Thursday, January 30, 2025 – ACT Fibernet, in partnership with Aprecomm, announced today that it has successfully implemented new AI-driven software on customers’ routers. The software enhances the in-home Wi-Fi experience across all devices and applications by creating an intelligent, smart Wi-Fi service.

Known as “ACT Zippy,” the new software aims to transform traditional Wi-Fi connectivity by actively monitoring the home Wi-Fi network, including all applications and client devices, to identify quality-of-experience issues, including congestion and interference, and optimize the online experience in real-time through channel switching, band steering, and other advanced features.

“In line with ACT Fibernet’s brand promise of ‘Feel the Advantage,’ we are launching a unique, industry-first AI-powered Wi-Fi solution in India that scans your home environment and automatically improves the Wi-Fi experience for all connected devices,” said Ravi Karthik, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer for ACT Fibernet. “As the number of devices connected to home Wi-Fi continues to grow significantly, providing an exceptional Wi-Fi experience is our top priority. Under ACT Smart Wi-Fi, we have planned a range of products and innovations in the home Wi-Fi sector to tackle this challenge and greatly enhance the in-home Wi-Fi experience.”

For more information on ACT, please visit: https://www.actcorp.in/company

EXA Infrastructure, the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform throughout Europe, connecting North America and Asia via the Middle East, has partnered with Teraswitch to provide 400GE connectivity and position it for global network expansion.

Teraswitch recently deployed its global network, featuring 100GE waves to connect cities across the US and Europe. However, with growing connectivity demands fuelled by advancements in Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, and streaming platforms, it quickly recognised that 100GE alone was insufficient, driving the need for further expansion.

By upgrading Teraswitch’s services to 400GE, EXA Infrastructure has provided diverse, high-capacity connectivity, including services across Europe and the Atlantic. This upgrade not only increases bandwidth but also significantly reduces cost per megabit, enabling Teraswitch to pass on competitive pricing to its customers. Enhanced service level agreements (SLAs) further underscore the value of this partnership, ensuring greater reliability and network performance for clients.

“Teraswitch’s decision to upgrade to 400GE speaks to the strength of our relationship and our ability to deliver solutions that scale with customers in line with their ambitions,” said Jim Fagan, CEO at EXA Infrastructure. “This partnership underscores our shared commitment to innovation, network reliability, and helping customers thrive in today’s data-driven world.”

Brendan Mannella at Teraswitch, commented: “Our partnership with EXA Infrastructure has been instrumental in our ability to scale quickly and cost-effectively. Upgrading to 400GE not only helps us meet the growing demands of our customers but also strengthens our position in the global market. EXA’s reliability, ease of doing business, and innovative approach have been key factors in our success, and we look forward to expanding this partnership as we grow our network further in 2025.”

Looking ahead, Teraswitch has ambitious plans to expand its network reach to additional continents by 2025. EXA Infrastructure is proud to be a cornerstone of this growth strategy, reaffirming its role as a trusted partner in enabling Teraswitch’s global ambitions.

For more information on EXA Infrastructure’s high-capacity connectivity solutions, visit https://exainfra.net/

Residents living in new build homes on the ‘Mascalls Grange Estate’ in Paddock Wood (Kent, England), which was constructed by Persimmon Homes, have called for help after suffering a “nightmare” of protracted broadband outages. But locals have been unable to escape the developer’s sibling ISP, FibreNest, because they have a “monopoly” over the area.

The situation will be a familiar one to ISPreview’s readers because we’ve touched on it a few times before. Essentially, back in 2018 Persimmon undertook a strategic venture to launch FibreNest, which meant that they could build their own Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network alongside the construction of new homes – making it cheaper deploy and very quick to connect residents to a fast broadband service. At the time, very few providers were building FTTP, so this was more of a positive.

On the flip side, FibreNest’s dominance of such estates often makes it challenging for rival networks to enter, which tends to result in a localised monopoly. Persimmon Homes did respond to this criticism in 2021 by launching a wholesale product (FibreNest Wholesale) that rival ISPs could harness (here), but this has thus far not been attractive enough to entice any other providers.

As one resident, Lois Gray (24), of the Mascalls Grange Estate, said (KentOnline): “From the start, it became clear FibreNest’s monopoly on the estate was more of a burden than a convenience. We don’t have a choice. If we want internet, it has to be through FibreNest. One of the biggest issues is the frequent outages. On January 7, the entire estate lost internet for more than 35 hours.”

