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Rochdale-based broadband ISP Zen Internet has today followed their recent acquisition of Fibrehop‘s customer base (here) by announcing that they’ve also agreed to acquire Lit Fibre’s customers. This follows a decision by Lit’s Board to exit the UK internet access market, after previously selling the full fibre network they built to CityFibre.

In case anybody has forgotten. Lit Fibre used to be a vertically integrated alternative broadband network and retail ISP, but that changed last year after CityFibre agreed to acquire their full fibre network of over 200,000 premises in England – estimated to be valued at around £80m (here).

Following the above sale, Lit Fibre ended up becoming more of a retail-only ISP and retained control over their customer base (CityFibre is a wholesale-only network and so doesn’t do retail), but the provider appears to have struggled to make this work and hence today’s deal with Zen Internet. The exact number of customers involved remains unclear, although the base is unlikely to be terribly big.

According to the announcement, customers are told that the transition should bring the “reassurance of a larger, long-established provider while keeping their current package unchanged“. Customers will also retain the same monthly price, contract length, terms and conditions, and Lit Fibre’s commitment to no in-contract price increases.

Richard Tang, CEO, Zen Internet, said:

“Lit Fibre customers have chosen a provider that puts service and fairness first, and that’s exactly what Zen stands for. We’re delighted to welcome them to Zen, and we’re committed to preserving their existing terms and delivering a great service, in line with our purpose to ‘do right for people and planet’.”

Tom Williams, CEO Lit Fibre Limited, said:

“Ensuring customers are able to move to a trusted provider that shares our values was important to us. Zen’s long-standing reputation for customer care and quality makes them the right home for our customers and we are confident that our customers will continue to receive great service and support from Zen.”

The migration is expected to begin in January 2026 and until then customers should contact Lit Fibre for support in the usual way. Customers are told they will “receive more information from Lit Fibre with a clear overview of next steps” in the near future.

UPDATE 1:48pm

Thanks to several of our readers, who are Lit Fibre customers, for sharing a copy of the email they just received about this (personal details redacted).

Copy of Lit Fibre’s Customer Email

Subject: Important notice about your Lit Fibre broadband service

Hello XXXXXXXXXXXX,

As always, we want you to be the first to know about any changes to your Lit Fibre service. 

The Lit Fibre team have decided to step away from the broadband retail market and as a result, we have arranged for your broadband service to be transferred from Lit Fibre to Zen Internet, who will take over billing and customer support for your account. This email is notice of that upcoming change. 

Important things to know about the change: 

• Your price stays the same 
• Your contract length stays the same
• Your service package and terms stay the same 
• Our no in-contract price hikes promise remains in place 
• Your CityFibre fibre connection stays the same (no engineer visit!) 
• There’s no need to change your equipment or WiFi details 

Zen will become your broadband provider, but your underlying CityFibre fibre service will not change. We expect your service to transfer between January and February 2026. We’ll keep you in the loop and confirm your exact transfer date in a follow-up message closer to the time. Zen will also be in touch to welcome you to their network.  

Why Zen? 
We wanted to make sure our customers stay with a provider that keeps everything you love about your Lit service, and Zen is a perfect fit. Zen is recognised for service excellence, quality and fairness, having been named Which? Customer Service Brand of the Year 2024 and the only Which? Recommended Broadband Provider for five consecutive years! Zen has also just won PC Pro’s Best Broadband ISP award again in 2025 — extending a record run of 22 consecutive wins. 

Everything you currently enjoy stays the same – your package, your monthly price, your speed, contract length, and the commitment to no in-contract price increases.  
We think Zen is a perfect fit for our customers, but if you’d prefer not to continue your service with Zen Internet, you can end your agreement without early termination charges before your service transfers. Just call us on 0330 460 4610 within 30 days of this email. You can also find more details in our FAQ’s. 

What happens next? 
 If you’re happy to continue your service with Zen, you don’t need to do anything.  
 We’ll get in touch again before your transfer date to let you know: 

• When your service will move, and 
• What to expect on the day of transfer. 

In the meantime, please continue to contact us as usual if you have any questions or need support.   

A huge thank you for being part of the Lit Fibre journey. We’re proud of what we’ve built together and we’re confident Zen will look after you brilliantly. 
  
