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Telecoms giant Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) has today released their 2025 Year in Review to explore how Brits lived online in 2025, which reveals “record levels” of data consumption including an 8% rise in broadband usage (down from 8.1% in 2024) and an 18% rise in mobile traffic through the year (up from 9%) – driven by growing use of AI, live sports and major game releases.

The biggest spikes in broadband usage were typically driven by football and gaming releases, with Liverpool’s win against Real Madrid and the release of Call of Duty Black Ops 7 coming out on top. The Celebrity Traitors TV show also appeared to create a cultural moment of its own, as Thursday broadband spikes revealed Brits bundled episodes to watch together (no data was provided to substantiate this).

In terms of the survey data, VMO2 claims that more than half of Brits (58%) say that they began the year with a plan to reduce the time they spent on their phone, but data shows it was another record-breaking year for mobile data usage, which was up 18%. Despite their intentions, many people admit that they used their phone more frequently to stay in touch with friends and family (55%), scroll on social media (44%), and use AI tools (41%).

Brits’ use of AI is also said to have become “increasingly normalised“, with 47% agreeing that it is totally accepted in most areas of life now. People are now turning to it for practical support, using it to find medical advice (31%), for recipes and cooking (30%), financial advice (27%), and even to help them navigate online dating (20%).

Office attendance remained steady in 2025, with insights from O2 Motion, which uses anonymised and aggregated data from O2’s mobile network, showing commuter levels down just 1% from 2024. Despite this, there is clear evidence of a generational divide, with early career workers returning in greater numbers while mid-and-late career groups continue to step back.

Tuesday remains the most popular day for workers to head to the office, with Wednesday leapfrogging Thursday as the second busiest. O2 Motion data shows that Friday is the most popular day for Brits to work from home, which is no surprise as broadband data reveals a drop in traffic on Friday afternoons during the summer months, as many remote workers clock off early.

In a year that saw more than 20 days of strikes across Britain’s travel network, some 75% of people were affected by travel disruptions. During September’s London Tube strike, O2 Motion data found that footfall across the capital was down 16%. For those that did brave the commute, 30% walked to work, 24% drove, and 9% jumped on a rental e-bike.

Jeanie York, CTO of VMO2, said:

“It was another record-breaking year across our mobile and fixed networks, as our customers continue to use more data than ever before. It’s clear that this demand has been driven by the continued excitement surrounding gaming and sports, with several significant game releases and many exciting Champions League matches causing large spikes across our networks. We are investing and innovating to ensure we continue to provide the connectivity that is underpinning the lives of our customers, including AI which customers are using more than ever before.”

Sadly, VMO2’s report is extremely limited and lacks much concrete data, while the methodology and sample size for their consumer survey was not disclosed in the announcement. Take with a pinch of salt.

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Network access provider Openreach has announced that they will soon temporarily allow a “bulk relaxation” of FTTP Priority Exchange “Stop Sell” rules across the UK (excluding Northern Ireland), under certain criteria, in order to help migrate old lines off their legacy Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) service.

The FTTP Priority Exchange programme typically involves the ongoing rollout of gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband lines. In short, Openreach stops the sale of new copper line services (including WLR) in exchange areas where they’ve reached 75% ultrafast (full fibre) coverage. This effort also complements their semi-separate migration of traditional legacy voice (PSTN / WLR) services to digital all-IP technologies.

However, not everybody is yet ready to go fully FTTP, which can sometimes create an obstacle for retail ISPs as Openreach tries to get everybody off legacy line services. As a result, the network operator appears to be informing ISPs that they will allow a bulk relaxation of FTTP Priority Exchange Stop Sell rules between 16th February and 30th October 2026.

This appears to mean that ISPs in these areas will also be able to migrate customers to copper-based digital broadband alternatives, such as SOGEA (FTTC / VDSL2) and SOTAP (ADSL) or even their alternative for analogue phone lines (SOTAP Analogue); the latter is a last resort and usually only aimed at existing telecare users with no other options.

The catch is that internet and phone providers will still need to show (e.g. evidence of past communications and marketing attempts) that they have attempted to migrate / contact customers on several occasions and the customer has then “either ignored or rejected the FTTP appointments“.

Providers will also be asked to demonstrate that FTTP is inappropriate for a line to ensure migration by the January 2027 deadline, which may for example occur when the customer has given specific business reasons why they are unable to upgrade to FTTP (i.e. these may include environmental, geographical or customer risk challenges, and customer premises engineering time constraints).

