Openreach
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Public AffairsBT facing more strikes as CWU impasse continues
No resolution in sight as union confirms additional strike dates for late-August.
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Operations
“Nobody wins” as BT strike commences
BT and Openreach staff down tools on Friday and Monday.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Openreach: rival CityFibre making headway
Openreach renews ADVA relationship; rebrand initiated; altnet rollouts pick up pace.
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Strategy & Change
Jansen confident as VM O2 steps up fibre challenge
BT Group CEO is upbeat, but not complacent, about FTTP.
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Network & Infrastructure
Elsewhere in Openreach: Updates on regional full‑fibre projects
Openreach updates on regional full‑fibre projects.
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Network & Infrastructure
BT requests “short extension” to Huawei ban deadline
Group blames COVID-19 for delays in removing Huawei from mobile core network.
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Network & Infrastructure
Investor caution creeps into UK fibre altnet sector
Dramatic macroeconomic changes, supply chain issues, and competition move the goal posts for alternative fibre builders.
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Public Affairs
CWU strike looms as BT “refuses” to negotiate
BT and Openreach staff will strike on 29 July and 1 August.
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Public Affairs
Union issues final ultimatum after “incredible” BT strike action ballot
Communication Workers Union will avoid “knee-jerk” decision despite overwhelming majority vote to strike.
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Public Affairs
BT has ‘robust’ plan to cope with strike action
BT CTO Howard Watson claims “preparedness” for potential industrial action.
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Public Affairs
BT ‘foodbank’ stokes union ire ahead of strike vote
CWU leaders angrily cite food donations for EE call centre staff as an example of employees struggling to make ends meet.
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Operations
Openreach’s Selley slams ‘tortuous’ process for hiring EU workers
Openreach CEO warns of constraints on pace of fibre network build.
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Network & Infrastructure
BT’s Digital Voice switchover on track despite delays
CEO Jansen confident in operator’s ability to rectify problems in analogue-to-digital switchover.
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Network & Infrastructure
BT makes steady progress on broadband USO
Latest update shows 4,600 premises connected, with thousands more in the works. Excessive costs remain a problem for rural premises despite Ofcom intervention.
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Network & Infrastructure
Subsea rollout for 15 Scottish islands ramps up
BT partner Global Marine to start deployment of 16 subsea cables from May. Initial survey work completed last year by Fugro and OceanIQ.
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Network & Infrastructure
Funding keeps flowing for UK full-fibre altnets
Investor appetite still strong for UK’s busy fibre build scene. Altnets swell ranks to 100 and counting, some start to snap up rivals. Old guard Openreach keeps ahead of the pack with seven million premises passed for full-fibre rollout.
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Network & Infrastructure
Scottish gov working with Openreach to accelerate R100
R100 project, backed by devolved Scottish government, connects only tiny fraction of targeted premises with superfast broadband. Subsea infrastructure on track to hit rollout deadline, but wider R100 programme facing delays. Scottish government “actively engaging” with Openreach to accelerate rollout; acknowledges (again) that R100 is “hugely challenging”.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Openreach: Arson takes out 7,400 connections
Arson attack in Kent knocks out 7,400 connections; Openreach set to launch Advanced Install pilot for complex jobs.
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Public Affairs
eir takes BT to court for NI public sector bid
Irish incumbent seeks compensation for long-running dispute regarding NI PSSN contract. Public sector IT services deal, won by BT in 2018, said to be worth up to £400m.
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Public Affairs
Industrial action inbound as union rejects biggest BT pay rise in 20 years
Communication Workers Union rebuffs improved offer of a £1,500 flat rise for 58,000 employees. Union states it will take BT’s management “to a place they’ve never been before” as it prepares for a statutory industrial action ballot. BT believes its rates “compare well” against competitors.
