A new interactive map has today been published by Thinkbroadband that rather handily provides a visual overview of the government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out across England and Wales, which drills down to premises level by factoring in a total of 30 million Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRN).

As part of this programme, the Government’s executive Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency conducts regular Open Market Reviews (OMR), which is used to identify areas that can already access 1000Mbps+ capable broadband and those that are expected to receive it over the next three years. This in turn helps BDUK to figure out which locations may require public investment in the future to help access the same connectivity.

The OMRs are conducting several times a year and typically place individual properties into a set of four categories – labelled as White, Grey, Black and Under Review. BDUK will only subsidise build to premises which have been designated as White.

• White – indicates premises with no gigabit network infrastructure and none is likely to be developed within 3 years.
• Grey – indicates premises where a qualifying gigabit infrastructure from a single supplier is available, or is to be deployed within the coming 3 years.
• Black – indicates premises with two or more qualifying gigabit infrastructures from different suppliers being available, or will be deployed within the coming 3 years.
• Under Review – indicates premises where suppliers have reported current or planned commercial broadband coverage, but where claimed current gigabit coverage has not been verified, or, in respect of planned build, where evaluators are confident that gigabit infrastructure will be delivered, but some risks to delivery remain, or there are some gaps in evidence.

The new map from TBB takes the data from BDUK’s most recent September 2024 OMR – for England and Wales – and attempts to visualise it, albeit with different colour coding (i.e. Yellow dots for ‘White’ premises [no gigabit services existing or planned], Blue dots for ‘Under Review’ premises and Grey dots for premises where one or more Gigabit services are already delivered or planned). Some other caveats also apply (details).

Overall, this is a very useful tool and one that enables people, using the latest available data, to quickly see where they are within the government’s project by zooming down to a ‘per premises’ level. You can even click your home to uncover more info. on the relevant contract lot and status etc. Big credit to TBB for producing this and making it available to the public.

Take note that there’s ongoing OMR activity within Scotland and Northern Ireland, so similar data isn’t yet available for those two.

Internet access and online security provider Gigabit IQ has today announced that they’ve become the latest ISP to join F&W Networks‘ (Fibre and Wireless) new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, which mostly covers parts of the South East of England.

F&WN has so far managed to extend their full fibre broadband infrastructure to cover 410,000 UK premises (RFS) across various towns in London, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and West Sussex. But we haven’t had any further progress updates on this since February 2024 (partly due to last year’s build slowdown).

Meanwhile, Gigabit IQ, which was recently recognised as the Best Rural Internet Provider 2024 by the ISPA and awarded Best OTT Service by the UK Fibre Awards, has previously hooked up with FullFibre Limited and is now extending their UK reach via F&WN’s network.

The provider also integrates safety features like FamilyGuard+ and CyberGuard+ through the Gigabit IQ app, which helps to ensure that households can enjoy safeguards against online threats.

Mashood Ahmad, MD of Gigabit IQ, said:

“Our partnership with F&W is a major step forward in ensuring that families and communities can access high-speed internet that doesn’t compromise on safety. We are passionate about creating a safer digital future, and this collaboration enables us to deliver cutting-edge broadband that empowers households to thrive online.”

José Luis San Martín, F&W Networks’ CEO, said:

“We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with Gigabit IQ, a company renowned for its strong and trustworthy presence in local communities across Surrey and West Sussex. Their dedication to customer support, safety, and security sets a high standard in the industry, consistently going above and beyond to serve their customers’ needs.”

“As Gigabit IQ continues to strengthen its foothold in these areas and expand into neighbouring communities, we are excited to support their journey and contribute to their growth. Together, we aim to drive forward innovation and deliver exceptional value to the communities we serve,”

Internet connection benchmarking firm nPerf has today published the results from a new crowdsourced study into fixed broadband ISP speeds across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But oddly the results only cover Sky Broadband, Virgin Media, Vodafone, TalkTalk, Fibrus (NI) and Ogi (Wales).

The latest nPerf study is based on speedtests that were carried out – between 1st January and 31st December 2024 – exclusively by end-customers using tools on both nPerf’s website and via their dedicated mobile testing apps for Android and iOS. But we don’t get any hard stats on the sample sizes or structure.