Openreach’s official briefing on this keeps the details private, although they did eventually provide them after we made a request. But for matters like this we really wish they’d be more transparent on their briefings as the issue of migrations to FTTP or modern copper-based digital alternatives remains of wide public interest.

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Customers of internet, mobile and phone provider Vodafone UK, specifically those who take their latest Ultra Hub 7 Fibre (FG4278VF) router on Pro 3 Home Broadband packages, may like to know that the ISP has just introduced a new ‘Who’s Home’ smart feature to the device that “provides alerts when your loved ones arrive home“.

Available to new and existing Vodafone customers with the latest Ultra Hub 7 router “at no extra cost“, the Who’s Home feature proactively alerts customers when their loved one’s smartphone connects or disconnects from their hub. The feature is said to be “designed to give greater peace of mind and reassurance to customers“.

At present this is only available to Vodafone’s most expensive Pro 3 Broadband packages with the Ultra Hub 7 Fibre router, although the provider will “soon” extend this to those using some of their slower / older router models on cheaper broadband packages.

Vodafone Statement

Set-up is easy – account holders can activate Who’s Home via the Vodafone Broadband app, where they can create profiles for each household member by linking their smartphone – no matter which device or provider they use. Once added, each person receives an SMS invitation to opt in, ensuring privacy and control remain in their hands, while also receiving a reminder text every three months. They also have the option to opt out at any time, simply by sending a text. The account holder will be automatically kept informed on who’s opted in or out.

Beyond instant notifications, account holders can check the Who’s Home dashboard at any time to see who’s currently ‘at home’ or ‘out’, offering a reassuring snapshot of household activity.

Whether it’s knowing a child has got home from school or checking in on loved ones, Who’s Home brings smart, simple security to Vodafone broadband households.

Overall, this is an interesting feature and the ability for individual users to opt-in or out should help avoid the risk of it becoming too intrusive, although we’re not sure how much of a selling point it will be for the service. Hopefully Vodafone have also figured out a way to avoid excessive notification spam in busy households, such as when moving in and out of the garden during sunny weekends etc.

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Rochdale-based broadband ISP Zen Internet has today followed their recent acquisition of Fibrehop‘s customer base (here) by announcing that they’ve also agreed to acquire Lit Fibre’s customers. This follows a decision by Lit’s Board to exit the UK internet access market, after previously selling the full fibre network they built to CityFibre.

In case anybody has forgotten. Lit Fibre used to be a vertically integrated alternative broadband network and retail ISP, but that changed last year after CityFibre agreed to acquire their full fibre network of over 200,000 premises in England – estimated to be valued at around £80m (here).

Following the above sale, Lit Fibre ended up becoming more of a retail-only ISP and retained control over their customer base (CityFibre is a wholesale-only network and so doesn’t do retail), but the provider appears to have struggled to make this work and hence today’s deal with Zen Internet. The exact number of customers involved remains unclear, although the base is unlikely to be terribly big.

According to the announcement, customers are told that the transition should bring the “reassurance of a larger, long-established provider while keeping their current package unchanged“. Customers will also retain the same monthly price, contract length, terms and conditions, and Lit Fibre’s commitment to no in-contract price increases.

Richard Tang, CEO, Zen Internet, said:

“Lit Fibre customers have chosen a provider that puts service and fairness first, and that’s exactly what Zen stands for. We’re delighted to welcome them to Zen, and we’re committed to preserving their existing terms and delivering a great service, in line with our purpose to ‘do right for people and planet’.”

Tom Williams, CEO Lit Fibre Limited, said:

“Ensuring customers are able to move to a trusted provider that shares our values was important to us. Zen’s long-standing reputation for customer care and quality makes them the right home for our customers and we are confident that our customers will continue to receive great service and support from Zen.”

The migration is expected to begin in January 2026 and until then customers should contact Lit Fibre for support in the usual way. Customers are told they will “receive more information from Lit Fibre with a clear overview of next steps” in the near future.

UPDATE 1:48pm

Thanks to several of our readers, who are Lit Fibre customers, for sharing a copy of the email they just received about this (personal details redacted).

Copy of Lit Fibre’s Customer Email

Subject: Important notice about your Lit Fibre broadband service

Hello XXXXXXXXXXXX,

As always, we want you to be the first to know about any changes to your Lit Fibre service. 

The Lit Fibre team have decided to step away from the broadband retail market and as a result, we have arranged for your broadband service to be transferred from Lit Fibre to Zen Internet, who will take over billing and customer support for your account. This email is notice of that upcoming change. 

