Related UK News
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Network & Infrastructure
Openreach banks £157m subsidy for Scottish fibre build
BT’s wholesale access arm confirms latest Project Gigabit regional contract as it continues to stack up government grants for fibre notspots and chase near-£1bn-scale BDUK jackpot. Builds on controversial £600m, Scottish R100 awards…
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Weekly Briefings
Vodafonewatch Weekly: AI agents put to task
Latest from Vodafone as the Group’s AI strategy fills out; several Business deals in Europe, Africa, and further afield; and a view from the Group and its peers as geopolitics shake up the industry…
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Network & Infrastructure
BT exploring Edge DC play via towers arm
With the decommissioning of copper networks and a focus on AI-ready infrastructure, BT is investigating edge data centres amongst new commercial models for its tower and exchange assets. Explore the strategic implications (including reporting from TowerXchange Europe)…
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Public Affairs
UK’s AI Growth Zone strategy — fit for purpose?
In-depth: As the UK government opens up its AI Growth Zone initiative for formal applications, industry leaders debate the value, variously describing it as everything from ‘ridiculous’ to ‘ambitious’, and running the risk of ‘fetishising’ location and creating a ‘real mess’, as well as presenting opportunity for the UK on a global stage. Includes reporting from Connected North…
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Operations
Better Workplace: BT closes out five-year real estate overhaul programme
Group closes the Better Workplace book, with Manchester’s newest office redevelopment the final chapter.
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Weekly Briefings
UK Infrawatch Briefing: altnets and Openreach square up, data centres spread out
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK, including: data centres embrace regional opportunities; overbuild threats loom; a closer‑than‑expected scale fibre platform; people moves; plenty more…
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Enterprise (B2B)
One Touch Switching gathers momentum as attention turns to enterprise
Connected North: TOTSCo CEO Paul Bradbury talks up first several months of OTS in action, with lessons and technology now being put to use in enterprise switching trials.
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Financial & Performance
Cost 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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Eventwatch
Kao Data looks north for UK data centre expansion
Connected North 2025: Kao commercial chief Spencer Lamb says it is assessing multiple sites in north-western England to expand its data centre estate, as London power and land bottlenecks persist…
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Eventwatch
Openreach 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&A
BT firms up Italian unit sale to Retelit
Group pens preliminary deal to sell off what remains of BT Italia, but reassures stakeholders that it will “maintain a strong presence” in the country post-transaction. Move continues operator’s international pare-back, provided regulators give it the green light…
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Innovation (R&D)
Gov report predicts £15bn telco productivity boost by 2035
PwC research on emerging technologies sees AI as leading economic transformation, but future telecoms one of the five biggest contributors to GDP growth of 8% by 2035.
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Weekly Briefings
UK Infrawatch Briefing: supply vulnerabilities, vendors value altnets, aggregation opportunities
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK, including: APFN breaking down national fibre barriers, Xantaro driving Wildanet’s ‘aggressive’ expansion; DSIT tackling UK’s vendor duopoly; people moves, and plenty more…
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Network & Infrastructure
Openreach’s new deputy CEO: fibre take-up accelerating, ‘and we can go even faster’
FTTH Conference 2025: Katie Milligan teases Q4 build and take-up figures as Openreach keeps up the fibre rollout pace. Altnets reframe competition battle around migration…
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Suppliers & SCM
Nokia and Xantaro flag value of altnet supply deals
Kit vendor and solution provider sign contracts with Fibrus and Wildanet respectively as altnets emerge as increasingly significant to vendors…
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M&A
MásOrange CEO sees M&A bright side in tariff crisis
MásOrange Chief Executive Meinrad Spenger finds a silver lining for European telcos in disruptive US tariffs as a catalyst for lighter merger controls while Telefónica sees spark of regulatory relief in Europe’s “strategic autonomy” and defence ambitions.
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Network & Infrastructure
AllPoints revs fibre platform engine as aquila nears launch
APFN ‘opens the taps’ of aquila platform, onboarding early ISPs and readying for more, one month ahead of formal launch.
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Suppliers & SCM
In-depth: UK grapples with ‘high dependency’ in network supply chain after security risk clampdown
Deep dive: supply chain watchdog addresses risk of over‑reliance on Ericsson and Nokia in access networks and warns of Ericsson dominance in mobile core. Multi-vendor environment remains a goal, but complexities come with it…
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People
Vodafone appoints Anne-Françoise Nesmes in latest Board reshuffle
Group appoints former Smith & Nephew finance chief to Board of Directors as part of latest reshuffle. Chair van Boxmeer highlights Nesmes’ expertise in finance, IT, and shared services transformation…
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Enterprise (B2B)
‘The year it comes to life’: BT readies for network edge maturity
BT Wholesale’s Mark Toman lays out expectations for network edge in 2025 as early hype gives way to real-world deployments.