Similarly, another resident, Sophie Kemp (26), complained about a spate of protracted service outages over the past few years. “People are losing out on days’ wages; people are not able to make calls or be in contact with family members of friends and when we make communication with FibreNest we’re not getting any response back or any updates that we’re happy with,” said Sophie. Other residents have echoed these remarks.

FibreNest has since apologised for the service problems and added that a “good quality connection is our highest priority,” albeit while acknowledging the lack of choice and adding that the decision to join their network at wholesale would ultimately be a “commercial” one for other providers.

A FibreNest spokesman said:

“Fundamentally, we were created to ensure there is a high-quality broadband service immediately available when people move into their new home. The value of this service is reflected by our customer satisfaction scores which are significantly higher than other large national providers.”

Both Trooli and Openreach have built their own FTTP broadband networks nearby to the estate, although a spokesperson for Openreach said they were “effectively locked out from that location” by Persimmon and that “retro-fitting infrastructure to the estate would require significant, disruptive civil engineering work and would be cost-prohibitive“. The same is likely to be true for Trooli, which will be running much of their new fibre via Openreach’s ducts and poles.

As for FibreNest’s wholesale proposition, it’s possible that the network operator may not yet have built enough scale to make it attractive enough for other ISPs to join (onboarding a new network isn’t cheap, and this one is in the sub-100k premises passed territory). Equally, FibreNest’s own commercials / pricing may simply have been set at a level that is unattractive for other providers.

Frustrated residents have now switched tactics and managed to get support from local MP Mike Martin (Lib Dem), who is doing what he can to raise their plight with the UK government and trying to encourage Openreach to help improve the situation. “It is outrageous residents are forced to put up with poor broadband connection, and have no choice of supplier,” said Mike. But there’s currently no sign of any solutions.

Rural focused UK ISP Quickline has today announced that they’ve connected the first homes under their £73.5m state-aid supported Project Gigabit roll-out contract for North Yorkshire (Lot 31). This will see their gigabit-capable broadband network extending to cover an additional 36,300 premises in some of the hardest-to-reach areas of the county.

Just to recap. The Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out scheme aims to help extend 1Gbps (download) capable networks to reach “nationwide” coverage (c. 99% of the UK) by 2030. This is primarily focused on upgrading the final 10-20% of hardest to reach premises (mostly rural areas), with most of the rest being done by commercial deployments (current UK coverage is already at c. 86%).

In terms of Quickline’s Lot 31 contract, which was announced in July 2024 (here), the operator has now begun connecting the first homes to their new network. Villages and hamlets around Settle, Boroughbridge, Hunmanby, and Filey are among the first to benefit from this, but many more will follow.

Overall, just five months after being awarded the Project Gigabit contract in North Yorkshire, almost 5,000 more homes and businesses can access a gigabit-capable broadband connection. But this includes the first 46 premises included in the contract itself and a further 4,800 homes and businesses that have been connected through Quickline’s complementary commercial build. The provider’s commercial build in the county is expected to add a total of 50,000 premises once completed.

Work is also progressing rapidly in areas including Stokesley, Topcliffe, and Felixkirk, with hundreds more connections expected in the coming weeks.

Dan Hague, Quickline’s Project Gigabit Delivery Director, said:

“This success highlights Quickline’s commitment to bridging the digital divide. We’re proud to have won the government contract for North Yorkshire, but we’re even prouder to be delivering results so quickly. From the contract award in summer to the first connections before Christmas, we’re already transforming lives and businesses in rural North Yorkshire.”

Telecoms Minister, Sir Chris Bryant, said:

“I am thrilled to see that for many homes and businesses across North Yorkshire, the frustrations of buffering will soon be forgotten as they get access to lightning-fast internet speeds. Thanks to this government-funded programme, hard-to-reach parts of Yorkshire are now being equipped with the fastest speeds on the market, allowing communities to stay connected.”

Across all its Project Gigabit contracts, Quickline aims to connect 170,000 subsidised homes and businesses in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (England), rising to 360,000 when you include their plans for associated commercial builds.

News 

The investment is expected to support the growth of cloud services, big data, and accelerate digital transformation across the region 

Ooredoo has partnered with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), a French company specialising in submarine cables, to build a new cable that will connect seven countries in the Middle East region: Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. It is not clear at this stage how long the cable will be. 

The Fibre in Gulf (FIG) project will provide GCC countries with a faster, more secure route to Europe, offering a capacity of up to 720Tbps and 24 fibre pairs. This will improve connectivity for hyperscalers, businesses, governments, AI providers, data centres, and telecom operators by boosting network reliability, security, and speeds. 

