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This weekend, Swedish telecoms giant Arelion has confirmed that its BCS East submarine cable, connecting Latvia and Lithuania, was damaged on Friday.

The damage appears to have been caused by a ship passing overhead a few kilometres from the cable’s landing station in Liepāja, Latvia. The exact location and extent of the damage is still being identified.

Whether the damage was caused by accident or intentionally remains to be determined. According to reports, information analysed by the Latvian armed forces shows the ship in question initially sailing over an inactive cable before changing course and heading towards the BCS East cable, which was subsequently impacted.

“I am in contact with the crisis management centre and the responsible authorities. The police have started an investigation, and the clarification of the circumstances continues,” Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said in a press conference on Sunday.

“We cannot speculate on the reasons yet. After conducting analysis and digital measurements, the company does not rule out any version at this time,” said Arvis Zile, head of the crisis management centre.

The ship being investigated has since docked at Liepāja and was boarded by police and the Latvian coast guard on Sunday evening. It is not currently being detained, and its crew are cooperating with the investigation.

Latvian users were not impacted by the incident, with traffic successfully redirected to other routes.

Repairs to the cable will be completed “within the next week or two”, according to Arelion spokesperson Martin Sjogren.

The Baltic Sea has become something of a hotbed for submarine cable damage in recent years, with numerus high profile cable cuts, including Arelion’s own BCS East-West Interlink cable, connecting Lithuania to the Swedish island of Gotland, in November 2024.

Given the geopolitical tensions between the Baltic states and Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the security of these critical cables is becoming an increasingly hot topic, both for subsea cable operators and politicians. However, it should be noted that deliberate sabotage of submarine cables is rarely proven  while accidental damage is commonplace around the world.

Submarine cable security is becoming an international priority. Join the experts in discussion at the inaugural Subsea Security Summit

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Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

City-focused alternative broadband ISP Hyperoptic, which claims to have already deployed their full fibre (FTTP/B) network to cover 1.9 million UK homes passed, has just become the latest telecoms provider to increase the customer cost impact of their existing mid-contract pricing policy.

The internet provider, which is home to 400,000 active subscribers (9th Jun 2025), previously increased the monthly price that broadband customers paid by a flat £3 extra in April every year. But they’ve now followed recent changes at BT and other major ISPs by raising the level of this increase from £3 to £4 for new customers (existing customers remain on the old policy).

Annual price hikes are of course nothing new in this market, as well as many others. Often there are strong reasons for prices to go up, not least because providers are frequently adding all sorts of new services (e.g. 5G SA, FTTP), developing new systems, facing higher charges from suppliers and energy usage, implementing costly new Ofcom rules and dealing with tax hikes from the government etc.

Nevertheless, there is a growing feeling among consumers that broadband and mobile providers are becoming increasingly unfair in their pricing practices, and often hitting those who can least afford it the hardest (e.g. you get the same £4 hike regardless of whether you’re paying for the cheapest or most expensive plan). Much of this is being driven by Ofcom’s own policy change (here) and even the government seems to be struggling with how to respond (here).

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Roughly nine months have passed since we reported that alternative UK network operator and ISP G.Network, which has deployed a gigabit speed full fibre (FTTP) broadband network across parts of London, had put up the for sale sign (here). But this afternoon news emerged that the provider had been acquired by FitzWalter Capital for an undisclosed sum.

In case anybody has forgotten, G.Network originally held an aspiration to expand their fibre network to cover 1.3 million premises London by the end of 2026. But like many other altnets they’ve since been impacted by an increasingly competitive environment and rising costs (high build costs, high interest rates etc.). This has already resulted in job cuts and a greater focus on commercialisation, instead of new fibre build (here).

Despite the challenges, the operator has continued to receive funding from long term equity investor Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), including £85m in June 2024 (here) and “up to an additional” £150m (here) in July 2023. Future such funding rounds seemed likely, unless a deal could be done to find a new owner or consolidate with a rival.

