Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile network operator Vodafone has revealed that, in an “industry-first“, they’ve managed to achieve energy-savings of up to 10% using new software and hardware-based power saving techniques, as well as an additional 20% reduction with next generation radios.

The trial, which uses new radio antennas and advanced engineering, essentially allows Vodafone to dynamically add capacity to match demand, “ensuring customers receive uninterrupted fast connectivity while making more efficient use of network resources” and reducing unnecessary power consumption. This also means that mobile sites can run for longer when forced to use backup power (e.g. during power cuts), which aids resilience.

In maximum energy-saving mode, the radio antenna can operate using as little as 10 watts of power – only a little bit more than a regular LED light bulb – while returning to full capacity in approximately 30 seconds. Throughout this process, uninterrupted service continues to be delivered over the low- and mid-band frequencies.

Full network capacity can then be reached by reactivating Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) radios using the 3.5GHz spectrum band. In fast response mode, the radios operate at 50 watts and can return to full performance in less than 5 seconds, ensuring additional network capacity is available whenever traffic demand increases.

Marco Zangani, Director of Network Strategy and Architecture, Vodafone, said:

“I’m proud that we have been able to continuously push energy efficiency to its limits by switching off our radio units for very short periods, yet restore them to full operation within seconds. This helps us deliver a great mobile experience for customers while saving power and improving resilience during emergencies.”

The trial is currently taking place in Türkiye and Vodafone intend to continue to test and refine the technology (it’s unclear whether or when they might deploy it commercially). Sadly the update is quite vague on the specific enhancements being adopted for this, which is a shame because the general description given makes it sound a lot like the sort of measures that we’ve already seen other UK mobile operator introduce.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The FreedomTruespeed Group, which is a recently merged (Freedom Fibre and Truespeed) alternative full fibre broadband network that covers a footprint of 430,000 UK premises (RFS) and over 70,000 customers, has confirmed to ISPreview that they’re set to suffer some new redundancies.

The current group is the product of several prior network mergers, many of which have been driven by the same challenges as other alternative networks have been facing over the past few years (i.e. rising build costs, high interest rates and growing competition). Today the network is largely focused on commercialisation of what has already been built.

Over the past few months the newly created group has been busy working to integrate their systems, processes and teams, which also included a customer migration onto one system stack. ISPreview understands that this migration process is now mostly done (expected completion in August 2026).

The fact that the group will no longer need to maintain duplicate systems/teams is thus said to be one of the main reasons why they’ve now informed staff about a fresh round of redundancies.

A spokesperson for the Group told ISPreview:

“The Freedom Truespeed Group, created in early Q2 this year through the merger of Freedom Fibre and Truespeed, has expanded its ultrafast full-fibre network to over 430,000 properties with over 70,000 customers connected. We are now working to streamline the business and this will result in some redundancies as we continue to focus on improving our profitability across Retail and Wholesale Operations”.

At the time of writing it’s unclear how many staff members are expected to be let go in the future, although an exact figure won’t be known until the usual consultations have had a chance to run their course. In the past we’ve often seen Freedom Fibre announce redundancies just prior to a merger, but in this case it appears to be more a result of their post-merger integration work.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has today revealed that 50 publicly funded rural 4G (mobile broadband) mast upgrades have now gone live in Scotland as part of the industry-led £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project – providing coverage from EE, O2 and VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) across more than 1,900 sq km.

The SRN – originally supported by a commitment of £501m in public funding and £532m of private investment from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing UK masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators.

Most of the early work on the SRN involved private investment from the main mobile network operators, although over the past few years we’ve also seen government-funded mast upgrades and new site builds taking place in other parts of the country. A total of over 140 mast upgrades have now gone live across the UK, including the 50 in Scotland.

The 50th mast in Scotland was activated near the remote West Highland settlement of Branault on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Some of the other recent masts to go live in Scotland include destinations such as the Isles of Arran, Islay and Jura, Dukes Pass in Trossachs National Park and Tarbert on the Kintyre 66 route.