However, in a somewhat unusual outcome, the UK’s largest broadband provider – BT (inc. EE and Plusnet) – is nowhere to be found in any of the summaries. The company added that they “only include national internet service providers with a test share above 5%“, which suggests that BT somehow ended up, in every nation, with a very small sample of results and that seems questionable.

Suffice to say that we recommend taking these results, which we’ve summarised below, with a pinch of salt. But you can also read the individual reports here for more detail.

Broadband ISP Plusnet has introduced a bunch of new discounts across their home broadband plans for new customers, which for example has cut the monthly price of their top 900Mbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) package to just £37.99 per month on a 24-month term (price increases by £3 per month from April each year). Plus there’s a £110 reward card thrown-in.

The internet provider’s fibre broadband packages are typically data-only plans (no home phone) that include unlimited usage, a new Hub Two wireless router (re-branded BT Smart Hub 2), UK based support, a 24-month minimum contract term, Plusnet SafeGuard and Protect – both powered by Norton – and free activation.

Take note that, on 31st March each year, the monthly plan price will increase by £3 for broadband and out of bundle charges will increase 5%. We’ve summarised what this means and the latest deals below.

Plusnet’s February 2025 Broadband Discounts

Full Fibre 145Mbps (30Mbps upload)
£50 Reward Card (pre-paid Mastercard)
Price: £26.99 per month

Price increases to £29.99pm on 1st April 2025 and £32.99pm on 1st April 2026

Full Fibre 300Mbps (50Mbps)
Price: £28.99

Price increases to £31.99pm on 1st April 2025 and £34.99pm on 1st April 2026

Full Fibre 500Mbps (75Mbps)
£110 Reward Card (pre-paid Mastercard)
Price: £32.99

Price increases to £35.99pm on 1st April 2025 and £38.99pm on 1st April 2026

Full Fibre 900Mbps (115Mbps)
£110 Reward Card (pre-paid Mastercard)
Price: £37.99

Price increases to £40.99pm on 1st April 2025 and £43.99pm on 1st April 2026

Take note that Plusnet also sell a 75Mbps FTTP and SOGEA (FTTC) based broadband tier that starts at £25.99 per month, which also comes with a £110 Reward Card.

Broadband ISP and telecoms giant BT have today confirmed that they will recruit more than 600 additional apprentices and graduates in 2025 (up from 500 in 2024) – forming part of their September 2025 intake. The roles will span across areas such as cybersecurity, software engineering and customer service.

As usual, the new roles will be also be spread across a number of UK locations, including in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Darlington, Ipswich, Leeds, London, Manchester, Sheffield, and Warrington (field-based roles will also be in communities across the country).

BT notes that they’re one of the UK’s largest private sector apprenticeship employers and have recruited more than 3,000 apprentices and graduates over the past five years, although this does tend to gloss over job losses in other areas.

Athalie Williams, Chief Human Resources Officer at BT Group, said:

“I’m incredibly proud of the opportunities we provide to develop new talent at BT Group and recognise the valuable contributions graduates and apprentices bring to the workforce. Last year alone, we recruited around 500 apprentices and graduates, all eager to learn, develop their skills, and help deliver better experiences for our customers.”

Further details can be found here – https://www.bt.com/earlycareers.

Broadband ISP Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre and O2) and civil engineering partner Svella Connect are currently trying to resolve a difficult dispute over “contractual terms“, which touches on issues of worker safety, rate reductions, and work volumes for Nexfibre. But there’s still hope for an amicable solution that may avoid the risk of redundancies.

For context. Svella Connect is a telecommunications contractor working with Virgin Media, Openreach and CityFibre to help expand their respective national fibre optic broadband networks. A good chunk of their work with Virgin Media was acquired when they gobbled up the struggling telecoms division of NMCN Plc at the start of 2022 (here).

Svella Connect was thus previously carrying out work for Virgin Media under both their past Project Lightning network expansion and the more recent Morpheus contracts, with the Morpheus framework originally running until March 2025.

However, recently ISPreview has observed a rise in complaints from certain Virgin Media areas, which were previously known to be covered by engineers from Svella Connect but which now seemed to be handled by another contractor. The complaints tended to manifest as delays for customers getting connected and awaiting re-pulls etc.

