All Openreach articles
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Weekly Briefings
UK 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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Weekly Briefings
BTwatch 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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Interview
Fibrus 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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Deep Dive
UK 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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Weekly Briefings
BTwatch Briefing: state-backed infra advances with varying success
Latest developments from BT, including: varying pace of public-backed projects ESN, Project Gigabit, R100, and SRN; buying chief Cyril Pourrat on AI momentum; RCS innovation with Brand Assure; Middle Eastern DHL deal; more…
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Network & Infrastructure
UK’s Freedom Fibre bails out of second Project Gigabit deal
UK altnet becomes latest to cancel rural fibre contract with Building Digital UK, leaving the organisation needing to find another supplier to cover more than 8,500 un-connected premises …
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Financial & Performance
CityFibre closing in on existential £2bn funding — report
Leading UK fibre altnet reportedly close to securing long-anticipated new equity and debt refinancing, to support operations, organic expansion, and M&A consolidator credibility in overcrowded fibre sector. CityFibre says further details to come “shortly”…
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Weekly Briefings
BTwatch Weekly: BT navigates changing UK telco landscape
Latest from BT, including a firmed-up leadership team at new overseas B2B unit BT International; TalkTalk takeover mooted; Consumer tackles CX with 4,000+ AI bots; and BT braces for newly scaled VodafoneThree impact…
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M&A
BT said to explore TalkTalk takeover to fend off further customer losses
BT reportedly mulling opportunistic acquisition of financially and operationally challenged TalkTalk, which could help with shoring up defences against fibre altnets and competing in the low-cost broadband sphere. Includes fibre wholesale, copper shutdown, exchange consolidation intrigue…
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People
BT Peoplewatch: Bas Burger names his BT International lieutenants
40+ senior and strategic changes across the group, including an all-new BT International top-team under Burger’s leadership; changes at Jon James’ Business branch; a HR return for Alison Wilcox; CFO swaps at Digital and Networks; more…
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Partnerships & Alliances
Hyperoptic 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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Weekly Briefings
BTwatch Weekly: chops and changes in CEO Kirkby’s first year
Latest from BT as the group reports on FY24–25, with CEO Allison Kirkby talking up progress made since she was appointed. Business has been restructured; more investment pledged to Openreach fibre build; and Consumer’s short-lived one-brand strategy has been uprooted…
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Financial & Performance
TalkTalk 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 & Performance
CityFibre 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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Weekly Briefings
UK Infrawatch Briefing: APFN’s new platform, Avanti’s court win, Netomnia grows backbone
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK, including: wholesale aggregation gathers pace; rural coverage ups and downs; Netomnia’s core capacity expansion; and plenty more…
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Financial & Performance
BT FY24−25 Spend: ‘on and off’ contractors help keep cost-cutting on track
BT’s long-running cost-cutting campaign is in full swing, with headcount cuts driving the savings. Capex continues to rise despite earlier promises, but the (revised) peak is in sight…
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Financial & Performance
BT FY24−25 In-depth: another year of transition
Group CEO Allison Kirkby has called the past year one of ‘transition’, but insists a turnaround is imminent. ‘Revenue pressure’ (see, decline) reflects a challenging FY for all divisions, but strategic and structural change at the Group may have set it up for delivery next FY and beyond…
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Financial & Performance
BT FY24−25 Guidance: free cash flow ‘inflection point’ in touching distance
Group misses revised revenue targets, and expects another fall to come, but groundwork has been laid for elusive ‘predictable growth’ two years out…
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Financial & Performance
BT FY24−25: no longer a newcomer, CEO Kirkby begins to make her mark
A year of mixed results, but CEO Allison Kirkby claims the strategic tweaks of her first 15 months are having an impact. A management team overhaul, a renewed domestic focus, and an apparent ability to capture investors’ imagination has set the Group on an upward trend, albeit with plenty of work to do to deliver on her vision…
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Financial & Performance
Openreach 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…