Important things to know about the change: 

• Your price stays the same 
• Your contract length stays the same
• Your service package and terms stay the same 
• Our no in-contract price hikes promise remains in place 
• Your CityFibre fibre connection stays the same (no engineer visit!) 
• There’s no need to change your equipment or WiFi details 

Zen will become your broadband provider, but your underlying CityFibre fibre service will not change. We expect your service to transfer between January and February 2026. We’ll keep you in the loop and confirm your exact transfer date in a follow-up message closer to the time. Zen will also be in touch to welcome you to their network.  

Why Zen? 
We wanted to make sure our customers stay with a provider that keeps everything you love about your Lit service, and Zen is a perfect fit. Zen is recognised for service excellence, quality and fairness, having been named Which? Customer Service Brand of the Year 2024 and the only Which? Recommended Broadband Provider for five consecutive years! Zen has also just won PC Pro’s Best Broadband ISP award again in 2025 — extending a record run of 22 consecutive wins. 

Everything you currently enjoy stays the same – your package, your monthly price, your speed, contract length, and the commitment to no in-contract price increases.  
We think Zen is a perfect fit for our customers, but if you’d prefer not to continue your service with Zen Internet, you can end your agreement without early termination charges before your service transfers. Just call us on 0330 460 4610 within 30 days of this email. You can also find more details in our FAQ’s. 

What happens next? 
 If you’re happy to continue your service with Zen, you don’t need to do anything.  
 We’ll get in touch again before your transfer date to let you know: 

• When your service will move, and 
• What to expect on the day of transfer. 

In the meantime, please continue to contact us as usual if you have any questions or need support.   

A huge thank you for being part of the Lit Fibre journey. We’re proud of what we’ve built together and we’re confident Zen will look after you brilliantly. 
  
Best wishes, 
Tom & Ben  
Co-founders of Lit Fibre 

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

London-focused ISP Vorboss and its backers, which have built and operate a 100Gbps speed fibre optic network for businesses in the UK’s capital city, have been told to expect a “rather public legal battle” after the company’s former founder and CEO, Tim Creswick, revealed via Linkedin that he was now “suing the company I created 20 years ago“.

On the surface, the original October 2025 announcement of Tim’s departure was nothing terribly unusual (here), with Vorboss even paying tribute to his “vision, leadership and drive“, while adding that the company was looking forward to continuing to work with their investors to deliver their long-term vision.

Since then we’ve heard different viewpoints on that announcement, but suffice to say that the former founder is clearly far from happy with how his role in the company ended. The exact details of the legal dispute remain unclear, although it won’t stay that way for long if the legal case proceeds to court. We have contacted Vorboss for a comment and await their response.

Tim Creswick said on Linkedin:

“Completing the final step in the founder journey: suing the company I created 20 years ago.

A few weeks ago, I resigned as CEO of Vorboss.

After two decades of late nights, seemingly endless work and huge effort, I wish I could say my departure was amicable.

Whilst this was a decision that weighed very heavily on me, it was nonetheless a very easy one: my reputation and ethical conduct have always been non-negotiables for me, no matter the cost. In the end, we are judged not only by what we do, but by what we tolerate.

I had been hoping that Octopus Investments (who operate Fern Trading, the fund which acquired Vorboss) would put things right, but sadly it appears that we will now begin the rather public legal battle.

I’m certainly not the first founder to be in this position and I won’t be the last.

When you take on investment, you try to find partners who have the same principles. The relationship evolves and interests can diverge over time, but you hope that the shared trust you’ve built paves the way for an orderly exit and transition.

Sadly, this isn’t the case. I regret that this process is likely to cause unnecessary stress for many wonderful people I recruited at Vorboss (and potentially our customers).

I had an incredible 20 years building Vorboss. It’s sad to see many of those principles now being abandoned, but I’m proud of what we built.”

The move comes shortly after another telecoms related company backed by Fern Trading (Octopus Investments), Vitrifi, filed a new notice stating their intention to appoint an administrator (here). Reports have since emerged that some of the employees expected to be made redundant as part of that have been somewhat less than pleased with their treatment (Linkedin example).

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The Northern Irish Department for the Economy (DfE) has today announced that they’ve awarded the £34.6m (public subsidy) Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contract to alternative network ISP Fibrus, which will be tasked with extending their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to reach 9,000 of the hardest to reach rural homes and businesses.