Admittedly cable re-pulls, which usually reflect a change of cable to your home, can sometimes involve multiple engineers to complete, or construction work and permissions from local councils that can cause delays. But on digging deeper (no pun intended) we also discovered that Svella Connect had begun the process of lodging a Part 7 Claim against Virgin Media.

Svella Connected commented:

“Last year, Svella and Virgin Media mutually agreed to transfer the Morpheus contract to O’Connor Utilities, with the understanding that this would secure longer-term volumes under the Lightning contract. Any customer service concerns that have arisen are likely post-transfer, as Svella Connect is not aware of any outstanding issues from its period of work.

Separately, Svella Connect has raised concerns regarding Virgin Media’s approach to contractual terms. This includes attempted unilateral rate reductions and a shift to less safe working practices—particularly the move away from MEWPs for overhead work to ladders, which was not part of the original agreement.

Svella Connect also believes that Virgin Media has not fulfilled certain obligations under the transfer agreement, particularly in relation to work volumes for Nexfibre. As a result, Svella has lodged a claim for financial impacts arising from these breaches. However, this has not been formally issued, as discussions are ongoing in the hope of resolving matters amicably and endeavouring to mitigate the impact of any potential job losses that failure to provide these volumes will cause.”

The contractor also clarified that there were “no genuine performance concerns” on Svella’s part, and that payments continue to be made by Virgin Media for all amounts outside of the claim.

A Virgin Media spokesperson told ISPreview:

“We are continuing to work with Svella and providing open and constructive feedback, as we do with all our valued build partners, to ensure they meet the high standards we expect.”

Disputes between network operators and contractors do happen in this industry, although they often get resolved before reaching the courts and thus simply go unnoticed by the wider public. Hopefully an amicable solution can be found for both sides here too, which would help to avoid the aforementioned risk of future redundancies. Equally, it’s easy to understand how some existing customer work might still be impacted by a change in contractor.

The Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has published contract modification notices for CityFibre’s state aid funded Project Gigabit broadband roll-outs across four regions – Hampshire (Lot 27), Suffolk (Lot 2), Cambridgeshire (Lot 5) and Norfolk (Lot 7). The changes increase the level of committed public funding and often also the contracted scope.

Just to recap. The original announcement in July 2024 (here) pledged £114m for Norfolk to help CityFibre expand their full fibre (FTTP) network to reach an additional 62,200 homes and businesses in hard-to-reach rural areas, while Suffolk saw a commitment of £100m to reach 79,500 premises and Hampshire got £104m for 75,500 premises (this excludes the impact from CityFibre’s complementary commercial builds).

Separately, during March 2023, the operator also secured £69m to reach a further 45,000 premises in Cambridgeshire and adjacent areas under the same project (here). Since then, CityFibre has begun construction work on all of these projects, as well as several other Project Gigabit contracts.

However, today we’re only focused on the above four contracts, where the government has just published formal contract modification notices, which increases the level of committed public funding for each.

CityFibre’s BDUK Contract Modifications

Hampshire (Lot 27)

Original figure: £104m

Awarded value after modification £127,875,417, increase in value of £23,700,419.

Suffolk (Lot 2)

Original figure: £100m

Awarded value after modification £116,015,193, increase in value of £15,615,917

Cambridgeshire (Lot 5)

Original figure: £69m

Awarded value after modification £73,466,901 increase in value of £4,830,110.

Norfolk (Lot 7)

Original figure: £114m

Awarded value after modification £128,804,454, increase in value of £14,587,891.

The reality is that such contracts are not static and their scope, as well as committed levels of public funding, can change over time for a number of different reasons (as instructed by regular ‘Public Reviews’ of UK deployment plans). For example, commercial operators may expand or reduce their deployment plans in the same region, which can reduce or grow the scope for public investment within a contracted area.

The contracted operator could also find the deployment more expensive or even cheaper than previously envisaged, such as due to changes in build costs and interest rates / inflation, as well as any unexpected obstacles to street works or greater efficiencies of build than planned or expected.

In other cases, such as in Norfolk, we already know that a big chunk of the recent funding increase was because, at the time of the original award, several thousand additional premises were still being reviewed for future inclusion into the contract (here). But officially the latest contract modifications only list the following reasons, without giving any specifics.