UK Telecoms Minister, Liz Lloyd, said:

“Scotland’s mountains, islands and remote rural communities have made it one of the hardest places in the UK to deliver reliable mobile coverage – but our investment is helping to change that.

By switching on dozens more 4G masts through the Shared Rural Network, we are tackling long-standing blackspots and giving more people across rural Scotland the coverage they need to stay in touch, run businesses and get help in an emergency.”

Kirsty McNeill, UK Government Minister for Scotland, said:

“Reaching 50 UK Government-funded masts in Scotland is a milestone for rural communities who have put up with poor or non-existent mobile signal for too long.

From the islands of Arran, Islay and Jura to the Trossachs and beyond, this investment is making a practical difference to people’s lives, whether that’s running a business, keeping in touch with loved ones, or getting help quickly in an emergency.

The Shared Rural Network is delivering for Scotland, and we’re not stopping here.”

The project is currently focused on tackling the second and final target to reduce Total Not-Spot (TNS) areas by January 2027. Around 33 additional mast upgrade sites are still expected to be deployed before completion.

Current SRN 4G Geographic Coverage Progress (June 2026)

List of Scotland’s 50 SRN 4G Mast Upgrade Sites

1 Lockerbie – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
2 Ettrick Valley – Berwickshie, Roxburgh and Selkirk
3 Ayrshire – Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
4 Crosslee – Selkirk, Scottish Borders
5 Duns – Scottish Borders
6 Kelso – Roxburghshire
7 Lockerbie – Dumfries & Galloway
8 Campbeltown – Argyll and Bute
9 West Buccleuch – Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
10 Acharacle – Argyll and Bute
11 Southend, Campbeltown – Argyll and Bute
12 A849, Isle of Mull – Argyll and Bute
13 Minor road from A848, near Salen, Isle of Mull
14 Brechin – Angus and Perthshire Glens
15 Forestry Track of A890 Strome Ferry near Kyle of Lochalsh – Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire
16 Bothwell Hill – Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
17 Tundergarth – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
18 Girvan – South Ayrshire
19 Kirriemuir – Angus
20 Newton Stewart – Dumfries and Galloway
21 Duns – Lothian East
22 Land off B8007, Near Glenborrodale – Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber
23 Off B8083, Srathaird, near Elgol – Isle of Skye
24 Langburn Sheils, Hawick – Roxburghshire
25 Strathconnan – Muir of Ord
26 Camas-Luinie – Near Dornie
27 Lammermuir – Scottish Borders
28 Off B955, Kirriemuir – Angus,
29 Near Dykehead – Angus
30 Innerleithen – Scottish Borders
31 Tarskavaig – Isle of Skye
32 Near Heriot – Scottish Borders
33 Kinlochspelve – Isle of Mull
34 Southend, Campbeltown – Argyll & Bute
35 Land at Bunessan – Isle of Mull
36 Near Kingie, Glen Garry, PH35 4HS – Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire
37 Torrin – Isle of Skye
38 Isle of Jura – Argyll & Bute
39 Jedburgh , Roxburghshire
40 Isle of Jura, Argyll & Bute,
41 Strathcarron – Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire
42 Barr – Ayrshire
43 Kelsay – Isle of Islay
44 Newcastleton – Roxburghshire
45 Tarbert – Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber
46 Dukes Pass – Stirling
47 Loch Muick – West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
48 Strathconon, Contin – Ross-shire
49 Sliddery, Arran – North Ayrshire
50 Branault, West Ardnamurchan

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The fibre and fixed wireless access (FWA) specialist has struggled to attract customers to use its network at scale

Following a strategic review, alternative network provider Airband has begun a formal sale process.

Related documents were sent to prospective buyers this week, with the company seeking “the right long-term owner”.

It could also face debt restructuring, according to two anonymous sources speaking to the Financial Times.

“Following a strategic review of the business and its future ownership, Airband has commenced a formal sale process to identify the right long-term owner for the company,” a spokesperson told ISPreview. “Airband continues to operate and trade as normal throughout the process. Our network remains fully operational and there is no impact on customer services or day-to-day operations.”