The company’s most recent accounts did however report an 85% increase in turnover to £10.2m in FY2024 and a gross profit of £7.3m (up 62%), with total assets of £453m (up from £394m). But they also suffered an operating loss for the year of £52.8m (down from a loss of £67.2m in the prior year) and are estimated to be carrying a net debt of over £300m (Enders Analysis).

Suffice to say that we weren’t too surprised when it was reported last March (here) that G.Network had instructed bankers at Jefferies and Nomura to engage with potential buyers for the business, although we’d heard similar stories before that hadn’t amounted to anything (here). One key challenge is the fact that their network has already been partly overbuilt by Hyperoptic and CommunityFibre, which are bigger players in London’s altnet space, alongside the established giants of Virgin Media (nexfibre) and Openreach (BT).

G.Network sold

According to some of our industry sources and a report on the FT (paywall), the operator quietly succeeded in finding a buyer over the normally quiet festive period. ISPreview understands that several investors and network operators had expressed an interest in bidding for the business, although in the end a financial buyer in the shape of distressed debt specialist FitzWalter Capital tabled the most attractive offer.

The newspaper reports that G.Network had so far only been able to grow their customer base to just 25,000 (up from 8,664 in March 2022) and that the company’s creditors, including NatWest, Investec and Santander, are bracing to suffer a writedown on their investments. G.Network declined to comment on today’s development when asked by ISPreview.

James Ratzer, Analyst at New Street Research, said:

“Given the company’s losses, it is hard to see an obvious standalone business case. We presume the buyer is a short-term holder and would be keen to sell to another provider as soon as possible.”

Residential customers of G.Network currently pay from £25 per month for a 300Mbps (100Mbps upload) service on a 24-month term (plus a £29 one-off connection charge), which rises to £29 for their 900Mbps (300Mbps upload) plan with free connection or £36 if you want symmetric speeds on that tier. Shorter 12 and 1-month contract options are also available at extra cost.

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Recipients include major global players like Samsung, Tata Electronics, and Foxconn

On Friday, the Indian government announced the approval of projects worth 418.63 billion rupees ($4.64 billion) as part of the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), an initiative aimed at expanding domestic manufacturing and reducing reliance on imports.

Companies set to benefit from subsidies include major tech players like Samsung Electronics, Tata Electronics, and Foxconn, as well as smaller domestic companies.

The 22 approved proposals cover the domestic production of components for industries including mobile manufacturing, telecoms, consumer electronics, strategic electronics, automotive, and IT hardware.

The government says the projects will produce $28.62 billion-worth of goods and employ around 34,000 people.

The ECMS, a production-linked incentive scheme, was approved in March 20205 as part of the Indian government’ drive to boost domestic production capacity across key industries. According to the government website, the scheme ‘aims to develop a robust component ecosystem by attracting large investments (global/domestic) in electronics component manufacturing ecosystem, by developing capacity and capabilities, and integrating Indian companies with Global Value Chains (GVCs)’.

These new approvals follow seven projects, worth roughly $625 million, that were already given the green light last year.

India has been seeking to boost its domestic manufacturing capabilities and reduce its reliance on imports for over a decade, most notably through the ‘Make in India’ initiative launched in 2014. In recent years, against the backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions worldwide, such efforts have accelerated alongside the growing demand for electronic goods.

India’s electronics component manufacturing industry produced goods worth $125 billion in the year to March 2025 and continues to see steady growth year-on-year. However, it remains heavily dependent on component imports from China. With the government targeting major growth, with total production targeted to hit $500 billion by 2031, this reliance is viewed as a major liability.

In July 2025, India’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the country’s electronics manufacturing capabilities is on course to achieve a value addition of 38% within the next five years, a pace comparable to China’s. At the same time, he emphasised the county’s continued rapid development of domestic industry.

“India must build capabilities in every machine, every component to withstand geopolitical uncertainties. We must go into every part of it and start manufacturing them,” he said, as reported by the Times of India.

At the heart of the domestic component production drive is developing the country’s local semiconductor industry, which is also crucially reliant on China and Taiwan. According to Vaishnaw, four chip companies are already preparing to begin commercial production in India this year.

