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The National Wealth Fund (NWF), which was originally established by the previous government in 2021 as the UK Infrastructure Bank (here) – using public investment to help unlock more private funding for infrastructure projects, looks set to change its funding strategy in 2026 after experiencing “challenges” in certain sectors, such as broadband infrastructure (altnets).

According to the FT (paywall), the NWF will in January 2026 announce a new strategy that shifts away from using taxpayer funding to back third-party investment funds in favour of bolstering private sector investment in UK infrastructure projects. The NWF’s new CEO, Oliver Holbourn, confirmed that the “priority moving forwards would be direct investments or co-investments versus using externally managed funds”.

Part of this stems from the fact that third-party funds tend to charge investors high fees, which can make them less attractive. Some MPs have previously criticised the NWF for investing in third-party funds in this way, and also for helping to fund projects that were already drawing from private capital.

The move also comes against a background of growing challenges in some of the sectors where the NWF has been most active, such as digital infrastructure, where they’ve actively invested in alternative full fibre broadband networks like CityFibre, Wessex Internet, Netomnia, Hyperoptic, Fibrus, Wildanet, Quickline, Gigaclear and nexfibre. This sometimes occurred alongside public subsidies from the £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out.

However, many altnets have run into trouble (here) due to rising build costs, strong competition from rivals (i.e. overbuild and the challenges of growing take-up) and the difficulties of securing fresh investment during a period of high interest rates (not to mention rising debt repayments). As a result, some altnets may struggle to turn a profit in the future and a number of investors (e.g. key UK banks like NatWest and Lloyds) are now expecting to take losses.

Generally, the NWF aspires for each of its investments to deliver a return, yet overall the fund – across all sectors – made a reported loss of £152.2m (before tax) over the past year (up from £85.6m in the previous year). A spokesperson for the NWF said a “loss was expected at this stage of growth in our portfolio”, but it also admitted the figures were “higher than budgeted due to specific challenges affecting certain assets and market conditions in the digital infrastructure sector”.

Consolidation is happening in the altnet space, which is necessary to help grow some real scale, albeit at a slower pace than might be ideal. This is at least partly down to some network operators and investors harbouring an inflated idea of their own asset values. The risk is that the longer those players take to reach agreement, the greater the risk that any future deal may result in an even bigger hit.

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The commercial launch of Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper), which is due to start going live during 2026 (it’s currently in beta, albeit initially only for enterprise customers), will initially exclude northern Scotland from the coverage of its new mega constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). And it might be a while before that changes.

The company currently has approval to deploy and operate their own initial constellation of 3,236 LEO satellites (altitudes of between 590km to 630km). A total of over 150 satellites have already been placed into orbit via six successful rocket launches, which includes two of their initial prototypes – Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2. But many more are due to follow over the next few years.

The full commercial launch of this service, which will ultimately sell products direct to consumers, businesses and the public sector via a selection of different terminals, is expected to take place slowly during 2026. The company is understood to need just over 500 satellites to deliver a good enough level of basic global coverage to reach this point.

Package speeds are expected to target c.100Mbps (20Mbps upload) for roaming users, before rising to 400Mbps (100Mbps upload) for homes and business users, then topping out at 1Gbps (400Mbps) for enterprises and government (latency times should also be similar to Starlink’s). But details on pricing have yet to be disclosed and will face stiff competition from Starlink’s massive network.

However, while the United Kingdom will be one of the first country’s to go live with the new broadband service, it’s been noted that none of Leo’s initial constellation will reach fully across northern Scotland (Highlands and Islands). One of the company’s rocket partners, United Launch Alliance (ULA), recently confirmed this by stating that Amazon’s “first-generation system will provide coverage 56 degrees north and south of the equator. Amazon plans to expand coverage over time to reach nearly any location on Earth” (X).

The 56th parallel north line effectively cuts off a sizeable chunk of Northern Europe, which in the UK would pass near cities like Edinburgh and Falkirk in Scotland (i.e. above that area and into the Scottish Highlands and northern Islands you may not be able to receive any service from Amazon Leo). This is similar to the early days of Starlink, which also excluded the polar regions until later.

At this stage it’s unclear how long it will be until Amazon Leo covers the whole of the UK, but there is some suggestion that northern Scotland might have to wait until they get around to launching a second generation (GEN2) of satellites in a few years’ time (i.e. going beyond the first c.3,000 satellites).

