Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A few months ago we reported that the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) in England and network analyst firm Streetwave had begun a new project to map 4G and 5G mobile broadband coverage and speed across the region using bin lorries (here). The data from this has now been made available to the public via a new interactive map.

Streetwave has spent the past two years harnessing waste (bin / refuse) collection trucks to map mobile network coverage and speeds in various parts of the UK (e.g. here, here, here, here and here). In this approach, refuse collection trucks are installed with several off-the-shelf Smartphones using special software, which run continuous network tests (once every 20 metres in rural areas and 5m in urban areas) as the vehicles go around.

The data they collect is then used by local authorities to help identify areas that may require additional intervention in order to improve local mobile coverage and or network capacity. In addition, members of the public have also been given access to some of this data via address-based coverage checkers and interactive maps.

The latest region to benefit from this is South Yorkshire, which is home to around 1,400,000 people. The 12-month £34,000 project, which was funded by the SYMCA, now allows residents and businesses to check their coverage at home, on the commute and at work enabling informed network choices, reducing unnecessary spending and lost productivity.

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said:

“These days getting online and staying connected isn’t a luxury; it’s vital. Whether we’re booking a doctor’s appointment, running a business, or keeping in touch with friends, we all rely on decent mobile signal.

But too many of us in South Yorkshire are still stuck in mobile ‘not spots’, where coverage drops out or disappears completely. That’s just not good enough.

That’s why we’re working together to fix it. Our project gives us the data we need to push for better coverage, so wherever we live, work or travel, we can all get the signal we need. It’s another step towards building a fairer, more connected South Yorkshire that’s fit for the future.”

The interactive map – https://app.streetwave.co/coverage-checker/south-yorkshire – enables people to both get details on download and upload speeds for specific addresses, as well as showing how mobile data performance varies from area to area by different mobile operators. But it should be noted that this study was conducted before the Vodafone and Three UK merger, thus it won’t be able to reflect any recent changes as a result of the shared network integration.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has tonight revealed the winners of their 27th annual 2025 internet industry and broadband awards. The night’s biggest winners included CommunityFibre, Lightning Fibre, and Wightfibre, each of which took home multiple awards. The former CEO of CityFibre, Greg Mesch, was also named ‘Internet Hero‘.

The award categories were once again revised for this year’s event, not least through the introduction of five new categories, such as the award for ‘Best Wholesale Platform’, ‘Best Network Integration’, ‘Best Technology Partnership’, ‘Engineer of the Year’, and ‘Best Customer Loyalty’. The event also came during ISPA UK’s 30th anniversary year.

Steve Leighton, ISPA Chair, said: “The ISPA Awards remains a brilliant occasion to celebrate the achievements of our industry and the people shaping the UK’s telecommunications landscape. As ISPA UK marks its 30th anniversary this year, it’s especially inspiring to reflect on how far our sector has come, and the role our members continue to play in building a world-class digital future for the UK. This year’s winners exemplify the innovation, resilience, and dedication that define our sector. As we continue to tackle challenges and embrace opportunities, from moving towards fibre rollout completion to enhancing digital inclusion, these organisations and individuals are laying the foundations for a more connected, inclusive, and sustainable future.”

The winners were all crowned at a gala ceremony in London (City Central at the HAC). The results reflect the outcome of some limited technical testing by Thinkbroadband across several categories, as well as the use of a judging panel of 13 industry figures to help determine the ultimate winners across 18 categories.

ISPA Award Winners 2025

Best Fibre Infrastructure: WightFibre

Best Wholesale Platform: PXC

Most Innovative Fibre Deployment: 4Fibre

Best Network Integration: AllPoints Fibre

Best Community Engagement: Community Fibre

Best Customer Loyalty: Wessex Internet (Highly commended: Truespeed)

Best Customer Experience: Lightning Fibre

Engineer of the Year: Ogi

Sustainability Champion: Community Fibre (Highly commended: Openreach)

Best Technology Partnership: Strategic Imperatives/Fibre Cafe

Best Voice Provider: Voipfone

Best Customer, Network and Data Security: TalkStraight

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion: Openreach

Digital Inclusion Champion – Industry: Quickline

Digital Inclusion Champion – Charities: Frome Medical Practice Somerset

Best Consumer ISP (over 100k customers): Community Fibre (Highly commended: EE)

Best Consumer ISP (under 100k customers): Lightning Fibre

Best Rural ISP: WightFibre

Best Business ISP: Community Fibre

Internet Hero: Greg Mesch, CityFibre

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The operator’s largest private shareholder, Vodacom Group, says the carve out would harm Safaricom’s value proposition for customrs

Kenya has a debt problem.