Airband’s full fibre network currently covers around 175,000 premises and a further 265,000 are covered by FWA. Of this total footprint of around 440,000 premises, only around 30,000 premises are customers – far below the level the company would need to recoup the costs of its expensive network deployment in the short term.

Airband has been struggling to improve its position for years, with its first round of restructuring and job cuts taking place in 2024. More changes and redundancies were announced earlier this year, with the company claiming it was shifting its focus to “transitioning towards operational maturity, with a focus on long-term sustainability, enhanced customer experience and efficient delivery.”

Airband’s operating loss this year increased to £47.23 million, with total liabilities of over £224 million. Total assets were reported at £179.81 million.

Exactly who might purchase Airband remains unclear. The UK’s largest altnet, CityFibre, has long had ambitions of being the UK’s key fibre network consolidator, notably earmarking around £800 million of its £2.3 billion in fresh funding last year for M&A. However, the company has been facing its own financial challenges of late, largely related to its £3.7 billion in debt that was restructured in January.

Virgin Media O2 and its sister company nexfibre would be the next obvious choice, but these parties already have their hands full with the £2 billion acquisition of Netomnia.

At a time when altnets across the country are looking to make deals, finding a suitable partner could be a lengthy process.

How is the UK connectivity landscape changing in 2026? Join the industry in discussion at Connected Britain 2026

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The post Rural altnet Airband seeking buyer appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Broadband ISP and mobile operator EE UK (BT) is preparing to launch a new rewards (loyalty) programme on Friday for existing customers called “One Up“, which is set to be more of a complement than a replacement for their existing ‘Rewards’ scheme.

Regular readers might recall that we first revealed the existence of this scheme back in June 2026 (here), although at the time it wasn’t clear precisely when it would go live and details remain in short supply. The latest update is that users of EE’s App have this week started to see a new pop-up (pictured – credits to ISPreview reader, Scott), which states: “EE One Up is coming. Every Friday get weekly treats and unmissable offers that you won’t find anywhere else. Exclusive to EE One customers“.

The customers they’re referencing above reflect converged subscribers that take both their fixed broadband and mobile products. Some of the expected rewards under this new programme are likely to include free movies on EE’s pay TV service, as well as discounts on their tech store products and more. No doubt further details will be released on Friday 10th July 2026.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network operator Openreach (BT) has reached a new access agreement (wayleave) with the London Borough of Havering, which will enable them to deploy their full fibre (FTTP) gigabit broadband network across approximately 115 buildings (blocks of flats and apartments) – reaching thousands of extra homes.

The initial deployment is set to benefit more than 1,300 of flats and apartments across 64 buildings in the Borough. But over time the wider programme is expected to be expanded, which will eventually reach approximately 115 buildings, benefiting around 2,500 homes. Some 90,000 premises across the borough already have access to this network.

The additional flats and apartments will join more than 2.3 million premises across Greater London that already have access to the operator’s new full fibre network, which in turn form part of the 23m premises across the United Kingdom that have already been covered.

Nick Hibberd, Openreach MDU Professional, said:

“We’re thrilled to be working with the London Borough of Havering on this significant broadband upgrade.

Working together is a crucial step in making sure that residents across Havering have access to some of the best broadband available anywhere in the UK.

The upgrades are not automatic, so once full fibre is available, tenants should contact their broadband provider, place an order to get connected, and we’ll do the rest.”

The agreement supports Openreach’s up to £15bn investment in deploying full fibre technology to cover 25 million UK premises by the end of December 2026. After that, there’s a further ambition to reach up to 30 million premises by 2030, but the build plan for the 2026-2030 period has yet to be announced.

The new service, once live, can be ordered via various ISPs, such as BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Vodafone and many more (Openreach FTTP ISP Choices) – it is not usually an automatic upgrade, but some providers are offering something similar to customers on older networks.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A new Opinium survey of 2,000 UK adults (weighted to be nationally representative), which was commissioned by Uswitch.com, has claimed that more than 5 million people (9.8%) have seen their phone connect to an overseas network while they were still in the UK, triggering a roaming charge or alert. But 76% of respondents still think this is “impossible” or have never heard of it.