“The plants which started pilot production last year – they are the ones that will get into commercial production earlier, which are Kaynes [Semicon] and CG Semi. Micron has also started pilot production very recently. They will also go next month. Tata [Electronics]’ plant in Assam will start pilot production by the middle of the year, and by the end of the year they will start commercial production,” said Vaishnaw.

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Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Azerconnect Group has introduced a bundle-driven prepaid access framework designed to address long-standing structural inefficiencies in prepaid-dominant mobile markets, particularly those characterised by high multi-SIM ownership and low-value usage patterns.

Under the new approach, prepaid SIMs remain active only through the purchase of recurring voice, data, or mixed bundles, rather than minimal balance top-ups. This represents a shift away from balance-centric access models toward usage-aligned connectivity, linking network access more closely to genuine customer engagement.

In many emerging markets, large volumes of prepaid SIMs are maintained primarily for messaging applications, inflating active subscriber metrics while contributing limited commercial value. By tying access to bundle usage, the framework aims to improve visibility into active usage behaviour, reduce long-term SIM dormancy, and support more predictable engagement cycles.

Early implementation signals indicate stronger adoption of mid-tier prepaid bundles and clearer differentiation between active and inactive users, without introducing punitive disconnection mechanisms. The model is positioned as a structural adjustment rather than a short-term commercial initiative.

Commenting on the approach, Mushfig Aliyev, Chief Commercial Officer at Azerconnect Group, said:

“The bundle-driven access model aligns prepaid connectivity with real service usage rather than passive balance maintenance. It is designed to support transparency, sustainability, and healthier engagement dynamics across prepaid ecosystems.”

The framework reflects a broader industry discussion around how prepaid access models can evolve in response to changing digital consumption habits, offering a reference point for operators in other prepaid-dominant regions evaluating alternatives to legacy balance-based access structures.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Freedom Telecom International (FTI), a subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC), and e&, a leading global technology group, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore strategic collaboration opportunities at the intersection of telecommunications and financial technology across international markets.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative rural broadband ISP Quickline, which is building a new gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) and fixed wireless (FWA) network across parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England (3-Year Rollout Plan), has kicked off the New Year with a mild package refresh that reduces some prices and removes the cheapest entry-level fibre tier.

The most obvious change is the removal of their entry-level “START” package for new customers (no change for existing subscribers), which previously offered broadband speeds of 100Mbps (50Mbps upload) from £22 per month. Instead, the cheapest fixed-line option is now “Full Fibre 200” (previously known as “CONNECT“), which offers symmetric speeds of 200Mbps for £24.99 per month on a 24-month minimum term (reduced from £29.99 before).

After that, the 500Mbps tier has also been reduced from £39 to £28.99 per month, while their top 1000Mbps (gigabit) package has been reduced from £49 to £32.99 per month. All packages include a commitment to “no mid-contract price rises“, free install, free router and offers up to £300 in switching credit if you need help to cover the cost of exiting your previous ISP contract early, during a switch.

Quickline is currently aiming to extend gigabit-capable broadband to a further 360,000 UK premises across thousands of rural communities (roughly 170k via publicly funded projects and almost 200k from commercial builds) and the provider was previously aiming to end 2025 with a total of 200,000 premises passed.

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Customers of UK ISP Virgin Media and O2’s various broadband and mobile packages may like to know that their ‘Priority‘ app, which rewards existing subscribers with various special offers and discounts, has today announced a bunch of new drops and prizes available as part of its Blue Monday’s initiative through January. One of which will cover your mobile or broadband bills for 12 months.

The latest additions include the “chance” (i.e. you have to open the app and ‘tap to play’ every Monday for a chance to secure one of the offers) for members to have their O2 mobile or Virgin Media broadband bills credited for an entire year, as well as 25% off hair and beauty with Treatwell and 3 months of FREE Super Duolingo etc. “There will be over 160,000 rewards given away to Priority members this January alone,” said VMO2’s announcement.

