All Connected (Africa, America, Britain, Germany) articles
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NetworkUK fibreco Hyperoptic rejects wholesale as retail focus starts to pay
Altnet’s latest accounts reveal an altnet balancing rising debt and ongoing cash burn against improving profitability and penetration, while CEO Dana Tobak outlines an increasingly selective approach to expansion, wholesaling and consolidation.
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Analyst BriefingBTwatch: focus on the fibre end-game
Analyst Briefing: Openreach arrived at Connected Britain as the industry’s favourite antagonist, but its leadership remained firmly focused on two objectives: finishing the UK’s full-fibre rollout and accelerating the retirement of the copper network. More from BT Business, EE, elsewhere…
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NetworkBeyond BDUK: Openreach sets clock ticking on connecting hardest-to-reach
Openreach strategist Richard Allwood warns that government‑funded work on reaching the final 10% of the UK population with ultrafast services needs to be undertaken before commercial build demobilisation and copper network switchoff gather pace.
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EventwatchUK government, industry push partnerships to speed space innovation
The UK’s new £7.8bn space strategy places sovereignty at its core, but industry leaders argue that international partnerships, open standards, and multinational ecosystems will be critical if the country hopes to compete at meaningful scale.
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B2BUK fibrecos gasping for air as Openreach discounts ‘take oxygen out of the system’
In-depth: Openreach’s wholesale discounting strategy has become the latest battleground in the UK fibre wars, with altnet leaders urging Ofcom to intervene more aggressively while the incumbent insists it is simply competing on price.
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Strategy & ChangeITS promotes collaboration before ‘toolkit’ consolidation in “tough market”
Daren Baythorpe, CEO at UK B2B fibre wholesaler ITS Technology, believes the next phase of telecoms consolidation could look very different from the last. The B2B wholesaler boss argues that investors may increasingly combine complementary infrastructure assets rather than pursue straightforward fibre-network mergers.
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M&AUK: industry braced as nexfibre–Netomnia deal becomes referendum for fibre’s future
In-depth: £2bn deal dominated the keynote stage at Connected Britain, with rival executives abandoning diplomatic language and openly clashing ahead of a competition ruling that could determine shape of UK fibre’s next phase.
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B2BUK ISPs remain in wait for One Touch Switching B2B variant
TOTSCo’s gaining provider-led business switching platform is ready, with funding and testing complete by BT, Sky, VM O2, and Vodafone — but a go-live date remains elusive.
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Analyst BriefingVodafonewatch: ‘right-sizing’ winners and losers
Analyst Briefing: Vodafone closes the year out with promises of network investment to come and new B2B IT capability; SpaceMobile looks to 2026 with expectation after ‘validating’ value in the past twelve months…
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M&A‘We need to get on with it’: nexfibre boss wants to see altnet acquisition action
Fibreco chief suggests some investors will have to swallow losses on altnets as the industry goes into consolidation mode.
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Public Affairs‘Enormously aggressive’: nexfibre leads altnet complaints against Openreach copper-to-fibre discounting
Connected Britain 2025: As Openreach pulls levers to combat massive broadband losses, and drive fibre adoption alongside, altnet leaders have called out the discount pricing strategy as unsustainable. nexfibre execs have called it an exploitation of the incumbent’s significant market powers, CityFibre warns of structure advantage, plus views from other altnets, rivals…
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Strategy & ChangeFrom upstart to fibre-mobile powerhouse: Netomnia CEO plots BT take-down
Connected Britain: Jeremy Chelot refreshes provocative vision for fibreco segment, with fixed-mobile convergence latest outcome of choice. The ultimate prize could be a scaled altnet merging with VodafoneThree, or a new MNO — creating a new heavyweight contender to BT/Openreach…
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Strategy & ChangeGrain skewers wholesale model as altnets ponder consolidation
At Connected Britain the UK’s largest fibre platforms called on investors and smaller players to accept the inevitability of consolidation. Niche challenger Grain rebutted the assumption that scale is now critical, and instead called into question the foundations of current wholesale‑led models.
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Public AffairsBT’s Kirkby pulls no punches in review of UK regulatory, fiscal policy
Connected Britain: Allison Kirkby lets loose on Downing Street policy, with greater fiscal certainty needed to fund much-needed infra investment and AI adoption. Regulatory policy comes in for inevitable criticism too, as the BT boss sets the scene for the Chancellor’s upcoming Budget and Ofcom’s pending Telecoms Access Review…
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Products & ServicesRip & Restart: AllPoints launches aquila UK fibre wholesale platform
Days after Zen’s The Fibre Hub launch, Fern Trading outpost opens curtains on UK’s latest aggregator in effort to offer a simplified, stable route to ‘national’ ISP scale, with multiple FibreCos and B2B retailers already on board. Could this be the game-changer the altnet segment needs?
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EventwatchDigital Voice: BT dials up VM O2, gov to help reboot ‘beyond painful’ migration
With POTS shutdown a strategic financial imperative, BT belatedly embraces collaboration to reach remaining two million (many vulnerable) analogue subscribers, as the already delayed digital landline switchover deadline looms…
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Public AffairsUK’s AI Growth Zone strategy — fit for purpose?
In-depth: As the UK government opens up its AI Growth Zone initiative for formal applications, industry leaders debate the value, variously describing it as everything from ‘ridiculous’ to ‘ambitious’, and running the risk of ‘fetishising’ location and creating a ‘real mess’, as well as presenting opportunity for the UK on a global stage. Includes reporting from Connected North…
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Analyst BriefingUK Infrawatch Briefing: altnets and Openreach square up, data centres spread out
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK, including: data centres embrace regional opportunities; overbuild threats loom; a closer‑than‑expected scale fibre platform; people moves; plenty more…
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B2BOne Touch Switching gathers momentum as attention turns to enterprise
Connected North: TOTSCo CEO Paul Bradbury talks up first several months of OTS in action, with lessons and technology now being put to use in enterprise switching trials.
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Finance & StrategyCost leadership key as UK FibreCo Grain sows seeds of profitability
Connected North: Grain CEO Richard Cameron positions “cost leadership” as the key to long‑term success for a consolidating and converging altnet sector, following positive earnings in most recent quarter.