In the past we’ve seen plenty of occasions where people living in certain parts of the UK, such as Dover (Kent) or Sussex, have seen their mobile phones automatically connect to a mobile network in nearby France (i.e. certain atmospheric conditions, in the right location, can make French signals stronger than domestic ones). If you aren’t aware of this occurring, then it can lead to problems with dramatically inflated bills for calls, texts and 4G / 5G data (mobile broadband).

So, on the one hand, we’re highly sceptical of Uswitch’s extrapolation, from an opinion survey, to equate such issues to impacting 5 million people. But the issue itself is in fact very real and quite well-known if you happen to live in such locations, where it may occur. The issue is particularly relevant at this time of year, with 51% of respondents said to be planning a UK staycation this year.

Some 26% of respondents are planning a staycation in the South West, along the Cornwall, Devon and the Dorset coast, while the Kent coast and South East England follow in second place (13%). Of those who ended up receiving unexpected charges as a result of accidental roaming, some 39% didn’t know they could dispute the charges – and 52% either took no action or paid without questioning the bill.

The reality is that consumers should always contact their mobile operator when something like this occurs, although a refund isn’t guaranteed, but some operators will do it. Providers are already required to alert customers as soon as they start roaming and to take reasonable steps to stop Northern Ireland customers being billed when their phone locks onto an Irish network. But such things are easily overlooked.

However, whether or not you get hit by a charge can depend upon your mobile plan. Some operators and plans include EU roaming by default (e.g. O2, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, iD Mobile, giffgaff, SMARTY and Talkmobile), which negates the impact from most inadvertent roaming connections. But others (e.g. EE, Vodafone, Three UK) often don’t include this as a default feature, although some of their specific plans may still include it.

Consumers with a concern about this could try manually selecting their mobile network (instead of letting your mobile decide), although this can be a bit fiddly. In addition, most mobiles allow you to disable data roaming features (but not calls/texts as this is a core part of how mobile networks work), which is probably a good idea when you’re in one of these locations.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network operator Openreach (BT) has issued a progress update on their £157m (public subsidy) Project Gigabit contract for the ‘Rest of Scotland’ area (here), which originally aimed to upgrade 65,000 premises in hard-to-reach rural areas to full fibre (FTTP) broadband and has just started building across several new locations.

According to the latest June 2026 data from the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency (here), Openreach is currently contracted to cover 77,640 premises under this contract (aka – Call Off 6) and has already completed the build to 5,680 of that target (2,000 premises were added in the last month alone, so it’s ramping up).

The network operator has now started extending their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines across several seven new locations under this contract, including Patna, Kilcreggan and Cove, Muirkirk, Kippen, Fintry, Strathblane and Blanefield. More locations will follow in the future, as the full contract also includes some of the remotest places in the Highlands, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Argyll and Bute, as well as parts of Central and South of Scotland.

The work is designed to complement the Scottish Government’s own £700m R100 programme, which is separately working with Openreach to reach another 113,000 premises in hard-to-reach rural locations by 2028 (the vast majority of this will get FTTP) and they’ve technically already done c.100,000 premises (here). On top of that GoFibre also hold a few Project Gigabit contracts for different parts of Scotland (here and here). All of this is on top of existing commercial builds.

Robert Thorburn, Partnership Director for Scotland, said:

“This is a major infrastructure upgrade, so there will be more engineering teams, equipment and vans around town, and we’re working hard to keep disruption to a minimum.

Wherever possible, we’ll use our existing network of ducts and poles to avoid roadworks, new street furniture and disturbance. But there may be places where we need to install new poles, underground ducts and fibre cables because it’s the only way to make sure households get included in the upgrade.”

Scotland’s Business Minister, Tom Arthur, said: “It’s great to see Project Gigabit working alongside our R100 programme to bring fast and reliable broadband to homes and businesses across Scotland”, while the UK’s Telecoms Minister, Liz Lloyd, added: “Whether it’s families streaming together, farmers being able to use new technology, or businesses reaching more customers online, this upgrade creates real opportunities for people.”