At present Northern Ireland is already home to the strongest levels of gigabit broadband coverage anywhere in the United Kingdom, with 96% of premises having access to such a network (falling to 95% for full fibre) – mostly via Openreach, Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre) and Fibrus. Suffice to say that there’s only a small gap left to fill, but the gap that remains is often in some of the remotest and most challenging locations.

Last year we reported that the Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency and N.I’s Department for the Economy (DfE) had begun the supplier procurement phase of their future Project Gigabit broadband roll-out for Northern Ireland, which aimed to fix this gap. The proposal valued the 10-year contract at between £34.647m (Initial Scope) and up to a maximum of £81m (here).

The good news today is that Fibrus have been awarded the new contract, which comes shortly after they completed the £200m Project Stratum contract to reach an additional 81,000 premises in N.Ireland “on time and within budget” (here). Clearly, that record of delivery on public procurements, at least in N.I, has served them well and made them a viable option for the new contract.

The new £34.6m contract, funded by the UK government, “begins immediately” and will bring gigabit-capable broadband to over 9,000 rural premises across Northern Ireland.

Economy Minister Archibald said:

“High quality internet access is vital for our economy and wider society. It is transformative for many households and businesses, enabling access to digital services, remote learning and work, and economic participation.

At 94% gigabit capable coverage, the north is now the best connected part of these islands. Building on this, Project Gigabit will extend this level of digital capacity to over 9,000 premises, further improving broadband infrastructure in predominantly rural areas.

Digital connectivity is a vital enabler in building an inclusive, regional balanced economy. This investment further positions the north as a leader in the availability of fixed line fibre optic services, underpinning our digital transformation, competitiveness, and innovation.”

Telecoms Minister, Liz Lloyd, said:

“Access to gigabit-capable broadband is so important to modern life, whether that’s running a business, accessing digital public services, or staying connected with loved ones.

That’s why we’re making crucial investments into digital infrastructure across Northern Ireland, to unlock economic opportunities, support Northern Irish communities, and ensure everyone can fully participate in the digital economy from wherever they live.”

Dominic Kearns, CEO and Co Founder of Fibrus, said:

“Delivering for rural communities is at the heart of what we do at Fibrus and this contract allows us to continue to provide more homes and businesses with the opportunities proper connectivity brings.

We have a short history in Fibrus, but one that shows we can deliver on time and within budget like with Project Stratum. We are delighted to have been awarded another contract by the Government who have entrusted us once again with its delivery.”

More details of the deployment plans for this contract are already available at https://www.online.economy-ni.gov.uk/ProjectGigabit/.  This includes a premises checker to enable homeowners and businesses to check if their premises will benefit from the future roll-out, although it would have been nice to have a visual map and some example locations to go alongside the announcement. In addition, it’s unclear how long the deployment phase will take to reach completion.

One other thing to note here is that BDUK has previously forecast that up to around 60,000 premises may still need help to access a gigabit network in Northern Ireland, although we expect that the figure today may be closer to 40k-50k due to wider commercial expansion (here). But this means that the new contract, which only tackles 9,000 premises, will still leave a pretty notable gap left to fill.

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The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today revealed which connected TV platforms will be subject to the Media Act’s (2024) new online availability and prominence regime, which requires them to ensure that BBC iPlayer and any other designated public service broadcaster (PSB) TV players (inc. public service content) are “available, prominent, and easily accessible“.

Ofcom remains of the view that a platform must have at least 700,000 active users if it is to be considered to have a significant number of users and thus become subject to the requirements. “We consider that setting a threshold at this level will ensure that public service content is widely available,” said the regulator’s statement.

The regulator said they did recognise that, for some platforms, multiple versions may be in use. In those cases, they’ve recommended that the designations should apply only to versions available on the market in July 2025, when their consultation was published, as well as any subsequent versions.

The biggest change this time is that Ofcom has added the new broadband-based live TV streaming service Freely to the list, which is already supported by most of the major UK TV broadcasters (BBC, ITV etc.) and is an evolution – not (yet) a replacement – for the existing Freeview service (inc. Freeview Play and Freesat). No surprise there, then.

