Latest UK News
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Public AffairsOfcom yields, slashes UK spectrum fees — MNOs demand more
£60m annual reduction sees regulator modify ALF regime and tease softening of spectrum trading regime, but fails to silence criticism that move does not go far enough. Operators lobbying for Treasury to reinvest remaining £270m windfall back into rural 5G…
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Network & InfrastructureUK’s GoFibre bags £105m in Scottish fibre deal
Altnet scores another round of subsidies to install fibre to additional premises in rural Scotland. Award is the third for Scotland from Project Gigabit, as Building Digital UK seeks to hand out more contracts in the country after a slow start (when compared to England and Wales)…
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PeopleUK’s National Wealth Fund names new CEO
Oliver Holbourn to lead UK government investment vehicle with new ‘strategic priorities’ as the organisation looks to invest beyond infrastructure for the first time. However, digital infra has remained one of NWF’s key interests with its recent investment activity…
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Analyst BriefingsBTwatch Analyst Briefing: moving network tests to the real world
Latest from BT as network slicing, 5G SA, and DAS go live; UK fibre challenger CityFibre raises its game with new funding and M&A potential; Adastral Park’s Gemini platform welcomes first quantum startup; and EE and friends earn collusion clearance in Phones 4u case; plus more…
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PeopleBT Peoplewatch: Consumer and Business bosses take boardroom seats
30+ senior and strategic changes at BT, including a treasury replacement; more International swaps as the new B2B division gets settled; new boardroom digs for Marc Allera; more…
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PeopleEx-Telefónica exec Mark Evans joins MCE Systems advisory board
Former O2 Chief Executive Mark Evans and member of the Telefónica’s Executive Committee has landed an advisory role at device lifecycle management firm MCE Systems after leaving the Group in January.
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Public AffairsUK Court of Appeal sides with operators in latest Phones 4u ruling
The UK Court of Appeal has decisively ruled against Phones 4u’s long-running allegations of collusion among major operators, leaving the retailer to consider its final legal options and face substantial costs…
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Financial & PerformanceCityFibre secures £2.3bn war chest to lead UK altnet scaleup round
UK’s largest altnet finalises funding aimed at accelerating operations and driving fibreco consolidation. The question now is ‘what next for Virgin Media O2, its mothballed NetCo spinout, and nexfibre sidecar?’. Read more…
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Partnerships & AlliancesVodafone adds Euro-heft to unbalanced AI-RAN Alliance
Vodafone’s entry into the AI-RAN Alliance takes the still-young vendor- and academic- and Asian-operator-heavy consortium past 100 members. With the AI-RAN market forecast to reach $10bn by 2030, the move underscores the strategic importance of efficiency gains and new revenue opportunities through autonomous networks.
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Innovation (R&D)BT opens up key testing platform to startup as it pursues quantum collaboration
Sheffield-based quantum encryption hardware specialist Sitehop tests and integrates its solution on the Gemini facility at Adastral Park.
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M&ATelefónica to take control of FiBrasil JV in €132m deal
Telefónica’s Brazilian business has agreed a deal to buy out its fibre joint venture partner in a further sign that the Spanish group is now keen to up consolidation and control over past infrastructure side-ventures.
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Venturing & InvestmentsUK gov allocates €163m to Eutelsat fundraising
UK government earmarks sizeable contibution as part of French satellite operator’s €1.5bn funding round. Eutelsat plans to expand OneWeb LEO constellation, shift towards enterprise- and government-focused go-to-market model. Read more…
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Analyst BriefingsUK Infrawatch Analyst Briefing: speed race hots up, gov gives and takes, PIA protested
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK, including: Sky boost for CityFibre and consumer broadband speeds, government promises advanced connectivity investment, SRN goals scaled back; altnets lobby on PIA changes; people moves, and plenty more…
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Analyst BriefingsBTwatch Analyst Briefing: the scale of the altnet challenge
Latest from BT, including a look at the threat faced by Openreach as fibre altnets mature; PIA in focus as Fibrus co-founder questions the incumbent’s duct and pole access pricing; BT Group’s embrace of third-party IT support tools in a bid to cut costs, drive digital transformation; more…
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Partnerships & AlliancesSky marks CityFibre go-live with 5Gbps launch
UK ISP launches new Full Fibre Gigafast+ offerings, supporting speeds of up to 5Gbps for premises connected to CityFibre’s infrastructure. CityFibre CEO Greg Mesch says the deal will help to “deliver a healthy, competitive market for the long-term”…
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Strategy & ChangeTelefónica to take more ‘calculated risks’ in new strategy, says Murtra
Telefónica’s strategic review is now expected in the fourth quarter this year, as Executive Chairman Marc Murtra envisions more risk taking and calls for a “social contract” with the European Commission that enables national consolidation in exchange for investment.
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InterviewFibrus founder decries PIA “margin squeeze”, calls out Ofcom to fix rural fibre build
Interview: Northern Ireland FibreCo hero says Openreach’s duct and pole sharing terms “just wrong”, undermining rural fibre investment. Outspoken chair Conal Henry proposes “fair bet” pricing overhaul, calls on Ofcom to fix its error in latest sector Review…
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Strategy & ChangeBoldyn restructures European biz in strategic rethink
International neutral host player shapes European subsidiary to manage operations in the continent, with the goal of “accelerating market momentum and unlocking new opportunities”. Read more…
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Deep DiveUK Fibre: altnet optimism vindicated over time as take-up erodes incumbent dominance
In depth: Eight Advisory’s latest Tracker shines light on altnet challenge to Openreach, with mature cohorts reaching parity and fibre insurgency continuing amidst land-grab tactics. TelcoTitan’s analysis explores linear trajectory of upstarts, impact of overbuild, continued testing of investor patience, and whether the UK can truly sustain more than two major platforms…
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Suppliers & SCMVendor rebellion: why major operators are ditching Oracle and VMware support contracts
BT and Telefónica are the first of numerous telcos to go on the record challenging software vendor dominance by shifting legacy IT support to third-party specialists. This analysis explores how Spinnaker Support is helping them slash costs, extend end-of-life IT, and reallocate resources…