The new service, once live, can be ordered via various ISPs, such as BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Vodafone and more (Openreach FTTP ISP Choices) – it is not currently an automatic upgrade, although some ISPs have started to do free upgrades as older copper-based services and lines are slowly withdrawn. But it’s important to reflect that Openreach won’t always reach 100% of premises in every location they target on the first pass.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Broadband, phone and TV provider Virgin Media (O2) has today been fined £28 million by Ofcom after the UK telecoms regulator found that they had made it difficult for customers to cancel their contracts. Millions of customer calls were said to have been “deliberately mishandled, creating unnecessary barriers to switching or cancelling“.

Readers with long memories might recall that this investigation started all the way back in 2023 (here), after some customers who tried to leave said Virgin Media had made it difficult. Some struggled to get through to an agent on the phone, while others found their call was dropped mid-way through or were put on hold for long periods. And many said they had to make lengthy and repeated requests to cancel, as their initial request was not actioned.

At the time Ofcom warned that such an approach could conflict with their rules (e.g. General Conditions C1.8 and C4), which clearly state that the conditions or procedures telecoms providers have in place “must not act as a disincentive for customers who wish to cancel their contract“.

The regulator’s investigation was also setup to examine whether the ISP had failed to meet their requirements on complaints handling, such as whether customers were appropriately informed of their right to escalate their complaint to an independent ombudsman (Alternative Dispute Resolution – ADR – provider, such as Ombudsman Services or CISAS).

Ofcom’s Verdict

Breaking news.. more to follow..

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative network provider Airband, which has built a mixed Full Fibre (FTTP) and Fixed Wireless (FWA) gigabit broadband network across rural parts of England and North Wales, has confirmed to ISPreview that they’ve now “commenced a formal sale process” to try and find the right “long-term owner” for the business.

The provider only recently went through a period of restructuring, which resulted more jobs losses and adjusted the company’s focus toward commercialising their existing broadband network instead of building new infrastructure. The outcome reflected many of the same pressures as other alternative networks (altnets) have been facing over the past few years (e.g. high interest rates, rising build costs and strong competition).

However, the provider has also been busy conducting a strategic review of the business and its future ownership, which now appears to have reached its conclusion. Suffice to say that sources began informing ISPreview yesterday afternoon that the provider was preparing to be sold and Airband has since confirmed that development.

Airband has previously stated that their broadband network currently spans a total of “more than 440,000 premises in over 200 communities across 7 counties“ (here), which we were told breaks down as being 175,000 premises via “fibre” (FTTP) and 265,000 premises via wireless (Ready for Service). The company has also recently expanded FTTP into off-net areas by partnering with Openreach (here) and have a total of 30,000 customers.

A spokesperson for Airband told ISPreview:

“Following a strategic review of the business and its future ownership, Airband has commenced a formal sale process to identify the right long-term owner for the company.

Airband continues to operate and trade as normal throughout the process. Our network remains fully operational and there is no impact on customer services or day-to-day operations.

The business is being taken to market as a fully operational going concern. The process is ongoing and commercially confidential, and it would not be appropriate to comment on potential buyers or outcomes at this stage.

Our focus remains on supporting our customers, maintaining our network and continuing to deliver our commitments while the process progresses.”

ISPreview understands that Airband’s recent restructure also concluded last week, although this is not directly connected to the sale of the business and began several months ago. The challenge will be in finding a suitable consolidation partner in a sector where quite a few altnets are also looking to consolidate, but where securing a deal has often proven to be quite difficult due to disagreements over network valuations, debt levels and so forth.

The group’s most recent annual accounts last year revealed that revenues to the end of 2024 had increased by 37% to £6,667,000 and their total staffing count had fallen from 451 to 285. The company’s operating loss increased to £47.23m (2023: £37.06m) and they reported total assets of £179.81m and total liabilities of -£224.92m. But the results also predicted achieving EBITDA positivity by 2028 (i.e. earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation).