UK – Page 4
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Weekly BriefingsInfrawatch Weekly: fibre routes to retail; TalkTalk’s latest rejig; Asia’s infra ownership overhaul
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including TalkTalk’s last-minute refinancing, investment boosts for the satellite sector, Japan’s moves towards greater infrastructure sharing, and plenty more…
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Weekly BriefingsInfrawatch Weekly: Italian infra on the up; Project Gigabit preps leap forward; Macquarie comes and goes
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond; including INWIT prepping for Italian investment boost; Indus Towers finally getting paid; claims that UK PIA oversight is MIA; latest people moves; and plenty more…
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Network & InfrastructureShort-term delays in NI, but Project Gigabit readying for leap forward across devolved nations
Northern Ireland Executive confirms slight delay in procurement, but confident Project Stratum success can be replicated as paths cleared for Project Gigabit progress in Scotland, Wales…
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Venturing & InvestmentsUK Infrastructure Bank gives fibre sector another financial leg-up
National infra financing organisation backs another rural fibre altnet as Quickline secures a £250m debt package to support rollout in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
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Partnerships & AlliancesMore the merrier: Vodafone and VM O2 add Cellnex to infra-sharing refresh
Freshly renewed infrastructure buddies agree “long-term” deal to access InfraCo’s UK passive tower assets and services. Deal aimed at driving efficiencies, enabling future network scaling. Latest move in Cellnex’s regional consolidation future-proofing…
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Network & InfrastructureProject Gigabit future: UK FibreCos say yes to expansion, but with caveats
Mooted bundling of Project Gigabit mega-contracts gets firm ‘no’ from altnet INCA gathering, but most on board for programme extension. New Labour government urged to protect and evolve rural fibre build to reach final few per cent of rural premises, learn from ‘zany’ Scotland, or risk missing FTTP targets. And then there’s that Type C elephant (not) in the room, Openreach…
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Financial & PerformanceVirgin Media O2 scopes out investment partners for 2025 NetCo launch
Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries says it is looking to finalise financing details this year to bring VM O2’s NetCo online. NetCo progress and fibre build-out puts a cheery note on VM O2’s further weakened performance in Q2, which prompted tweak to financial forecast…
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Venturing & InvestmentsInfracapital: UK FibreCo fundraisers must graft to overcome global ‘bad rep’, new gov showing ‘green shoots’
INCA event provides platform for investors and altnets including Octopus and Netomnia to review early weeks of Labour government, with broad optimism on show despite still rocky funding environment. The capital exists, but what will Downing Street do to bring it to the UK? Read more…
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Financial & PerformanceOpenreach hits halfway mark in UK fibre mega-project
15 million premises now sit within the Openreach FTTP footprint, on track for 30 million by 2030, but a productivity boost is needed if it is to hit its 2026 interim target…
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Venturing & InvestmentsGov-backed UK Infrastructure Bank provides funding to another rural FibreCo
Cornish Wildanet attracts £35m investment from UKIB, days after the bank ploughed £150m into Hyperoptic.
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M&AG.Network: London FibreCo being prepped for trade sale?
Sky News reported anonymous sources claiming the sizeable London fibre provider has hired bankers after being approached by potential buyers. Investors USS and Cube recently rejigging. Potential compatible buyers identified…
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Venturing & InvestmentsHyperoptic crosses £1bn funding milestone with fresh UK investment
Altnet focused on plugging connectivity gaps in urban areas says £150m in UK Infrastructure Bank money will particularly benefit social housing residents.
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Weekly BriefingsInfrawatch Weekly: innovation fuelling investment, data centres bringing in cash
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including billions of dollars flood into data centres, race for satellite mobility drives innovation, ongoing UK efforts to make infrastructure-sharing a viable option; people moves, and plenty more…
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Network & InfrastructureVodafone hands VM O2 a spectrum bonus to win merger support
Following more than a year of talks, Vodafone wins Virgin Media O2 round to its proposed Three merger with an extended network sharing agreement and approval-dependent spectrum transaction. Questions remain about MBNL future, BT response, and CMA viewpoint…
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Network & InfrastructureVirgin Media O2 scrapes past Shared Rural Network waymark… hard work begins now
VM O2 manages to reach interim 4G rural coverage target on deadline day. BT already ahead, Vodafone UK on track, but Three UK yet to confirm progress, with potential penalties from Ofcom looming. Read more…
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Public Affairsnexfibre joins calls to tighten Openreach infra choker, ensure lasting UK fibre competition
UK fibre wholesaler calls for new and improved regulation to provide platform for altnet competition as attention turns to Ofcom’s next five-year framework. Echoes broad consensus among INCA members that more could be done to limit Openreach dominance, encourage altnet investment…
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Weekly BriefingsInfrawatch Weekly: Netomnia climbs UK altnet table, Poland drives on fibre, UK politicians play it safe
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including the emergence of a new £1bn challenger in the UK fibre scene, collab-driven network advances in Poland, connectivity promises in the UK General Election; people moves, and plenty more…
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M&AUK fibre M&A ‘easy’ (compared to challenges of compatibility, integration, compliance)
Challenger leaders at INCA gathering call out lack of industry standards as key obstacle to more M&A. Integration and migration are costly and complex, making compatibility a consideration for prospective buyers. Compliance also increasingly important in valuations. More positive is XGS-PON embrace, deemed a “damn fine standard for a starting place”, but beware legacy tech. Learn more…
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M&AAltnets Netomnia-Brsk merging into UK FibreCo unicorn tier
This weekend sees confirmation of top-ten FibreCos combining into top-five integrated challenger with uprated three million footprint target, wholesale differentiation, prep’d for further M&A. Read more, including our updated market overview…
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M&ALiberty mulls M&A opportunities for Virgin Media O2’s NetCo
Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries still “looking actively” at possible altnet acquisitions, noting potential for VM O2’s planned FibreCo spin-off to serve as a vehicle for consolidation in the UK’s fibre market.