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The Horsham-based Telecom Acquisitions Group (TAL), which is a holding company for a number of familiar internet service provider brands (Fleur and Home Telecom etc.), has announced that ISP Eclipse Broadband has expanded the reach of its broadband and utility services further into the Hull area of East Yorkshire for both residential and business customers.

Eclipse can now offer Hull-based customers a wide range of connectivity options, including via gigabit-capable full fibre broadband (FTTP) networks from MS3, CityFibre (formerly Connexin), and KCOM. In addition, its customers can also benefit from bundled utility services such as gas and electricity, making Eclipse a one-stop provider.

“This partnership strengthens Eclipse’s position as a major supplier in the Hull region and ensures access to a broad portfolio of services,” said TAL CEO Nigel Barnett. “Our commitment to reliable service, a diverse portfolio of brands, and dedicated local support is what truly sets us apart. We’re proud to serve the Hull community and look forward to helping even more customers stay connected.”

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Broadband provider iDNET has recently added support for another alternative Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in the shape of the ITS Technology Group. But this only covers business-focused full fibre packages, since ITS doesn’t currently offer residential products.

The full fibre network that ITS operates is currently said to “pass” more than 465,000 UK businesses (inc. commercial premises). iDNET’s business packages on this network typically start at £50 +vat per month (plus £150 for installation) for speeds of 155Mbps (30Mbps upload) on an 18-month minimum term and rise to £83.33 per month for their top 1600Mbps (120Mbps upload) tier.

By default, each package includes a Standard Card agreement (i.e. faults aim to be Fixed by 23:59 on the next Business Day), unlimited usage, UK support, Static IPv4 & IPv6 addresses and a pledge of no mid-contract price rises. But you’ll have to pay a few pounds extra if you want to get a router bundled with your package, and an optional business phone line will set you back £12.50 +vat extra per month.

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The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has this morning launched fresh investigations into mobile network operators EE (BT) and Three UK following network outages in the summer that resulted in UK-wide disruption to mobile call services, including to emergency services (e.g. 999 for police, fire, ambulance etc.).

The regulator’s existing General Conditions rules (e.g. General Condition A3.2 and sections 105A, 105C and 105K of the Communications Act 2003) require every communications provider to “ensure the fullest possible availability of public communications services at all times, including in the event of a disaster or catastrophic network failure, and uninterrupted access to emergency organisations.”

Suffice to say, any failure of such systems, particularly to the emergency services, is extremely serious due to the risk that it could result in a loss of life. This is particularly relevant now that broadband ISPs are increasingly switching away from traditional landline phone services and on to IP-based digital phone alternatives (inc. VoIP), which may be more exposed to connectivity problems, power cuts and complexities around location reporting etc.

The issue has already been underlined on several previous occasions, after a string of broadband and VoIP providers, including BT, Gigaclear and Vonage, were hit with Ofcom fines over related failings (here, here and here). The disruption BT’s network suffered in 2023 is particularly notable, given today’s news.

Fast-forward to today and BT has now notified Ofcom of a “software issue” that resulted in a UK-wide disruption to mobile call services interconnecting to and from EE’s mobile network on 24th and 25th July 2025. “This resulted in BT and EE customers being unable to make or receive mobile calls to other networks and emergency services,” said Ofcom.

Separately, Three UK has notified Ofcom of an incident that resulted in a UK-wide disruption to call services on 25th June 2025, including customers’ ability to contact emergency services. “Our investigations will seek to establish the facts surrounding these incidents and asses whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that BT and Three have failed to comply with their regulatory obligations,” said Ofcom.

Such investigations can take a bit of time to run their course, so we might not learn the final outcome until later in 2026. But past evidence suggests that BT and Three UK may be likely to face a sizeable financial penalty.

The BT (EE) Investigation
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/../investigation-into-bt-following-voice-service-interconnect-outages-on-24-and-25-july-2025

The Three UK Investigation
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/../investigation-into-three-following-voice-service-outage-on-25-june-2025

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The UK government has launched a consultation around the persistent challenges in deploying gigabit-capable broadband to certain property types and particularly to flats.

Despite the UK making significant strides towards its goal of delivering nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032 – currently reaching 89% of premises – deployment to flats, particularly those with leasehold tenure, continues to lag. Gigabit-capable broadband is seen as essential for economic growth, productivity, and international competitiveness, with the sector itself valued at £50 billion.

