogi has now revealed that they’re planning to be “one of the first trialists” to harness the company’s 50G PON technology in 2025 too.

Just to recap. The network operator has so far covered a total of 100,000 premises RFS (4th Jan 2024) with their full fibre (FTTP) broadband network – most of them residential – in Wales up to the end of 2023. In addition, they’re home to over 20,000 customers (13th May 2024), which is up from 10,000 on 4th Jan 2024.

Until recently Ogi’s infrastructure had been deployed using dual optic combination line cards, which enabled them to support both XGS-PON and GPON (common full fibre standards) simultaneously on any port of the Optical Line Terminal (OLT), which also enables them to be fairly flexible when it comes to future upgrades.

This was followed, at the end of 2022, by the provider’s move to deploy Nokia’s 25G Passive Optical Network (25G PON) fibre technology onto its network, albeit initially aimed squarely at business customers (e.g. those around parts of Cardiff and other areas). This can happily co-exist with GPON and XGS-PON on the same infrastructure (it requires no changes to the outside plant). But it looks like they’re about to go beyond even this.

Justin Leese, Ogi’s Chief Technology and Operations Officer, said:

“After our successful launch of 25GPON on the Ogi network last year, looking forward to being one of the first trialists on 50G PON next year – with Nokia for service providers announcing their product today at Connected Britain. Bringing world leading connectivity to Wales once again.”

We should point out that Ogi won’t be the only FTTP network operator to adopt 50G PON technology. The CEO of Netomnia (YouFibre, Brsk), Jeremy Chelot, revealed at the start of 2024 (here) that they were also planning to deploy the solution, albeit via ADTRAN’s technologies rather than Nokia. Such moves tend to be all about future proofing and efficient network delivery, although they can also lead to some shockingly fast broadband packages (e.g. YouFibre already offers a 7-8Gbps service).

The usual catch in all this is the difficulty of actually being able to harness all that speed when online. Most internet services still seem to struggle to harness more than 1000Mbps, assuming they can do even that, while the multi-gigabit domain remains more of a luxury (Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn’t Always Deliver 1Gbps). But technological evolution rarely waits for the slowest users.

The latest independent data on national broadband coverage has revealed that 70% of premises across the United Kingdom have now been put within reach of a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which is up strongly from 60.54% at the end of last year and 67.68% in July 2024 (these premises are all classed as ‘Ready for Service’).

The development, which is based on data from Thinkbroadband, shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise because network operators, such as Openreach (BT), Virgin Media (inc. Nexfibre), CityFibre, Netomnia, Hyperoptic, Gigaclear and many more (Summary of UK Full Fibre Builds), have been rolling out fibre optic lines at a fair rate of knots over the past few years.

The majority of this progress has so far stemmed from commercial builds, although the UK Government’s state aid funded £5bn Project Gigabit programme is now starting to play a larger role via a growing number of build contracts. All of those deals are focused upon covering the final 10-20% of hardest to reach premises (i.e. aiming to extend gigabit coverage to at least 85% of UK premises by 2025 and then around 99% “nationwide” by 2030).

Looking forward, Ofcom recently predicted (here) that full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP lines are currently on course to cover 95-96% of all UK properties by May 2027 (29 million premises), which rises to around 97-98% for “gigabit-capable” networks (FTTP and HFC / Cable).

Naturally, none of this will mean anything to those of you who still live in poorly served areas (often rural locations and some patches in urban areas), where the wait for something better to arrive continues to be a slow and painful one. But the fact is that we’re continuing to see both rapid and dramatic progress in the roll-out, which is making for an ever-smaller gap left to fill.

The UK telecoms regulator has published their annual 2024 monitoring report into Openreach’s independence from BT, which found only a few minor breaches and noted that they’d seen “evidence of efforts by BT Group to renew and refresh its engagement with the framework” since the appointment of new Group CEO, Allison Kirkby.

Just to recap. The annual report process was established some years ago as part of Ofcom’s effort to monitor Openreach’s progress toward becoming a distinct “legally separate” company away from BT, which in turn stemmed from the original 2016 Strategic Review of Digital Communications (full summary).

The 2016 review concluded that Openreach previously had an “incentive to make decisions in the interests of BT, rather than BT’s competitors, which can lead to competition problems” and that BT had failed to “sufficiently” consult rival ISPs, such as those that piggyback off their network, on future “investment plans that affect them.” They were also deemed to have under-invested in their network.

In order to resolve that, BT and Ofcom reached a voluntary agreement in 2017 (here), which sought to boost competition by giving rivals easier access to the operator’s infrastructure and fostering an independent governance structure for Openreach, as well as tougher minimum service quality standards (see today’s news), separate branding, new consumer protection measures and better information sharing etc.