As of June 2025, the country’s public debt stood at KES 11.81 trillion (around $ 91.3 billion), roughly 67.8 % of the country’s GDP. As a result, debt servicing is regularly consuming a huge amount of public funds; in the 2025 financial year, debt servicing cost the country more than healthcare or education.

Loath to increase taxes, the government’s solution to this challenge has been to sell down its stakes in various enterprises, announcing plans earlier this year to raise KES 149 billion (around $1.1 billion) through this method. The most significant of these stake sales relates to Safaricom, the country’s most profitable business, in which the government holds a roughly 35% stake.

By August, the Kenyan government said it was considering a push to split Safaricom into three distinct entities: a telecoms operator, a tower company, and a mobile money business centred around Safaricom’s M-Pesa platform. This, the government said, would allow each unit to be evaluated separately, potentially driving up their value for a potential stake sale.

“We are discussing whether to offload more shares as an entity or split them and then get the fresh valuation, and then get to that direction,” said Treasury Secretary John Mbadi in a Bloomberg report.

The government’s suggestion of spinning off M-Pesa is nothing new. The mobile money platform is one of the world’s most successful, having grown over almost two decades to become a key economic enabler in Kenya. With nearly 38 million users, as of September 2025, and reportedly handling around 59% of the country’s GDP, M-Pesa is a huge moneymaker for Safaricom – and a regulatory headache for the country.

Kenya’s central bank has pushed for the nation’s telcos to separate out their mobile money units for regulatory clarity since at least 2022. Safaricom’s local rivals, Telkom Kenya and Airtel Kenya, have both complied with this directive, but M-Pesa’s carve out has been delayed by a disputed tax liability of around KES 75 billion ($580 million).

Safaricom itself has been reluctant to split off M-Pesa, which today represents almost half of its revenue. This week, the company’s largest private shareholder, Vodacom Group (35% stake), reiterated this sentiment, with CEO Mohamed Joosub highlighting M-Pesa’s synergistic value to Safaricom’s telecoms customers.

“We do not want to list the financial services companies separately because we believe they are closely related to the value proposition we offer to our clients,” he said. “Actually, we envision a closer connection between it and loyalty in the future. We position ourselves as having something quite distinct from a typical telecom company.”

Safaricom’s refusal to carve out M-Pesa underscores the platform’s centrality not only to the operator’s business model but also to Kenya’s wider digital economy. The Kenyan government has a difficult task ahead of balancing its urgent fiscal needs without negatively impacting a service that has become financial crucial infrastructure for millions of people.

Also in the news
Connected Britain Award winners 2025 announced!
Netomnia announces ‘powerful and ambitious’ rebrand ahead of Connected Britain
VodafoneThree drops Samsung, relies on Nokia and Ericsson for £2bn network upgrade

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network operator Openreach (BT) has issued a progress update on their deployment of a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network in rural parts of Wales, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Wiltshire, which form part of their Project Gigabit contracts with the UK government.

Just to recap. Openreach has previously been chosen to deliver all of Project Gigabit’s Cross-Regional (Type C) procurements (here, here and here) via a Single Supplier Framework agreement (here) – currently reflecting £745m in total public subsidy to help upgrade 297,000 premises to full fibre technology in some of the hardest to reach parts of rural England, Scotland and Wales (i.e. premises with no prior access to gigabit connectivity).

The areas covered by these Type C contracts typically reflect locations where no or no appropriate market interest had previously been expressed before to the Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency, or areas that have been de-scoped or terminated from a prior plan. Areas like the ones above are often skipped due to being too expensive (difficult) for smaller suppliers; all the other contracts have gone to smaller alternative networks.

Openreach has today issued a few additional progress updates on their related Project Gigabit builds across remote rural parts of Wales, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Wiltshire, which reveals the next batches of locations to be targeted in each region (this also includes some surrounding areas). As usual, it’s important to reflect that network operators don’t usually reach 100% of premises in every location they target.

Openreach’s Project Gigabit Progress (Next Locations)

Wales

Northop Hall, Abercynon, Twyn-yr-Odyn, Nefyn, Llandebrog, Mynytho, Mynyddislwyn, Ynysddu, Hollybush, Abertillery, Aberbeeg, Llanhilleth, Llangeview, Llantrisant, Llanllywel, Llantilio Crossenny, Brynderi, Whitecastle, Llanmadoc, Llangennith, Llanidloes, Machynlleth, Cefn Coch, Llanfair Caereinion, Dolanog, Golfa, Devil’s Bridge and Llanilar.