Analysis of data from May 2025 shows 86.1% of all residential premises have access to a gigabit-capable connection, but this drops to just 79.6% for flats. It is estimated 1.2 million flats in England and Wales lack gigabit access.

The existing legal framework is provided by the Electronic Communications Code (the Code), which is intended to facilitate consensual agreements between network operators and landowners. The Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act (TILPA) 2021 was introduced to specifically address MDU issues, providing a fast-track court route when landowners fail to respond to repeated requests for access.

However key barriers to rollout remain, including, identifying the correct party to negotiate Code rights with and a lack of incentives for freeholders to address deployment requests from network operators.

The proposed policy aims to directly address these barriers by strengthening the leaseholders’ ability to initiate deployment requests. The core proposal is to:

> Imply a new right into an existing lease, allowing a residential leaseholder to request a gigabit-capable connection from their relevant freeholder.
> Impose a corresponding duty on the freeholder not to unreasonably refuse such a request.

This new mechanism is intended to be complementary to the Code, acting as a “nudge measure” to ensure the appropriate freeholder engages with a network operator and negotiations commence promptly.

The proposed policy would apply to any residential leaseholder in a building with two or more dwellings and covers any connection capable of delivering broadband access services at speeds of at least 1,000 Megabits per second (Mbps).

The consultation on these proposals runs until February 2026.

Connected Britain 2026 returns to the UK next September. Confirm your involvement early. Visit the website for more information: https://totaltele.com/connectedbritain

Total Telecom are testing AI tools to aid content creation – let us know if you spot any errors

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A new Belfast-based internet service provider has recently started to launch called Netii, which appears to be selling packages to homes and businesses via the Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based gigabit broadband networks of both Openreach (via Gamma) and Fibrus (via HyperFast in N.Ireland).

Packages prices are said to start from £38 per month with speeds from 100Mbps to 1Gbps and customers will receive a UniFi Cloud Gateway Express Wi-Fi7 router with their fibre line + router bundles, although a bring-your-own-router (BYOR) option does exist for line-only installs. The provider also includes a Static IP address and a 24-month fixed price promise, with support teams all based in Northern Ireland.

The name of the ISP might be new, but the company behind it has actually been around since 2018 – operating as Home Network Solutions NI. However, they’ve since gone through somewhat of a full rebrand and relaunch to become Netii, although at the time of writing it appears as if they haven’t yet managed to complete an online ordering system and thus package details seem to only available via the phone.

Finally, we understand that Netii may soon be making packages available via Zen’s new Fibre Hub wholesale platform too, which could potentially give them access to sell over a number of additional alternative full fibre networks.

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The Government has today published a new consultation on measures that aim to create a new right for leaseholders, such as those living in blocks of flats / apartments (Multi-Dwelling Units), to request a gigabit broadband connection. In addition, freeholders will face a new duty not to “unreasonably refuse” such requests from tenants. But finding the right balance will be difficult.

Previous governments have already done a fair bit of work in an attempt to make it both quicker and cheaper for gigabit broadband networks to access big residential buildings (MDUs) and for tenants to request faster connections, such as via the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act 2021 (TILPA); this tackled situations where so-called “rogue landlords” failed to respond (here and here).

The TILPA changes essentially introduced a cheaper and faster route for dispute resolution via a new court process, although this only applies after a landlord has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for access. Despite those changes, the process for network operators that wish to obtain new wayleaves (legal land/property access agreements) from landlords to install full fibre lines inside MDUs remains slow, difficult and often expensive.

For example, it remains difficult for network operators to find and contact the ultimate owner or managing agent of a building, while in other cases the building owner may be incentivised to reject a rival network after having previously signed an exclusive deal with a different provider. But this limits the competitive choices available to tenants.

Incumbent vs rivals

The next challenge stems from the disagreement between Openreach and alternative networks. Openreach has long campaigned for them to be given automatic upgrade rights, so they gain permission to access buildings in order to convert their existing copper cables inside MDUs to fibre optic ones (at present they can only make changes to the copper network).

The issue of automatic upgrade rights in MDUs sounds fair and logical, but rivals have already warned that this must not result in a situation that grants special access to Openreach – without also affording opponents a fair level of comparable accessibility. Doing so, they warn, could risk handing the incumbent an unfair competitive advantage (here).

