Latest on Altnets – Page 3
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Venturing & InvestmentsWessex Internet secures another helping of UK gov fibre funding
The UK government’s National Wealth Fund injects £50m into rural-focused altnet. Combining the cash with prior Project Gigabit wins, Wessex Internet aims to more than triple its current fibre footprint…
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Analyst BriefingUK Infrawatch Analyst Briefing: NVIDIA swoops; BDUK target stretches; altnet ownership wobbles
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK, including: AI’s role in future connectivity, UK and local government investment plans; altnet acquisition rumours; people moves, and plenty more…
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Products & ServicesCityFibre seeks B2B market share with Ethernet expansion
UK’s largest altnet has made Business Ethernet services available to more than 260,000 enterprises, claiming the expansion will enable its ISP partners to sell services in an “easier and more efficient” manner…
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Partnerships & AlliancesHyperoptic switches up strategy with Openreach infra deal
UK altnet signs deal to access “at least” one million additional homes, using Openreach’s fibre infra to provide broadband services, in a shift from its previous own-build strategy…
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Financial & PerformanceTalkTalk late to pay broadband suppliers amidst financial woes — report
TalkTalk has reportedly missed several deadlines for payments to key broadband suppliers such as Openreach and CityFibre, in latest sign of struggle from the debt-burdened UK telco…
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Financial & PerformanceCityFibre ups the ante with 5Gbps fibre launch
New 5.5Gbps offering to be available across national footprint once XGS‑PON upgrade completed. While notably differentiating in the UK, 5G-10G services increasingly available elsewhere in Europe, and at low cost…
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Network & InfraVodafone’s German fibre JV shakes up suppliers to navigate Geodesia delays
OXG Glasfaser has enlisted 29 build partners to accelerate infra rollout and mitigate delays seen with Altice-owned Geodesia. Vodafone’s Margherita Della Valle says the JV is now at “cruising speed” and ready to kick on…
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M&AMásOrange, Vodafone Spain ‘rethink FibreCo stake sale’
Operator duo reportedly considers adjusting plans to offload a 40% stake in their work-in-progress fibre joint venture, after “most” of the initial non-binding offers that investors have submitted fell below the €7bn minimum valuation they are seeking.
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Analyst BriefingEMEA Infrawatch Briefing: tower sell-offs, DC deployments, orbital experiments
Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano says the TowerCo is one step closer to selling its Swiss business and French data centre assets. Meanwhile, IHS Towers forks off Rwandan unit to newly formed tower player. In the space sector, several players look to get D2D services off the ground, while others tinker with new space comms solutions.
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Financial & PerformanceOpenreach seeks another gear as altnets gain and CPs flop
FY24–25: BT CEO Allison Kirkby has tossed earlier promises of lower capex, instead fuelling an accelerated fibre build “now that we’ve got the engine humming” to bolster a defence against altnet incursions, and make up for CP shortcomings…
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Network & InfraFullFibre becomes latest altnet to call off Project Gigabit contracts
UK altnet FullFibre “mutually” agrees with Building Digital UK to terminate two rural fibre contracts, after several other operators have cancelled subsidies under the Project Gigabit scheme in recent months.
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Financial & PerformanceCommunity Fibre take-up rate hits 25% after strategic shift
Altnet hits 25% full-fibre take-up rate, placing it third only to Openreach and nexfibre/VM O2 among UK fibre majors.
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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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M&AVirgin Media O2 still eyeing altnet buys despite pressing pause on NetCo plan
Virgin Media O2 remains hungry for fibre altnet M&A while its NetCo sale plans are put on ice and its own fibre build rate cools off this year.
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Financial & PerformanceUK FibreCo Netomnia seeks positive EBITDA in 2025 after fundraise
Jeremy Chelot, CEO at UK fibre builder Netomnia, claims it is “poised” to achieve positive EBITDA in 2025, as well as to reach its end-of-year fibre rollout target of three million premises passed.
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Strategy & ChangeVM O2 slams brakes on NetCo fundraise amidst Telefónica strategy hiatus (nexfibre curtailed, too)
Plans to sell stake in NetCo spinout paused, as co-parent Liberty looks to “align” with partner Telefónica’s new management. nexfibre build also dramatically slowed to maintain “capital discipline” in UK’s “increasingly irrational” fibre market. Meanwhile, Netomnia raises new funds, ups target by another two millions homes…
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Financial & PerformanceCost 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.
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EventwatchOpenreach and altnet ‘Gladiators’ trade blows on future costs of PIA
Connected North 2025: In robust exchanges at Connected North, Fibrus Chair warns regulator is on the verge of repeating mistakes of the past on PIA pricing, and too easily steered off course on policy.
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M&ACityFibre’s Holden: altnets and backers must pull together for investment‑grade nirvana
In-depth from Eight Advisory’s London event: as UK fibre altnets face financing challenges, optimistic CityFibre COO reveals vision for consolidation, suggesting sector is “a very small number of M&A transactions away” from creating a sufficiently scaled platform to rival BT/Openreach and VM O2. Additional Greg Mesch and Rob Hamlin coverage from FTTH Conference in Amsterdam…
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Network & InfraINCA hails altnet heroes as spectre of overbuild looms
In a punchy, positive report altnet industry group INCA hails “dynamic” altnets on a mission to bring “fairer, faster, and more resilient” connectivity to the UK, but competitive benefits may not be sustainable, and the spectre of ‘supervillain’ Openreach still looms large.