Surrey

Knaphill, Pirbright and Bisley

Hertfordshire

Much Hadham, Albury, Farnham, Braughing and Bayford.

Wiltshire

Winterbourne Monkton, Brokerswood, Hawkeridge, Heywood, Eastcourt, Oaksey, Royal Wootton Bassett, Clyffe Pypard, Highworth, Avebury, Ogbourne St Andrew, Ogbourne St George and Woodsend.

In total, Openreach’s Full Fibre network already reaches more than 1.1 million properties across Wales, as well as 320,000 properties across Surrey, 360,000 properties across Hertfordshire and 215,000 properties across Wiltshire. In a canned statement, Telecoms Minister, Liz Lloyd, said: “By delivering infrastructure that will serve these communities for decades to come, we’re making sure everyone can benefit from the digital world, no matter where they live.”

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 providers have started to do free automatic upgrades as older copper-based services and lines are slowly withdrawn.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Government’s Building Digital UK agency has today published the latest Q2 – Q3 2025 progress report on their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme. The data reveals that some 1.3 million premises have now received coverage from BDUK’s gigabit programmes since their inception, albeit only 131,090 via Project Gigabit’s contracts.

At present over 88% of UK premises can already access a 1000Mbps+ capable broadband network (here) and Ofcom separately forecasts that this could rise to between 91-97% of homes by January 2028 (here). Most of this has been delivered by commercial deployments (predominantly focused on urban and semi-urban areas), but there are some areas in the final 10-20% of premises that are simply too expensive for commercial providers.

Project Gigabit itself was originally established in 2021 to help extend broadband ISP networks capable of delivering download speeds of at least 1000Mbps (1Gbps) to achieve “nationwide” coverage (c.99%) by 2030 2032 (here) – focusing on the commercially unviable areas (usually rural and semi-rural locations). The project has already committed most of its budget up to 2030, but there are still some contracts yet to be awarded and others that have been scaled-back or switched suppliers (here, here, here and here).

The latest update builds on BDUK’s prior report and covers the wider period between 1st April 2025 and 30th September 2025, although it should be noted that the agency tends to publish a separate and more regular monthly update in order to cover the progress of individual contracts under the Project Gigabit scheme (here). Today’s report is thus more of a general overall progress update, without any individual contract specifics.

The latest Q2-Q3 2025 BDUK data

Of the premises delivered by BDUK between 1st April 2025 and 30th September 2025 (Q2-Q3 only): 

• 71% (57,210) were delivered under Gigabit contracts, or Government Infrastructure Subsidy (GIS) 
• 18% (14,460) were delivered by vouchers 
• 11% (8,590) were delivered by Superfast (e.g. the prior SFBB programme) & Hubs (e.g. Local Full Fibre Networks for the public sector)
• 89% (71,500) of the premises delivered between 1 April 2025 and 30 September 2025 were classified as residential premises and 9% (7,100) were classified as commercial premises.  
• The highest delivery was in England (77%, 61,700 premises), followed by Scotland (14%, 11,300 premises), Wales (7%, 5,700 premises), and Northern Ireland (2%, 1,400 premises) 
• Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest delivery among English regions (19% of England, 11,400), followed by the South East (18%, 11,300) and the North West (17%, 10,300). 

The spreadsheet also includes some additional data and a regional breakdown of the figures, some of which we’ve included below. One key things to note below is that Project Gigabit itself has still only delivered a relatively small amount of gigabit coverage, with the earlier ‘Superfast Broadband Programme‘ (SFBB) still holding the lion’s share (largely because that has run for many years longer).

Gigabit Premises passed by year and BDUK intervention

Gigabit Premises Passed by Year, Country and Region

Finally, BDUK said they were also investigating their vouchers data quality, which may be resulting in a small underestimate of vouchers delivered.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network builder and broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which has invested c.£1bn to deploy a 5Gbps speed full fibre (FTTP) network across 1.342 million UK homes (inc. 185k businesses within 200 metres of their network) – mostly in London, have today launched a new entry-level 100Mbps package for small businesses.

The “Business Ready Broadband” product is said to have been exclusively designed for smaller business operators, such as hairdressers, corner shops, and local bakeries, who do not require speeds up to 10Gbps, or may not be eligible for residential broadband for commercial purposes.

Such businesses can now get CommunityFibre’s Business Ready Broadband 100Mbps broadband (24-month term and £0 set-up) + Calls + Public IP + MX20 router for £45 +vat month. This package also includes access to CommunityFibre’s Phone App, enabling users to make and receive calls on the go.

