Latest from Connected Britain
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M&A
IQGeo: KKR’s latest tech buy adds geospatial smarts to sprawling infra portfolio
Private equity giant KKR is taking Cambridge-based geospatial software specialist IQGeo private in £333m deal, pledging to fuel new phase of growth. Log in to understand this hot specialist and what it provides network operators worldwide…
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Weekly Briefings
BTwatch Weekly: gov’t reforms required as Openreach seeks fibre residencies
Latest from BT and its ecosystem as the Group makes fixed network demands, rolls out next-gen mobile, and works to surrender international outposts. More from Connected Britain, Secure Tomorrow Festival, and elsewhere in a busy week for BT, EE, and Openreach…
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Public Affairs
Deep dive: What UK FibreCos want from Labour gov’t
Fibre builders share what they want from the new Labour government, with policy consistency and demand-side support topping wishlists, divergence on the detail. Read more…
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Suppliers & SCM
Vodafone’s scaleup hothouse pivots to address telco ‘risk aversion’
Connected Britain: Tomorrow Street CEO Kenny Graham talks up JV’s role in educating Vodafone execs of need to take risks to leverage emerging technology.
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Public Affairs
UK Minister hints at fixes for FibreCos’ apartment access woes
Operators vent about barriers to accessing MDU access as new Telecoms Minister offers support for reforms, but little in the way of detail or firm commitments…
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Products & Services
In depth: One Touch Switching launch day
UK’s ‘imperfect’ fixed broadband migration hub debuts to mixed altnet reviews, and incumbent ISP win-back loophole only spotted on launch day. OTS broadly seen by many challengers as open season on majors with poor customer satisfaction, mixed with fears of race to bottom and weakness on multi-play (Sky and VM O2 are both bullish, too). Register to read…
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Eventwatch
Virgin Media O2 and CityFibre question each other’s fibre maths
Connected Britain: VM O2 CEO Lutz Schüler argues operator is taking “challenger” approach in UK’s fibre market, with nexfibre spin-off and upcoming NetCo positioning operator to be a “long-term sustainable partner” to altnets.
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Eventwatch
EE navigates ‘tricky’ 5G SA marketing, steers clear of sector’s past blunders
Speaking at Connected Britain, EE Chief Executive Marc Allera said advertising 5G SA is a challenge and not helped by the mobile industry over-promising and under-delivering on non-standalone 5G.
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Strategy & Change
Yorkshire challenger Connexin tag-teaming Calix to unlock SME as ‘experience provider’
’Value-add tops megabits’: ambitious regional fibre challenger and key partner open up on winning ways at Connected North. SME segment presented as golden opportunity to strike against incumbents through solutions tailored using network and service data insights. And much more…
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Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: interesting infra times in Spain, a SatCo share drop lawsuit, and UK altnets’ ‘moment of peril’
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including consideration at Connected North of how altnets can balance urgent, and occasionally conflicting, priorities; Cellnex aiming to win as the Spanish mobile sector restructures, and exploring a new TowerCo paradigm in Poland; Phoenix Towers’ European expansion ambitions; legal woes compound setbacks at SpaceMobile; plus plenty more…
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Network & Infrastructure
Openreach targets 30m full-fibre premises, nexfibre calls for altnet ramp-up
At Connected North in Manchester, Openreach optimism was juxtaposed by altnet consternation about the state of the UK fibre market.
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Eventwatch
TelcoTitans Eventwatch calendar: the industry events that matter
TelcoTitans Eventwatch highlights the key events to look out for in 2024 and 2025 that really matter, and those we will be covering, attending, and associated with as an official media partner.
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Interview
CEO Interview: CityFibre on M&A watch, competition bottlenecks, BT economic rationale questioned
‘BT’ called out for obstinate, irrational, anti-competitive behaviour that penalises own shareholders — needs to prioritise copper shutdown to deliver fibre payback, and start serving consumers outside Openreach footprint. Also CityFibre’s M&A tracking/ranking and NetCo purism, big-3 ISP lockout, regulator told to keep sharp, and more…
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Eventwatch
Interview: CityFibre strives to shift the dial on UK fibre safety standards
Connected Britain 2023: In an interview with TelcoTitans, Sarah Parsons, Director of Compliance at CityFibre, shares how the altnet is evolving its safety standards to keep pace with its fibre rollout, and how it collaborates with peers in the SHiFT group to compete to do better.
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Eventwatch
Rural fibre business case “getting stronger” as UK altnets look to boost take-up
Connected Britain 2023: UK fibre builders warming up to rural rollout as private funding becomes harder to access. Perspectives from Lothian Broadband, County Broadband, CityFibre, Openreach, and CommScope.
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Eventwatch
Interview: UK altnet Hyperoptic boosts CX in full-fibre take-up drive
In an interview with TelcoTitans, Dana Tobak, founder and CEO of Hyperoptic, shares how financial discipline guides the UK altnet.
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M&A
MPs warn of “terrible consequences” of Vodafone–Three “cartel” as security put in merger spotlight
MP disquiet on prospect of Chinese part-ownership of UK’s largest mobile network appears closely tied to union Unite’s ‘dossier’ outlining national security threat, as shadow of Huawei ban looms large.
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Strategy & Change
BT quashes talk of Openreach split
Connected Britain 2023: Howard Watson and Clive Selley say structural separation is not on the agenda; BT focused squarely on driving full-fibre deployment.
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Eventwatch
Investors say “time to think better” on UK altnet strategy
Connected Britain 2023: investment firms express clearer vision for which altnets it anticipates will succeed in the market.
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Network & Infrastructure
Vector Technologies: fibre access networks must embrace multi-vendor to achieve scale efficiencies and spur innovation
As fibre access operators focus on operational excellence for sustainable growth, fostering vendor competition while protecting service stability will be essential, according to Vector Technologies. The broadband SI also has clear execution and strategy guidance on automation, softwarisation, complexity, standardisation, and the skills gap.