Since then much has changed and the operator is now rolling out FTTP broadband to an additional 1 million premises per quarter, while enabling rivals to harness their cable ducts and poles with much greater ease. As a result, Ofcom’s annual monitoring report is usually fairly uneventful, and that’s true this time around too.

Ofcom Report Statement

While there have been some reported breaches of compliance with the Commitments, we have not seen evidence to warrant opening any new formal investigations in this reporting period. In March of this year, we made a breach finding following our investigation into Openreach’s failure to meet three of the quality-of-service obligations in the leased lines access and wholesale local access markets during 2022/23 – this is covered in further detail later in this report. We will continue to meet with stakeholders regularly and are prepared to take enforcement action to hold BT and Openreach to account when necessary.

We continue to see evidence that the Commitments are working as intended and that they are well-established and well-embedded across BT and Openreach. We meet regularly with both BT and Openreach and understand how the Commitments are working in practice. We have welcomed the positive reports and evidence from BT and Openreach that the Commitments are rooted in the culture of both organisations.

We have this year seen evidence of efforts by BT Group to renew and refresh its engagement with the Commitments. This follows the appointment of a new CEO, Allison Kirkby, who served as a non-executive director of BT since 2019, including on the sub-committee charged with monitoring BT’s compliance with the Commitments.

Ofcom also noted that, during the last financial year, two minor breaches were reported to them by the CMO, both relating to inappropriate sharing of Openreach Customer Confidential Information (CCI) and these were categorised as “trivial breaches“.

However, the CAO did also report one “serious breach“, which related to the identification by BT’s Communications Regulation Compliance (CRC) assurance review of hydra cables. The report says these had been incorrectly ordered and installed in an Exchange in 2022, where the Openreach Cablelink product should have been used. But the “impact of the breach was minimal on CPs” (comms providers) and “we welcomed the measures taken by BT to deliver and refresh training for the Cablelink team“.

“Our assessment is that none of these incidents involved an intent to breach the Commitments nor were any CPs advantaged or disadvantaged, and in addition, our view is that each was thoroughly and robustly investigated by the BT and Openreach compliance functions. We therefore did not take any additional action,” said Ofcom

As usual, Ofcom concluded by stating that they “will continue to be vigilant to ensure there is no complacency and that BT and Openreach are operating not just to the letter of the Commitments, but in the spirit in which they are intended.”

Alternative network operator and ISP Kloud9, which has built a number of full fibre (FTTP) broadband networks for specific urban and rural communities (example), have signed a new partnership with Aprecomm that it hopes will “build better-connected experiences for its subscribers, increase customer satisfaction and reduce support costs.”

The Cheshire-based ISP plans to achieve this by deploying Aprecomm’s suite of AI-powered customer experience applications to enhance connectivity offerings for broadband customers, such as though the adoption of things like a “self-optimizing and self-healing approach to WiFi” and cloud-based support applications that leverage real-time data to “predict and resolve customer service issues before they happen“.

Aprecomm claims that this approach, when used on other ISPs, has shown increased subscriber satisfaction and reduce operational costs, such as a 62% reduction in truck rolls, a 35% improvement in first-call resolutions and a 30% reduction in call resolution times. This data is said to have been sampled from a broadband ISP who monitored 400,000 subscribers over 12 months ending August 2022.

Tom Henaghen, Operations Director of Kloud9, said:

“We needed to select a partner who shares the same passion for customer experience which is the cornerstone of our offering and a key market differentiator. We now have the cloud-based tools needed to rapidly deploy, upgrade and optimize our services, while access to real-time network and application performance data will enable us to streamline our support approach, creating better experiences for subscribers and generating cost-efficiencies within our business.”

Aprecomm is showcasing its platform on stand #167 at Connected Britain in London on the 11th and 12th of September 2024.

Alternative broadband operator Spring Fibre, which has been in the early stages of rolling out a new 10Gbps capable wholesale full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network since 2021 – starting in Lincolnshire (here), are on the hunt for new funding after their principal investor said they “will not continue to fund its network construction plan“.

The operator, which was initially backed by Kingsley Capital Partners and telecoms specialist Graphite Strategy, is known to have originally secured an investment of “up to” £155m from R&M’s (River and Mercantile) infrastructure business to support their aspiration of covering 1 million premises in England (here).

However, despite the fact that Spring Fibre first cropped up several years ago, we still know very little today about their current progress, ISP availability or future roll-out plans (not for lack of asking) – except that they originally appear to have started building in Lincoln city, as well as the small towns of Mablethorpe and Louth, earlier in 2023 (here). But we’ve yet to see any retail broadband packages going live.

The company’s most recently published accounts, which run to 31st December 2023, have at least revealed that their focus on build has delivered a net deficit on their balance sheet of £13.69m (vs £2.734m in 2022), which is to be expected from an altnet that is in the early phase of their roll-out. But more worrying is the loss, at such a critical stage, of support from their principal investor.

Statement from Spring Fibre’s Accounts

At the time of approving the financial statements, the directors have received a notification from the principal investor in the company that they will not continue to fund its network construction plan and meet its continued operational expenditure.

According to the update, Spring Fibre’s Directors are now hunting for a “new investor” in order “to be able to finish the construction phase and fund its short term debt as it falls due“. The operator claims to be confident in finding such an investor, although this is certainly not the most ideal timing to go on such a hunt.

All of this is occurring during a period where many fibre builders (altnets) are under pressure from issues related to rising build costs, high interest rates (i.e. making harder to secure fresh investment / pay debts) and the difficulties of growing consumer take-up in such a competitive market. We have asked Spring Fibre to comment and hope to report back shortly.

Network operator nexfibre, which shares some of their parentage with retail ISP partner Virgin Media (VMO2) and has so far extended their FTTP broadband network to over 1.3 million premises, has today announced a new partnership with charity, UK Youth, to connect “as many as 1,000 youth centres across the UK” to its new network “free of charge“.

The deal, which is being supported by Virgin Media (O2), will provide each centre with broadband speeds of up to 2Gbps for “the next two years“. The goal being to provide young people with the connectivity they need to boost their life chances. Not to mention that more than half a million young people in the UK do not have access to essential learning devices and reliable internet connections at home.

According to the blurb, for every pound that the taxpayer invests in youth work, the return on investment is said to be between £3 to £6 (here). Investment in youth work is “proven to reduce unemployment, increase educational attainment and push down crime“, building a more skilled and inclusive workforce.

Rajiv Datta, CEO of nexfibre, said:

“We deeply care about delivering high quality broadband to everyone across the country, especially those in left behind communities and from disadvantaged backgrounds. Full fibre broadband is a crucial driver of economic growth, enabling better access to education, jobs, and opportunities that can transform lives and uplift entire communities.

This is why we have partnered with UK Youth, and collaborated with Virgin Media O2, to bring this essential digital infrastructure to centres nationwide. By investing in the digital future of these communities and the next generation, we are not just closing the digital divide – we are fuelling the economic growth that will power the UK’s future.”

Just for some context. Back in 2022 Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners setup nexfibre as a new £4.5bn joint venture (here), which aims to deploy an open access full fibre network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT served by Virgin Media’s own network of 16m+ premises. The funding reflects £3.3bn of fully underwritten financing and up to £1.4bn in equity commitments.

Rural broadband ISP Wessex Internet has just started the construction phase of their £18.8m state-aid supported Project Gigabit ‘Lot 30’ contract in South Wiltshire (England), which will see the provider extending their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover “around” 14,500 hard-to-reach homes and businesses in the area.

The rollout will see the provider expanding its existing full fibre network in the Wylye Valley, going across the Salisbury Plain, connecting villages surrounding Amesbury, and going as far north as Chisbury and Little Bedwyn. The first communities to be connected will be Stapleford, Wylye and Bapton. So far this all appears to be going to schedule, which means the first properties could be connected by around the end of 2024.

The contract was awarded by the government in March 2024 and is due to be delivered over the next 5-years (by around 2029). The infrastructure work that started this week follows six months of detailed planning to design the network route, liaison with landowners and communities in the areas that will be connected, and the opening of a new construction base in Codford, where civils operatives delivering the project are based.

Prices for their full fibre packages start at £29 per month for a 100Mbps (15Mbps upload) tier on a 12-month term, but this only comes with a meagre 100GB data allowance (£44 for unlimited), and you’ll have to pay £49 (one-off) for activation. By comparison, their top unlimited usage plan will give 900Mbps (450Mbps upload) for £79 per month, which isn’t cheap but then they’re often the only FTTP choice in a lot of their locations (rural areas cost a lot more to serve too).

Hector Gibson Fleming, CEO of Wessex Internet, said:

“Wessex Internet is determined to continue our mission delivering ultrafast broadband to rural communities that would otherwise be left behind by traditional providers. Supported by the government’s Project Gigabit, we continue this work at pace, and it’s exciting to see milestones being reached in both our first and one of our newest contract areas.

We will continue working closely with the residents and businesses across these two contract areas, involving them in our planning process and informing them as soon as our future-proofed broadband is available in their communities.”

Sir Chris Bryant, Minister of State for Telecoms, said:

“Connectivity is a vital part of modern life, for individuals, families, communities, businesses and government. I’m delighted that months of hard work are now paying dividends in South Wiltshire where villages that were once cut off will soon be able to access state of the art broadband.”

The provider also issued an update on their first £6m Project Gigabit contract in North Dorset (Lot 14.01), which aims to reach 7,100 premises in rural parts of the area by around 2025 (here). The good news is that their North Dorset build has now reached 50% completion and is expected to finish “within the next two years“. Some of the most recent villages to be connected include Kington Magna, Buckland Newton and Holwell.