Business Ready Broadband Features

• Fast full fibre: 100 Mbps upload and download speeds, using the UK’s most reliable broadband technology. No copper at all.
• Calls: Unlimited calls to UK landlines and mobiles. Phone app to take calls on the go.
• Dedicated support team: Real help from real people. Our specialist business team are on hand to help keep you connected.
• Public IP: Unique IP address for secure remote access and hosting services (such as websites, servers and CCTV).
• Service guarantee: If something goes wrong, we’ll have you back up and running as soon as possible with our 8-hour fix time.
• Router included: A Dual-Band Linksys router at no extra cost.
• No hidden costs: There are no upfront costs to worry about with £0 set up fee and free installation.
• Superior reliability: Our award-winning network is up and running over 99.9% of the time, with no peak-time slowdowns.

Side note – by “public IP” they mean a fixed / static IP address.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Business focused UK broadband ISP, IT and Cloud solutions provider FluidOne has today announced that their existing Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Russell Horton, is to step down after seven and a half years in the post. Russell is to be replaced by Paul Kahn.

The announcement credits Horton with growing the business into a £100m+ secure connected cloud solutions provider, which serves 2,200 business customers across the UK. Under his leadership, the company has also completed and integrated nine strategic acquisitions. Horton will support the handover process before officially departing on 8th December 2025, and will remain as an investor in the business.

Horton’s replacement, Paul Kahn, joins the business after serving as President of Government Solutions International at NYSE-listed Fortune 500 company KBR Inc. Prior to that he was also President of Communications and Connectivity at FTSE 250 Cobham PLC. Suffice to say that he has experience in leading large-scale technology, engineering and services businesses through “complex transformations and delivering sustainable growth“.

Paul Kahn, Incoming CEO, said:

“I’m delighted to be joining FluidOne at such an exciting point in its development. Russell and the team have built a business with excellent foundations, strong customer relationships, a service portfolio bringing together secure connectivity, IT, cyber, unified comms and AI, and a culture that clearly delivers for customers.

My immediate focus is on listening and learning, understanding the business, our customers, and the team. I’ll be working closely with the senior leadership team to refine our strategy for the next phase of growth while maintaining the customer service excellence that FluidOne is known for.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The City of London (CoL) Corporation has picked Roc Technologies to deliver a new end-to-end networking connectivity solution, encompassing a UK-first enterprise SASE rollout for public services, AI-driven wireless capability and high-availability internet connectivity. The move comes after Roc reached a deal to harness Vorboss’ 100Gbps full fibre network in the area (here).

Coverage of the new Cloud supported network will span the City of London Corporation, the City of London Police, the Barbican Centre, City of London schools, parks, libraries and protected heritage locations such as Epping Forest, the iconic ponds at Hampstead Heath and Mansion House. A total of over 200 locations are to be included in the solution, ensuring the new connectivity reaches every employee, official, resident and visitor within its community.

The agreement is part of the CoL’s mandate to create a “One City” experience for millions, which aspires to redefine how connectivity empowers residents, visitors and businesses. “This trailblazing infrastructure brings tangible, everyday benefits to users right across the City. Reliable, high-speed access means staff can work productively and securely from any location … Importantly, this enhanced connectivity addresses critical public safety challenges: such as ensuring seamless support for 4K body-worn police cameras, which helps protect officers and the communities they serve, even in remote areas,” said the announcement.

Chelsea Chamberlin, Chief Technology Officet at Roc Technologies, said:

“The City of London sees footfall of millions of people a day, so it’s vital that a consistent network experience is delivered across all locations and to all users, including visitors, residents and businesses regardless of the services they need to access. We’re delighted to be the sole primary supplier for this exciting project, drawing on a range of solutions from our expert partners to deliver a truly future-proof network architecture in the heart of the capital.”

Zakki Ghauri, Director of Digital Services CoLC, said:

“Our ambition is to be at the forefront of digital innovation for the benefit of Londoners. Partnering with Roc enables us to modernise our network, enhance connectivity across all our organisations under one banner and ensure we can deliver innovative, flexible services wherever and whenever they are needed.”

Roc added that all of the vendors and partners involved in the delivery of the new service maintain resilient data centre operations in the UK, ensuring no sensitive data leaves the UK. The solution leverages HPE’s AI-Ops platform, Juniper MIST, global cybersecurity leader Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma SASE solution and Vorboss’ fibre network.