“This historic project aligns with Ooredoo’s ambitious strategy to lead in digital infrastructure by expanding network capacity and interconnectivity across the GCC and beyond,” said Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Group CEO of Ooredoo in a press release. 

Alain Biston, CEO at ASN said the project will be “a game-changing initiative that will mark a turning point in regional connectivity across the GCC. Leveraging ASN’s cutting-edge technologies and operational excellence, this state-of-the-art infrastructure will reliably deliver exceptional capacity and connectivity, empowering the region’s digital transformation ambitions and establishing it as a pivotal hub for global data exchange,” 

The deal will help to further establish the region as a key player in addressing the rapidly growing data demand between Asia and Europe. 

ASN is exhibiting at this year’s Submarine Networks EMEA, 18-19 February in London. Join us! Discounted tickets are available here 

Also in the news:
Apple secretly testing direct-to-device satellite connectivity with Starlink and T-Mobile
BT to cut 5% of Northern Irish workers
Trump targets TSMC with Taiwan chip tariffs

News 

Weaker handset trading in the consumer segment detracted from the impact of both fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) growth in Openreach and price increases 

BT has released its financial results for the quarter ending 31 December 2024, reported adjusted revenue of £5.2 billion, a 3% year-on-year (YoY) drop driven by weaker international demand and a 12% decline in handset sales.  

Despite this, adjusted EBITDA rose 4% to £2.1 billion, helped by tight cost control and increased operational efficiencies. 

Over the first nine months of 2024, BT’s revenue stood at £15.3 billion, down 3% YoY, while EBITDA increased 2% to £6.2 billion 

The company’s fixed network division Openreach  remains a key driver of growth. There were 1 million new premises passed with FTTP in Q3, bringing its total FTTP footprint to 17 million, more than half of UK premises. There were 472,000 new FTTP connections, with a growing take-up rate of over 35%. 

In the Consumer segment, service revenue returned to growth, up 0.4% YoY, reversing a 1.3% decline in the first half of the year. However, this was overshadowed by a 12% drop in handset sales.  

The broadband customer base declined slightly by 40,000, while 5G expansion continued, with EE rolling out 5G Standalone (5G SA) in over 30 UK cities. 

 BT’s Business division remained stable in the UK, bolstered by a £1.3 billion contract with the Home Office to provide mobile services for the Emergency Services Network. 

The company’s cost-cutting programme remains on track, reducing its workforce by 3% to 117,000 employees. 

BT is doubling down on its UK-focused strategy, including the sale of its Irish data centre business and key leadership changes, with Jon James set to take over as CEO of BT Business in March 2025. 

The company is also set to welcome Jon James to BT’s Executive Committee as the new CEO of a UK-centric BT Business, effective from March. The appointment will see Bas Burger, current head of BT Business, shift to focus on the international business segment. 

“Openreach again performed strongly with the highest ever full fibre build, passing more than 1 million premises for the fourth consecutive quarter, and connecting a new record of nearly half a million customers. Consumer returned to service revenue growth and continued to expand its full fibre and 5G customer bases. In Business, our core UK channels were stable. Cost transformation remains firmly on track, with excellent progress on both energy costs and productivity in the quarter,” said BT CEO Allison Kirkby. 

“We continue to make progress towards becoming fully focused on the UK, with the sale of our data centre business in Ireland,” she continued. 

BT will announce its Q4 and full- financial year 2024-2025 results on in May. 

Join us at Connected North, 23-24 April in London. Get discounted tickets here!  

Also in the news:
Apple secretly testing direct-to-device satellite connectivity with Starlink and T-Mobile
BT to cut 5% of Northern Irish workers
Trump targets TSMC with Taiwan chip tariffs 

Consultancy firm FarrPoint has published the first 2025 edition of their Digital Connectivity Readiness Index (DCRI), which ranks the G7 countries by the quality and coverage of their digital infrastructure (broadband, 5G etc.), as well as other areas like digital skills and online security etc. Overall, the United Kingdom continues to rank top and has improved its scores.

The scores contained within this report are based on key indicators gathered from a series of data sources, such as Ofcom and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the UK. The infrastructure side covers four key indicators based on metrics around gigabit broadband, “decent fixed connectivity” (this isn’t clearly defined), 4G and 5G mobile connectivity.

Meanwhile, on the adoption side, several key indicators have been produced looking at the following categories: Online Households, Digital Skills, Security Online, Online Wellbeing, Access to Public Services, Affordability, the Digital Economy and Innovation.