Best wishes, 
Tom & Ben  
Co-founders of Lit Fibre 

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London-focused ISP Vorboss and its backers, which have built and operate a 100Gbps speed fibre optic network for businesses in the UK’s capital city, have been told to expect a “rather public legal battle” after the company’s former founder and CEO, Tim Creswick, revealed via Linkedin that he was now “suing the company I created 20 years ago“.

On the surface, the original October 2025 announcement of Tim’s departure was nothing terribly unusual (here), with Vorboss even paying tribute to his “vision, leadership and drive“, while adding that the company was looking forward to continuing to work with their investors to deliver their long-term vision.

Since then we’ve heard different viewpoints on that announcement, but suffice to say that the former founder is clearly far from happy with how his role in the company ended. The exact details of the legal dispute remain unclear, although it won’t stay that way for long if the legal case proceeds to court. We have contacted Vorboss for a comment and await their response.

Tim Creswick said on Linkedin:

“Completing the final step in the founder journey: suing the company I created 20 years ago.

A few weeks ago, I resigned as CEO of Vorboss.

After two decades of late nights, seemingly endless work and huge effort, I wish I could say my departure was amicable.

Whilst this was a decision that weighed very heavily on me, it was nonetheless a very easy one: my reputation and ethical conduct have always been non-negotiables for me, no matter the cost. In the end, we are judged not only by what we do, but by what we tolerate.

I had been hoping that Octopus Investments (who operate Fern Trading, the fund which acquired Vorboss) would put things right, but sadly it appears that we will now begin the rather public legal battle.

I’m certainly not the first founder to be in this position and I won’t be the last.

When you take on investment, you try to find partners who have the same principles. The relationship evolves and interests can diverge over time, but you hope that the shared trust you’ve built paves the way for an orderly exit and transition.

Sadly, this isn’t the case. I regret that this process is likely to cause unnecessary stress for many wonderful people I recruited at Vorboss (and potentially our customers).

I had an incredible 20 years building Vorboss. It’s sad to see many of those principles now being abandoned, but I’m proud of what we built.”

The move comes shortly after another telecoms related company backed by Fern Trading (Octopus Investments), Vitrifi, filed a new notice stating their intention to appoint an administrator (here). Reports have since emerged that some of the employees expected to be made redundant as part of that have been somewhat less than pleased with their treatment (Linkedin example).

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The Northern Irish Department for the Economy (DfE) has today announced that they’ve awarded the £34.6m (public subsidy) Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contract to alternative network ISP Fibrus, which will be tasked with extending their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to reach 9,000 of the hardest to reach rural homes and businesses.

At present Northern Ireland is already home to the strongest levels of gigabit broadband coverage anywhere in the United Kingdom, with 96% of premises having access to such a network (falling to 95% for full fibre) – mostly via Openreach, Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre) and Fibrus. Suffice to say that there’s only a small gap left to fill, but the gap that remains is often in some of the remotest and most challenging locations.

Last year we reported that the Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency and N.I’s Department for the Economy (DfE) had begun the supplier procurement phase of their future Project Gigabit broadband roll-out for Northern Ireland, which aimed to fix this gap. The proposal valued the 10-year contract at between £34.647m (Initial Scope) and up to a maximum of £81m (here).

The good news today is that Fibrus have been awarded the new contract, which comes shortly after they completed the £200m Project Stratum contract to reach an additional 81,000 premises in N.Ireland “on time and within budget” (here). Clearly, that record of delivery on public procurements, at least in N.I, has served them well and made them a viable option for the new contract.

The new £34.6m contract, funded by the UK government, “begins immediately” and will bring gigabit-capable broadband to over 9,000 rural premises across Northern Ireland.

Economy Minister Archibald said:

“High quality internet access is vital for our economy and wider society. It is transformative for many households and businesses, enabling access to digital services, remote learning and work, and economic participation.

At 94% gigabit capable coverage, the north is now the best connected part of these islands. Building on this, Project Gigabit will extend this level of digital capacity to over 9,000 premises, further improving broadband infrastructure in predominantly rural areas.

Digital connectivity is a vital enabler in building an inclusive, regional balanced economy. This investment further positions the north as a leader in the availability of fixed line fibre optic services, underpinning our digital transformation, competitiveness, and innovation.”