Consolidation of suppliers from 11 to one, Roc also promises cost efficiency – £20,000 a month in savings is projected by removing energy-consuming on-premises hardware and cutting supply chain complexity. The cloud-based service model (i.e. “all traffic and devices managed in the cloud“) is said to mean that services can be scaled up and down as needed, ensuring further savings and necessary agility for the corporation (hopefully they have a non-cloud alternative for disaster backup).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Broadband ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North), which is a community built and supported network that has so far deployed their 10Gbps full fibre (FTTP) lines to cover 30,000 rural premises in England, has announced that they’ve secured new finance from Triodos Bank UK to help expand their network into the North East of England.

The provider, which is a registered Community Benefit Society (i.e. they can’t be bought by a commercial operator and profits go back into the community) and home to over 15,000 customers (target to reach over 20,000 in the next 5 years), has already expanded their full fibre network to cover various remote rural parts of Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria, Northumberland, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Yorkshire, Northumberland and County Durham – often with the direct help of local volunteers (building and shares).

The venerable alternative network is currently working to try and expand the reach of their network outside the North West and deeper into the North East of England, specifically focusing on areas around the Northumberland and County Durham border (e.g. Hexhamshire, West, Humshaugh, Kielder Forest, Kirkwhelpington, Simonburn, Slaley & Healey, Tarset & Falstone, Wall & Sandhow, Warden, Weardale and Woodburn).

However, such an expansion will require extra investment, which is where the new agreement with Triodos Bank UK should come in handy. In 2019, the bank’s corporate finance team structured and raised a £3.3m bond for B4RN, which helped the organisation scale its network and connect thousands of rural homes and businesses. This was often used to underpin their applications to the government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Dinkar Suri, Senior Manager at Triodos Bank UK, said:

“B4RN exemplifies the kind of high-impact, community-led organisation we are proud to support. Its work not only bridges the digital divide but also strengthens rural economies and social cohesion. This new facility reflects our confidence in their model and our shared commitment to inclusive, sustainable development that helps people thrive.”

Tom Rigg, CEO of B4RN, said:

“Triodos has been a trusted partner since our 2019 bond raise, and the bank’s continued support is instrumental in helping us reach more communities. With this new funding, we can accelerate our rollout in the North East and ensure that even the most remote areas have access to world-class digital infrastructure.”

Unfortunately, the announcement doesn’t include any details of the new finance facility, which makes it a bit hard to judge the likely impact. The organisation’s latest annual accounts, which run to the end of March 2025, showed that they had a total of 80 employees, turnover of £4.8m (up 11%) and assets worth £33.67m.

The operator also generated Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of £2.08m (2024: £1.76m) and received £1.8m in Government grants. Last year they invested £5.29m into building their network and its associated technology (2024: £5.71m).

The financial year to which this report relates also saw the launch of their partnership with Nokia as suppliers for the deployment of XGS-PON (10-Gigabit Symmetric Passive Optical Network) technology on their networks, with the first project going online in January 2025.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

One of the country’s largest alternative broadband networks, Netomnia (Substantial Group), will today publish their Q3 2025 results. The figures reveal that revenues on their multi-gigabit speed full fibre (FTTP) network increased to £27.7m (up from £23.6m in Q2 and 125% YoY) and take-up reached 14% (up from 13.4%). Some 2.8 million premises are now covered (up 241k in Q3 vs 243k in Q2).

The results confirm that Netomnia is continuing to build at a rapid pace and thus remains on-track for their current coverage goals – expanding their network coverage by almost 1 million premises per year. The provider also ended the quarter with a total of 396,000 customers (up by 54k in Q3 – the same growth as they had in Q2).

The brief results also reveal that the operator delivered their first positive adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of £0.3m – excluding exceptional items, which is an impressive result given how Q2 delivered a loss of -£4.9m.

However, the ongoing network builds inevitably mean that the company’s Net Debt has also grown by 13% in the quarter to total £801m (debt drawn to date including accrued interest less cash), which is up from £709m in Q2.

Jeremy Chelot, Group CEO of Netomnia (YouFibre, brsk), said:

“For the second consecutive quarter, we’ve maintained the fastest network build and customer acquisition rate among Alt-Nets. With out continued momentum and by combining scale, speed, and capital efficiency, we remain confident in our plan to reach 5 million premises by 2027. Our focus continues to be on building a fibre network ready for whatever comes next, well-positioned and leading the industry’s consolidation.”

The operator has of course also recently been the subject of intense speculation over a possible grand £2bn consolidation deal with either CityFibre or Virgin Media (O2 / Nexfibre) – here, which could see Netomnia being one of the market’s kingmakers. Meanwhile, we’re now expecting YouFibre to launch their new VodafoneThree powered mobile service (YouMobile) in Q1 2026; it was previously expected to launch by the end of 2025 (here).