Overall, the UK managed to top the report again and beat the other G7 countries (France, USA, Germany, Canada, Italy and Japan), while also improving its general DCRI score from 84 in September 2024 to 86 today. Similarly, the UK’s ‘infrastructure’ score also climbed from 89 to 90 over the same period, while our score for ‘adoption’ increased a little from 82 to 83.

However, it’s worth noting that the UK struggles on the “infrastructure” side when compared with the other G7 countries, which sees us ranking 4th – just above the USA and Italy. By comparison, Japan comes top for infrastructure, due to its excellent levels of gigabit broadband and mobile connectivity. But Japan only ranks 6th on adoption due to affordability issues, a lack of digital skills, and concerns about online wellbeing.

Matthew Izatt-Lowry, Head of Economics at FarrPoint, said:

“Digital connectivity is about more than just infrastructure. It’s about enabling people, communities, and businesses to thrive in the digital landscape.

It’s interesting to note that performance across the UK nations has diverged over the past year, with Scotland and Northern Ireland making notable strides, while other regions face ongoing challenges in adoption. The DCRI offers decision-makers the insights they need to build resilient, inclusive, and future-proof digital strategies.”

The boss of Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited (DMSL), which represents the four major mobile operators (EE, O2, Vodafone and Three UK), has today confirmed that a total of 30 government-funded rural 4G (mobile broadband) mast upgrades have now gone live across the United Kingdom via the industry-led £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project.

The SRN – supported by £501m of public funding and £532m of private investment from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators. The target is to extend geographic 4G coverage (aggregate) to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025, which falls to 84% when only considering the areas where you’ll be able to take 4G from all providers (5G will also benefit from the new infrastructure).

Most of the early work on this project has typically involved private investment from the main mobile network operators, although over the past year or so we’ve also seen government-funded mast upgrades and new site builds taking place in other parts of the country (examples here, here, here, here and here).

In the case of today’s announcement, we’re focused on the part of the SRN that sees the government (DSIT) providing a total of £184m from their pot to the Home Office and mobile network operators, which will help upgrade Extended Area Service (EAS) masts being built as part of the 4G Emergency Services Network (ESN) – these masts previously only connected EE customers and anyone making 999 calls (all operators can now use them).

A total of 30 “Government-funded” (publicly funded) 4G mast upgrades are now live across the UK, including 21 sites in Wales, 5 in Scotland and 4 in England. The latest (30th) to go live today was a site in the North York Moors National Park, which has helped to extend coverage by all four mobile operators across areas including Helmsley, Harome, Great Edstone and Cold Kirby.

Ben Roome, CEO of Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited (DMSL), said:

“Since March 2020, when the Shared Rural Network was announced, 4G coverage from all four operators in England has expanded by over 11,000 square kilometres, nearly the size of the West Midlands region. This programme will continue to improve 4G service for people in rural areas as more shared mobile sites go live.”

Sir Chris Bryant, Telecoms Minister, said:

“For far too long, people living and working in remote places have been battling with poor phone signal.

It is fantastic to see 30 Government-funded masts being switched on, breaking down digital divides across the UK. Thanks to the Shared Rural Network we are not only improving the quality of life for communities in these remote areas of Britain, but also creating more opportunities for local businesses, boosting tourism, and helping emergency services save lives.”

Since the SRN programme began in 2020, an additional 34,000 square kilometres – an area roughly double the size of Northern Ireland – are receiving coverage from all four operators across the United Kingdom. The deployment ultimately aims to benefit to provide coverage to an additional 280,000 premises and 16,000km of the UK’s roads, once completed.

Ofcom’s most recent Connected Nations 2024 report revealed that 4G coverage, where it is available from at least one mobile operator, has now reached 95% of the UK’s landmass (delivering early on one of the key targets for the SRN programme), with 4G geographic coverage across individual MNOs in the UK rising from a range of 80-87% last year to 88-89% this year.

Just for some extra context. The SRN includes two key targets. The first involves the delivery of industry funded coverage improvements in Partial Not-Spot (PNS) areas (i.e. areas that receive coverage from at least one operator, but not all), which Ofcom said has already been hit (here).

The second target involves tackling Total Not-Spot (TNS) areas by early 2027. Just to be clear, Ofcom’s licence obligations commit each individual operator to increase its 4G coverage to 88% of the UK’s landmass by June 2024 – rising to 90% by January 2027 – with these individual obligations supporting the overall target of 95% by December 2025.