Reasons for modification

Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire.

Description of the economic or technical reasons and the inconvenience or duplication of cost preventing a change of contractor:

Additional scope added to the contract in accordance with the UK subsidy control regime

The new notices make no mention of the numerical impact upon premises passed, although the latest documentation from the Government’s executive Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency now lists each contract as having the following coverage targets: Hampshire (91,035 premises – up from 75.5k), Suffolk (88,970 – up from 79.5k), Cambridgeshire (47,154 – up from 45k) and Norfolk (75,587 – up from 62.2k).

Suffice to say, the deployments may now cost a fair bit more, but they’re also going to reach more premises than originally planned. This could of course also mean that they’ll take a bit longer to reach completion than originally envisaged, as there’s now more work to be done.

On the flip side, BDUK do seem to pump out a lot of different figures – in different places – for the same contracts, which can be confusing and could easily be cleared up if they just centralised how they communicate all these changes and updates. We should add that BDUK are aware of this problem and have been looking to tidy things up in the near future.

News

Tele2’s executive changes continue with the exit of the company’s current CCO and CFO

This week, Swedish operator Tele2 has announced the latest in a string of managerial changes, with both the company’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) departing imminently.

The announcement has seen current CCO Hendrik de Groot leave the company to be replaced by Petr Cermak, who has most recently served as Telia’s Group Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer.

Cermak will take over the role on 10 February.

“I am very pleased to welcome Petr to the team. His extensive telecom expertise, strategic mindset, and ability to drive change will be invaluable as we accelerate the transformation of Tele2 into a faster and stronger company,” said Jean Marc Harion, CEO & President at Tele2.

In the same announcement, Tele2 also announced that CFO Charlotte Hansson is departing, with Peter Landgren, currently Head of Financial Reporting & Operations at Tele2, taking over the role immediately on an interim basis, effective immediately.

The company says a permanent replacement is currently being recruited and will be appointed ‘in the coming months’.

“I thank Hendrik and Charlotte for their steadfast dedication and leadership during their time with Tele2. They have both been instrumental for Tele2’s commercial and financial progress in the past four years, and I wish them all the best in their future endeavors,” added Harion.

This is the latest in a string of management changes for Tele2, much of which appears related to the 20% stake in the business purchased by Iliad Group in February last year. Iliad’s CEO Thomas Raynaud being made Tele2 chairman in April and by September Tele2’s CEO Kjell Johnsen had announced his exit, to be replaced by Harion – then head of Iliad Poland – in November.

Shortly after this, Tele2’s CTIO Yogesh Malik also left the company, while executive VP of people and change, Jenny Garneij, and the company’s chief operations officer (COO), Kim Hagberg, both announced their exits in January.

This shakeup and drive for a new operational direction was also evident in the company’s most recent financial results, which were released at the end of last month.

Commenting on the results, Harion warned the company would undergo ‘significant changes’ during 2025.

“We will reduce complexity, reinforce cost discipline and carefully select investments to focus on those that make a real difference for our customers. Our organisation will undergo significant changes during 2025. This will be a challenging time for all our colleagues, especially those directly affected by the reorganisation. Myself and all Tele2 leaders carry a great responsibility in the coming months to ensure that this process is as transparent, respectful and supportive as possible. These changes are however necessary to make Tele2 a faster and more agile company, better equipped to swiftly capture market opportunities,” he said.

In the same announcement, the company said it would reduce it total workforce by 15%, amounting to around 700 jobs.

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom newsletter

Also in the news:
Vodafone reports strong Q3 growth amid Germany challenges
CEO of AireBeam discusses ‘secret sauce’ behind ISP’s growth
BT scraps managerial DEI targets

News 

SK Telecom has joined the “MIT GenAI Impact Consortium” as a founding member to explore the real-world applications and business impact of generative AI 

MIT has been actively studying generative AI-driven industrial transformation, with researchers publishing 25 papers on generative AI in the past year. Now, the university is forming a GenAI Impact Consortium aimed at better understanding how this new technology will shape the future of industries and society. 