The following 15 connected TV platforms have been designated
(plus any subsequent versions of these platforms)

➤ Amazon Fire TV OS 6, 7 and 8
➤ Android TV 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14
➤ Apple TV OS 18
➤ Freely
➤ Google TV 10, 11, 12 and 14
➤ LG WebOS 22, 23, 24 and 25
➤ Roku OS 14
➤ Samsung Smart Hub (Tizen) 7, 8 and 9
➤ Sky Entertainment OS (Sky Glass and Sky Stream)
➤ Sky Q
➤ VIDAA OS U6, 7, 8 and 9
➤ Virgin Media Horizon
➤ Virgin Media TiVo on V6 ITE
➤ YouView on EE TV (Sagemcom ITE) and YouView on Sony ITE

Prior to the introduction of the new Media Act, the old regulatory framework for PSBs focussed exclusively on linear television channels. The new regime seeks to build on that by bringing into scope the PSBs’ TV players (IPS), along with the internet connected TV platforms (Television Selection Services or ‘TSS’) on which those IPS are included.

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Banking and money management app provider Revolut, which earlier this year revealed plans to launch a full domestic mobile service for UK consumers with unlimited calls, texts, and 5G data (mobile broadband), has – after a long wait – finally started to deploy the new service to customers for an introductory offer of just £12.50 a month.

The company has previously launched a limited eSIM based mobile service for roaming travellers (here), but the new service goes beyond that and will initially be made available to those who signed up to their waitlist earlier in the year. General access for other customers is then expected to follow in January 2026.

The Revolut Mobile service is powered by Gigs, the operating system for mobile services (Revolut Ltd acts as an agent on its behalf). As above, early adopters will pay a “special early-bird rate” of just £12.50 a month if they sign up before 30th of March 2026, which gets you unlimited 5G data, calls, and texts at home, with a 20GB (GigaBytes) data roaming allowance across Europe and the US.

Breaking news.. more to follow..

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Mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) and technology partner Freshwave have today revealed that they’re working with the Surrey County Council (SCC) in England to expanded their 4G and 5G mobile (mobile broadband) network coverage across Guildford City Centre. This is being achieved via the deployment of 13 new outdoor small cells.

Freshwave’s small cells are akin to small shoebox sized mobile (radio) base stations that are designed to deliver limited coverage (usually up to around 100 metres) and thus tend to be more focused on busy areas and specific sites – it’s not uncommon to find these sitting on top of council managed lampposts, CCTV poles or old payphone cubicles (more cost-effective than building new street assets).

Nine of the new small cell units are already live and enhancing connectivity in busy public areas around central Guildford, benefiting residents, businesses and visitors. The small cells have been strategically placed in high-demand areas including the high street, around Guildford Castle and near Guildford Station. The remaining cells will soon follow.

Professor Robert Joyce, Director of Mobile Access Engineering at O2, said:

“This small cell deployment in Guildford is a great example of our £700 million Mobile Transformation Plan in action. We’re bringing faster, more reliable connectivity to busy public spaces to meet record network demand, with targeted deployments delivering real benefits for communities.”

Freshwave have so far deployed more than 800 outdoor small cells across the UK on behalf of the mobile operators who want to boost community connectivity for their customers, although it should be said that mobile providers also work with a number of other small cell companies (e.g. Ontix).

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Network provider Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) has today highlight how it’s making a “major investment” in the Manchester region through investments in its fibre optic broadband and 5G mobile networks, as well as the opening of a new multi-million-pound North West HQ building on John Dalton Street (just off Deansgate).

The new office in central Manchester will be home to approximately 1,100 staff, including customer service teams. This forms part of a 10-year agreement with the ‘Island’ building to take around 50% of the new site and is thus set to become their new HQ after VMO2’s existing lease at its Wythenshawe office comes to an end in early 2026. The ‘Island’ site is said to be a “net zero carbon workspace being developed by joint venture partners HBD (part of Henry Boot plc) and [the] Greater Manchester Pensions Fund“.

In recent years, the operator has also invested more than £100 million to expand its fixed broadband network in the region, with nearly 1 million homes and businesses in Greater Manchester now able to benefit from its gigabit speed network services (it’s unclear if that figure also includes some of nexfibre’s funding).

Over the past 12 months, O2 has also upgraded its 4G and 5G mobile broadband network at 65 sites across Greater Manchester (this also includes some small cell deployments in the busy city centre). This is said to be benefitting people with stronger signals and faster data speeds in more than 14,000 postcodes across the area.

Rob Orr, Chief Operating Officer at VMO2, said:

“Manchester is a thriving hub for innovation and creativity, and we’re proud to deepen our connection to the region with this significant investment. Our new North West HQ at Island will provide a modern, sustainable space for our people to collaborate and deliver for customers, while our continued upgrades to mobile and broadband networks ensure Greater Manchester remains at the forefront of digital progress. These investments reflect our long-term vision to support local communities, power the digital economy, and create a future-ready network for everyone.”