Broadband ISP and mobile operator Virgin Media and O2 (VNO2) have today announced that they intend to donate “up to” 12,000 pre-owned Smartphones during 2025 (c.1,000 per month) to help people in need get online and reduce e-waste, which will be conducted in partnership with the Good Things Foundation and Hubbub.

The operator is sourcing the Smartphones from customer returns and its O2 Recycle service, which helps to ensure unwanted devices are given a second life and assists those who might otherwise struggle to afford such a device. Free O2 mobile data (i.e. 25GB with rollover) will also still be available from the Good Things Foundation and VMO2’s National Databank.

The SIM card also includes 50 international minutes to 42 countries, as well as unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. According to O2’s website, some 203,497 people have already been connected by O2 through the National Databank. The databank offers 1 SIM per person with 12 vouchers within a 12-month period. But to be eligible for such a SIM you must be aged 18+ and come from a low-income household with no access or insufficient access to the internet at home, or when away from home.

Nicola Green from Virgin Media O2, said:

“We’re kick-starting 2025 with Virgin Media O2’s largest ever device donation programme that’ll help connect even more people in need this year.

Our work with Good Things Foundation and Hubbub is getting devices into the hands of people who need it most, where they can access essential services like applying for work or carrying out online training, and ensures they can stay in touch with loved ones.

We’re also helping to tackle e-waste by taking a ‘reuse-first’ approach, where unwanted devices will be put back into circulation and rehomed with someone who needs it.”

Ofcom has confirmed that, from today, UK phone providers (fixed line and mobile) are expected to have implemented changes that aim to block scammers who call from abroad and imitate UK landline numbers (i.e. spoofed calls). Further measures are also expected to follow “later this year“, which will tackle spoofed mobile numbers.

Just to recap. Most of the United Kingdom’s major broadband, phone and mobile providers have already implemented various technical measures to tackle Nuisance Calls and Scam Calls. But these aren’t always 100% effective, and not all operators have introduced the same level of protections. Suffice to say, there’s still plenty of scope for improvement.

Back in 2022 Ofcom moved to further clampdown on such calls by requiring all telephone networks involved in transmitting calls – either to mobiles or landlines – to identify and block spoofed calls, albeit only “where technically feasible” to do so (here). The move improved the accuracy of Calling Line Identification (CLI) and they also made it harder for scammers to access valid phone numbers by introducing additional checks.

Despite the improvements, scammers who call from abroad could still spoof their number to make it look like the call has come from a trusted UK-based organisation or person, when in fact they are actually calling from another country. Calls like this are naturally more likely to be answered, and thus Ofcom set about working with the industry to impose stricter measures against “Presentation Numbers”.

The Network and Presentation Number are usually the same, but there are some scenarios where a caller may wish to display a different number to the line the call is being made from. For example, an outsourced call centre that makes calls on behalf of different businesses, or businesses which may wish to display a single number for outbound calls.

Ofcom’s approach was to update their CLI Guidance so that phone providers are now expected to identify and block calls from abroad that use a UK geographic or non-geographic telephone number as a Presentation Number, except in a limited number of legitimate use cases. This removes a loophole through which scammers can spoof a UK number from abroad. Ofcom previously gave the industry until 29th January 2025 (today) to implement this.

Marina Gibbs, Policy Director for Networks and Communications, said:

“Today’s strengthened industry guidance will help to further disrupt a common tactic used by fraudsters operating from abroad, as any calls which falsely display a UK landline telephone number should be blocked from getting through.

With further measures to tackle spoofing of UK mobile numbers being announced later this year, Ofcom will continue to play our part alongside the police, other regulators and the telecoms industry in the collaborative effort to protect consumers against scams.”

Some operators, such as BT, already implemented this change last year on a voluntary basis, which resulted in around 1 million calls per day being blocked from entering their network within the first month of operation. The fact that this has today become a standard practice should thus have a significant impact upon the problem, provided it’s being properly implemented by all.

Ofcom are currently working on technical solutions for extending a similar measure to tackle spoofed mobile numbers (here and here). The regulator is expected to set out their preferred approach to this sometime later this year (around spring), which will require another industry consultation and then an implementation phase (i.e. it’s likely to be early to mid-2026 before this is introduced).

The challenge in all of this invariably stems from the inherent problem of implementing such rules without also over-blocking legitimate voice calls and messages, which is easier said than done – particularly at a time when the UK is in the middle of a transition from analogue to IP-based (digital) phone services. But this should become easier once all such services have gone digital (IP-based) as new methods will then become viable (e.g. CLI Authentication [CLIa] – here).