In terms of the headline offer of 12 months free broadband and mobile. Priority members who win this will have credit for their 12 upcoming monthly bills for either their mobile airtime and device, broadband bill or Volt applied to their account. VMO2 will look at charges for next 12 months and apply one credit value to all months. But we suspect they’ll only be giving a very few of these rewards away.

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Communications provider and UK network builder Exascale, which has deployed their own gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to a few thousand premises in part of Telford and Wrekin, has quietly launched a more consumer focused broadband brand that will sell packages via several fibre networks.

The change means that Exascale’s main website has recently switched its focus to sell residential broadband packages, while business and wholesale connections have been separated into their own section. Previously there wasn’t much distinction and the ISP largely adopted more of an overall focus on business connectivity, despite selling some consumer-grade broadband packages.

At present the consumer pricing on their website still only reflects their own-built full fibre (on-net) network. This is priced from £25.99 per month on a 24-month term for symmetric speeds of 50Mbps (inc. free installation, WiFi 6 mesh router and unlimited usage), which rises to £48.99 per month for their top 1000Mbps package. But as above, the coverage of their on-net fibre is very limited.

The good news is that Exascale’s consumer broadband service will shortly be expanded to include packages on several additional full fibre networks, including Openreach, CityFibre (following a recent agreement) and Gigaclear. The online order journey and pricing (yet to be finalised) for these should go live sometime during January 2026, but Exascale hasn’t yet confirmed an exact date to ISPreview.

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The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has reportedly invited interested suppliers, such as Starlink, to engage on the possibility of harnessing Direct to Device (DtD) based signals from broadband satellites to help resolve coverage gaps in the Government’s massively late and over-budget 4G based Emergency Service Network (ESN); currently being delivered by EE (BT).

Just to recap. The emergency services (police, fire etc.) were supposed to have moved away from the old Motorola-owned Airwave network by now, which harnessed TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) technology. The old network is slow (dialup / ISDN like data speeds) and expensive, although it does deliver strong voice coverage (99%+ geographic reach).

The high cost and limited capabilities of Airwave are often highlighted as two of the main reasons why the previous UK government, in 2015, decided to replace it with a 4G alternative (ESN) – the first country to do so. The Home Office originally expected that emergency services could start using the ESN in September 2017, allowing Airwave to be replaced by December 2019, but the contract ended up being billions of pounds over budget and years behind schedule due to a mix of technical problems, legal (competition) disputes and development delays (here).

Most of the problems with the ESN stemmed from issues with its software and hardware, rather than the network side. But at the same time it’s still recognised that EE’s 4G network struggles to reach every single location within the UK, and this is potentially one area where the new generation of broadband satellites could help.

Over the past few years’ we’ve reported on various developments in the related Direct to Device (DtD) market, which often allows satellites in space to link with unmodified Smartphones on the ground for limited but useful communication (voice/text), data and general roaming / coverage improvements (here).

The most mature of these is Starlink’s (SpaceX) Direct to Cell (DtC) service, which has already been adopted by O2 in the UK (O2 Satellite will launch in early 2026). But Vodafone has separately teamed-up with AST Space Mobile to deliver a similar solution and BT (EE) are working with Starlink on a rural broadband solution (here), albeit not yet DtC. On top of that, Amazon’s Leo project is also set to deliver mobile connectivity in the near future.

Suffice to say that it would make perfect sense for the government to be exploring how satellite based mobile connectivity could also be used to help complement the ESN and potentially fill in any coverage gaps, which is exactly what the Telegraph (paywall) reports is now being explored by the UKSA.

We use the word complement above, rather than replace, because at the end of 2024 EE secured a 7-year extension – worth £1.29bn – to their 4G based ESN network contract until 2032 (here); this includes the option of a 1-year extension to that. We think it would also be unlikely for the UK government to place the national security of ESN connectivity totally in the hands of a foreign satellite operator.

Meanwhile, the Home Office still doesn’t expect the ESN to be fully operational until 2029, and the total predicted cost of the project has already more than doubled from an original £6.2bn estimate to £14bn. The bigger question may thus be whether or not the hardware and software side of the ESN can be adapted in time to work effectively alongside satellite connectivity.