Telecoms Minister, Liz Lloyd, said:

“Access to gigabit-capable broadband is so important to modern life, whether that’s running a business, accessing digital public services, or staying connected with loved ones.

That’s why we’re making crucial investments into digital infrastructure across Northern Ireland, to unlock economic opportunities, support Northern Irish communities, and ensure everyone can fully participate in the digital economy from wherever they live.”

Dominic Kearns, CEO and Co Founder of Fibrus, said:

“Delivering for rural communities is at the heart of what we do at Fibrus and this contract allows us to continue to provide more homes and businesses with the opportunities proper connectivity brings.

We have a short history in Fibrus, but one that shows we can deliver on time and within budget like with Project Stratum. We are delighted to have been awarded another contract by the Government who have entrusted us once again with its delivery.”

More details of the deployment plans for this contract are already available at https://www.online.economy-ni.gov.uk/ProjectGigabit/.  This includes a premises checker to enable homeowners and businesses to check if their premises will benefit from the future roll-out, although it would have been nice to have a visual map and some example locations to go alongside the announcement. In addition, it’s unclear how long the deployment phase will take to reach completion.

One other thing to note here is that BDUK has previously forecast that up to around 60,000 premises may still need help to access a gigabit network in Northern Ireland, although we expect that the figure today may be closer to 40k-50k due to wider commercial expansion (here). But this means that the new contract, which only tackles 9,000 premises, will still leave a pretty notable gap left to fill.

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The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today revealed which connected TV platforms will be subject to the Media Act’s (2024) new online availability and prominence regime, which requires them to ensure that BBC iPlayer and any other designated public service broadcaster (PSB) TV players (inc. public service content) are “available, prominent, and easily accessible“.

Ofcom remains of the view that a platform must have at least 700,000 active users if it is to be considered to have a significant number of users and thus become subject to the requirements. “We consider that setting a threshold at this level will ensure that public service content is widely available,” said the regulator’s statement.

The regulator said they did recognise that, for some platforms, multiple versions may be in use. In those cases, they’ve recommended that the designations should apply only to versions available on the market in July 2025, when their consultation was published, as well as any subsequent versions.

The biggest change this time is that Ofcom has added the new broadband-based live TV streaming service Freely to the list, which is already supported by most of the major UK TV broadcasters (BBC, ITV etc.) and is an evolution – not (yet) a replacement – for the existing Freeview service (inc. Freeview Play and Freesat). No surprise there, then.

The following 15 connected TV platforms have been designated
(plus any subsequent versions of these platforms)

➤ Amazon Fire TV OS 6, 7 and 8
➤ Android TV 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14
➤ Apple TV OS 18
➤ Freely
➤ Google TV 10, 11, 12 and 14
➤ LG WebOS 22, 23, 24 and 25
➤ Roku OS 14
➤ Samsung Smart Hub (Tizen) 7, 8 and 9
➤ Sky Entertainment OS (Sky Glass and Sky Stream)
➤ Sky Q
➤ VIDAA OS U6, 7, 8 and 9
➤ Virgin Media Horizon
➤ Virgin Media TiVo on V6 ITE
➤ YouView on EE TV (Sagemcom ITE) and YouView on Sony ITE

Prior to the introduction of the new Media Act, the old regulatory framework for PSBs focussed exclusively on linear television channels. The new regime seeks to build on that by bringing into scope the PSBs’ TV players (IPS), along with the internet connected TV platforms (Television Selection Services or ‘TSS’) on which those IPS are included.

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Banking and money management app provider Revolut, which earlier this year revealed plans to launch a full domestic mobile service for UK consumers with unlimited calls, texts, and 5G data (mobile broadband), has – after a long wait – finally started to deploy the new service to customers for an introductory offer of just £12.50 a month.

The company has previously launched a limited eSIM based mobile service for roaming travellers (here), but the new service goes beyond that and will initially be made available to those who signed up to their waitlist earlier in the year. General access for other customers is then expected to follow in January 2026.

The Revolut Mobile service is powered by Gigs, the operating system for mobile services (Revolut Ltd acts as an agent on its behalf). As above, early adopters will pay a “special early-bird rate” of just £12.50 a month if they sign up before 30th of March 2026, which gets you unlimited 5G data, calls, and texts at home, with a 20GB (GigaBytes) data roaming allowance across Europe and the US.

Breaking news.. more to follow..

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Mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) and technology partner Freshwave have today revealed that they’re working with the Surrey County Council (SCC) in England to expanded their 4G and 5G mobile (mobile broadband) network coverage across Guildford City Centre. This is being achieved via the deployment of 13 new outdoor small cells.

Freshwave’s small cells are akin to small shoebox sized mobile (radio) base stations that are designed to deliver limited coverage (usually up to around 100 metres) and thus tend to be more focused on busy areas and specific sites – it’s not uncommon to find these sitting on top of council managed lampposts, CCTV poles or old payphone cubicles (more cost-effective than building new street assets).

Nine of the new small cell units are already live and enhancing connectivity in busy public areas around central Guildford, benefiting residents, businesses and visitors. The small cells have been strategically placed in high-demand areas including the high street, around Guildford Castle and near Guildford Station. The remaining cells will soon follow.

Professor Robert Joyce, Director of Mobile Access Engineering at O2, said:

“This small cell deployment in Guildford is a great example of our £700 million Mobile Transformation Plan in action. We’re bringing faster, more reliable connectivity to busy public spaces to meet record network demand, with targeted deployments delivering real benefits for communities.”

Freshwave have so far deployed more than 800 outdoor small cells across the UK on behalf of the mobile operators who want to boost community connectivity for their customers, although it should be said that mobile providers also work with a number of other small cell companies (e.g. Ontix).

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Network provider Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) has today highlight how it’s making a “major investment” in the Manchester region through investments in its fibre optic broadband and 5G mobile networks, as well as the opening of a new multi-million-pound North West HQ building on John Dalton Street (just off Deansgate).

The new office in central Manchester will be home to approximately 1,100 staff, including customer service teams. This forms part of a 10-year agreement with the ‘Island’ building to take around 50% of the new site and is thus set to become their new HQ after VMO2’s existing lease at its Wythenshawe office comes to an end in early 2026. The ‘Island’ site is said to be a “net zero carbon workspace being developed by joint venture partners HBD (part of Henry Boot plc) and [the] Greater Manchester Pensions Fund“.

In recent years, the operator has also invested more than £100 million to expand its fixed broadband network in the region, with nearly 1 million homes and businesses in Greater Manchester now able to benefit from its gigabit speed network services (it’s unclear if that figure also includes some of nexfibre’s funding).

Over the past 12 months, O2 has also upgraded its 4G and 5G mobile broadband network at 65 sites across Greater Manchester (this also includes some small cell deployments in the busy city centre). This is said to be benefitting people with stronger signals and faster data speeds in more than 14,000 postcodes across the area.

Rob Orr, Chief Operating Officer at VMO2, said:

“Manchester is a thriving hub for innovation and creativity, and we’re proud to deepen our connection to the region with this significant investment. Our new North West HQ at Island will provide a modern, sustainable space for our people to collaborate and deliver for customers, while our continued upgrades to mobile and broadband networks ensure Greater Manchester remains at the forefront of digital progress. These investments reflect our long-term vision to support local communities, power the digital economy, and create a future-ready network for everyone.”

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The National Wealth Fund (NWF), which was originally established by the previous government in 2021 as the UK Infrastructure Bank (here) – using public investment to help unlock more private funding for infrastructure projects, looks set to change its funding strategy in 2026 after experiencing “challenges” in certain sectors, such as broadband infrastructure (altnets).

According to the FT (paywall), the NWF will in January 2026 announce a new strategy that shifts away from using taxpayer funding to back third-party investment funds in favour of bolstering private sector investment in UK infrastructure projects. The NWF’s new CEO, Oliver Holbourn, confirmed that the “priority moving forwards would be direct investments or co-investments versus using externally managed funds”.

Part of this stems from the fact that third-party funds tend to charge investors high fees, which can make them less attractive. Some MPs have previously criticised the NWF for investing in third-party funds in this way, and also for helping to fund projects that were already drawing from private capital.

The move also comes against a background of growing challenges in some of the sectors where the NWF has been most active, such as digital infrastructure, where they’ve actively invested in alternative full fibre broadband networks like CityFibre, Wessex Internet, Netomnia, Hyperoptic, Fibrus, Wildanet, Quickline, Gigaclear and nexfibre. This sometimes occurred alongside public subsidies from the £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out.

However, many altnets have run into trouble (here) due to rising build costs, strong competition from rivals (i.e. overbuild and the challenges of growing take-up) and the difficulties of securing fresh investment during a period of high interest rates (not to mention rising debt repayments). As a result, some altnets may struggle to turn a profit in the future and a number of investors (e.g. key UK banks like NatWest and Lloyds) are now expecting to take losses.

Generally, the NWF aspires for each of its investments to deliver a return, yet overall the fund – across all sectors – made a reported loss of £152.2m (before tax) over the past year (up from £85.6m in the previous year). A spokesperson for the NWF said a “loss was expected at this stage of growth in our portfolio”, but it also admitted the figures were “higher than budgeted due to specific challenges affecting certain assets and market conditions in the digital infrastructure sector”.

Consolidation is happening in the altnet space, which is necessary to help grow some real scale, albeit at a slower pace than might be ideal. This is at least partly down to some network operators and investors harbouring an inflated idea of their own asset values. The risk is that the longer those players take to reach agreement, the greater the risk that any future deal may result in an even bigger hit.

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The commercial launch of Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper), which is due to start going live during 2026 (it’s currently in beta, albeit initially only for enterprise customers), will initially exclude northern Scotland from the coverage of its new mega constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). And it might be a while before that changes.

The company currently has approval to deploy and operate their own initial constellation of 3,236 LEO satellites (altitudes of between 590km to 630km). A total of over 150 satellites have already been placed into orbit via six successful rocket launches, which includes two of their initial prototypes – Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2. But many more are due to follow over the next few years.

The full commercial launch of this service, which will ultimately sell products direct to consumers, businesses and the public sector via a selection of different terminals, is expected to take place slowly during 2026. The company is understood to need just over 500 satellites to deliver a good enough level of basic global coverage to reach this point.

Package speeds are expected to target c.100Mbps (20Mbps upload) for roaming users, before rising to 400Mbps (100Mbps upload) for homes and business users, then topping out at 1Gbps (400Mbps) for enterprises and government (latency times should also be similar to Starlink’s). But details on pricing have yet to be disclosed and will face stiff competition from Starlink’s massive network.

However, while the United Kingdom will be one of the first country’s to go live with the new broadband service, it’s been noted that none of Leo’s initial constellation will reach fully across northern Scotland (Highlands and Islands). One of the company’s rocket partners, United Launch Alliance (ULA), recently confirmed this by stating that Amazon’s “first-generation system will provide coverage 56 degrees north and south of the equator. Amazon plans to expand coverage over time to reach nearly any location on Earth” (X).

The 56th parallel north line effectively cuts off a sizeable chunk of Northern Europe, which in the UK would pass near cities like Edinburgh and Falkirk in Scotland (i.e. above that area and into the Scottish Highlands and northern Islands you may not be able to receive any service from Amazon Leo). This is similar to the early days of Starlink, which also excluded the polar regions until later.

At this stage it’s unclear how long it will be until Amazon Leo covers the whole of the UK, but there is some suggestion that northern Scotland might have to wait until they get around to launching a second generation (GEN2) of satellites in a few years’ time (i.e. going beyond the first c.3,000 satellites).

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The Horsham-based Telecom Acquisitions Group (TAL), which is a holding company for a number of familiar internet service provider brands (Fleur and Home Telecom etc.), has announced that ISP Eclipse Broadband has expanded the reach of its broadband and utility services further into the Hull area of East Yorkshire for both residential and business customers.

Eclipse can now offer Hull-based customers a wide range of connectivity options, including via gigabit-capable full fibre broadband (FTTP) networks from MS3, CityFibre (formerly Connexin), and KCOM. In addition, its customers can also benefit from bundled utility services such as gas and electricity, making Eclipse a one-stop provider.

“This partnership strengthens Eclipse’s position as a major supplier in the Hull region and ensures access to a broad portfolio of services,” said TAL CEO Nigel Barnett. “Our commitment to reliable service, a diverse portfolio of brands, and dedicated local support is what truly sets us apart. We’re proud to serve the Hull community and look forward to helping even more customers stay connected.”