The founding members of the consortium include six global companies from various industries SK Telecom, OpenAI, The Coca-Cola Company, Indian conglomerate Tata Group, Analog Devices, and wealth management company TWG Global. 

The project is supported by MIT President Sally Kornbluth and led by Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the MIT School of Engineering and Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer.  

The consortium will select key projects and oversee research efforts, which have not yet been stated. 

“The MIT GenAI Impact Consortium is the ideal bridge between academia and industry,” said Chandrakasan. “While Generative AI and LLMs are reshaping everything, the consortium aims to break down barriers, bring together disciplines, and commit to ensuring the benefits of Generative AI are realised throughout the world,” said Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the MIT School of Engineering and MIT’s Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer in a press release. 

For SK Telecom, the consortium will allow the company share AI expertise from a telco perspective, as well as exploring new collaboration opportunities and apply MIT’s research insights to its existing AI R&D Centre.  

 In December last year, the company announced a company restructuring to focus on two areas: AI and telecommunications. As part of this,  AI R&D areas were merged to strengthen AI and digital transformation (AT/DT) capabilities. The centre leads SK Group’s AI strategy, focusing on areas such as ICT, semiconductors, energy, and AI-driven technologies such as digital twins and AI-powered factories. 

Research projects will officially begin this year. 

“As a founding member of the MIT Consortium, we are excited to collaborate with MIT’s world-class faculty,” said Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom. 

“Building on global collaborations, SK Telecom hope to leverage the AI capabilities of the SK Group, with the SK AI R&D Centre at its core, to drive AI innovation across industries. Beyond generative AI, we will broaden our scope to encompass next-generation research areas and to convergent Vertical AI such as physical AI, manufacturing, and biotechnology,” he continued. 

SKT are making an effort to become a world leading telco in AI. Last June, SKT, along with Deutsche Telekom, e&, Singtel and SoftBank signed a joint venture for telco AI development, making them the founding partners of the Global Telco AI Alliance.  

The five companies have agreed to develop Large Language Models (LLMs) that are specifically designed to meet telco needs, in areas such as improving customer interactions via digital assistants and chatbots. The LLMs will be tailored to the needs of the five companies in their respective markets. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom newsletter 

Also in the news:
Vodafone reports strong Q3 growth amid Germany challenges
CEO of AireBeam discusses ‘secret sauce’ behind ISP’s growth
BT scraps managerial DEI targets

Podcasts

Ben Elkins, the CEO of AireBeam and Utah Broadband, joined the ‘Beyond the Cable’ podcast to discuss strategy and AireBeam’s explosive growth in Arizona

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

Since taking the helm as the CEO of an Arizona City-based AireBeam, Ben Elkins has overseen a 375 percent growth in fiber subscribers for the ISP.

Now, Elkins is attempting to repeat success at another subsidiary of the Boston Omaha Corporation: Utah Broadband.

Named as the Utah Broadband’s CEO in May, Elkins now wears both hats, one as the CEO of AireBeam, another as the CEO of Utah Broadband. He reflected on some of AireBeam’s growth, and how he was able to achieve such stunning success in Arizona’s Pinal County.

“It’s very rural, but it’s growing,” Elkins said of Pinal County. “It’s the fastest growing county in the state of Arizona.”

Wedged between Phoenix and Tuscon, Elkins said it came to his attention after research that many of the county’s mobile home parks were severely underserved.

“So, I went out and got nationwide deals with a lot of the mobile home park developers,” he said. “And provided fiber to the parks that really fit or demographics and fit our profile.”

Elkins said he was able to lock in 20-year agreements with some developers.

According to Elkins, many mobile home parks are ignored by larger service providers because residents are often temporary.

“It’s been a huge hit for us,” he said, adding that AireBeam also “fibered up” the entire community of Arizona City and Florence.

While Elkins said the explosive-type growth that AireBeam saw was likely unique due to demographics in the area, he also predicts growth ahead for Utah Broadband.

Listen to Elkins on Spotify

Click here to listen to the full interview with Elkins on Spotify, and why he believes Utah still contains “huge opportunity” for Utah Broadband.

Listen to Elkins on Apple Podcasts

To hear the episode featuring Elkins on Apple Podcasts, click here.

Learn more about Broadband Communities Summit 2025 in Houston.

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