Meanwhile, the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA), which represents many altnets, has proposed a non-legislative approach based on collaboration and education (here), which they say would bring landlords and landowners on board with the need to deliver full fibre to MDUs and the benefits this will provide to tenants. But politicians and operators have spent the past few years trying to do things like this and, as above, some challenges remain.

The new consultation

Earlier this year the government rejected an amendment to the Renters’ Rights Bill for England (here), which has since become an Act (law). The amendment aimed to make it easier to deploy gigabit broadband into large residential buildings (MDUs), albeit only where deployment had been unreasonably refused or landlords cannot be contacted.

At the time the government said this was because the amendments didn’t cover everything (e.g. leasehold flats in MDUs that are not rented) and they were, instead, “actively considering options to identify what would be the best interventions to facilitate gigabit broadband deployment in privately owned multiple dwelling units” (i.e. more consultation was required).

The government’s new consultation, which proposes measures to create a new right for leaseholders to request a gigabit broadband connection and a duty for freeholders not to unreasonably refuse the request, is thus an attempt to address the above concerns (before committing anything to legislation).

Minister for Telecoms, Liz Lloyd, said:

“Measures like these are about fairness and improving the playing field for consumers, giving them better broadband connectivity. Whether you’re in a block of flats, a house, or a rural property, we want everyone to have access to the fast, reliable broadband needed for modern life.

These proposed measures would help deliver better connectivity for properties that face additional challenges to gigabit broadband rollout, and will ensure all UK families can benefit from the digital age.”

Just to be clear. The new measures would apply specifically to leaseholders. Leaseholder landlords would be able to apply the new right on renters’ behalf. The consultation, which will run  until 16th February 2026, seeks more information on whether renters are impacted by the challenges seen in connecting leasehold properties. At the time of writing we haven’t yet seen the consultation document, but will link to it once we have.

However, property owners / managers also have concerns that must be balanced in all this (i.e. insurance, damage to property, security, safety (e.g. fire, asbestos) and other liabilities etc.). In particular, upgrading copper lines to fibre in MDUs is often a bit more involved than it may seem (it’s not always minor work) and not everybody may want that.

Suffice to say, network operators and the government are walking a bit of a tightrope in terms of the rights of freeholders and leaseholders. But in the meantime, it’s worth remembering that introducing any new legislative changes around this, if ultimately deemed necessary, will also take time and attract more debate (we’d guesstimate up to around 1-2 years before it’s law).

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Network access provider Openreach (BT) appears to be testing a new “Crystal Ball Process“, which is described as being an AI-driven customer service innovation that seems intended to help tackle complex installations of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP lines.

The process, which uses notes from engineers, delay codes, survey outputs, network topology and other information to help inform its model, is designed to monitor and predict when Openreach will be able to get these complex installations into service (normal installs won’t use this process), which is then fed back to broadband ISPs. The goal seems to be to better manage expectations and improve communication.

At present the details around this are fairly limited and Openreach seemed reluctant to furnish us with any details, although we understand that they’re aiming to be in a better position to release more information on it sometime in the New Year. The information we do have has thus come from various other industry sources.

What’s less clear is why any of this really needs Artificial Intelligence (AI), since we’d assume a bit of competent programming and normal machine learning algorithms would be able to achieve a similar sort of system and output. But it’s possible that an AI driven solution might be quicker to implement, since such software already exists for managing large data sets with lots of different inputs and contexts to consider.

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Customers of UK ISP Virgin Media’s broadband network in and around the Manchester area (Burnley) are currently suffering from internet connectivity problems after several fibre optic cables were damaged in the area. A separate cable break also appears to have occurred in the Birmingham area, which has added some further disruption.

The issue in Burnley appears to have started just after 9pm last night. A spokesperson for Virgin Media said: “We’re aware of an issue affecting services for customers in the Manchester area which has been caused by a break in a fibre cable. Our engineers have been working flat out overnight to repair the damaged fibres and will continue to do so to restore services as quickly as possible.”

The exact cause of the incident in Manchester is still being investigated, although ISPreview understands that the damage is currently believed to have been malicious. A total of 8 fibres are understood to have been cut, including an important 288/12f cable. Virgin Media’s engineers have had to install two new chambers, pull fresh fibre cables through and splice all of them back together. This is not a quick fix.

The good news is that most of the work has now completed, although some issues remain and a rough ETA for the fix seems to be after 4pm. Separately, we’ve noted that one of Virgin Media’s dark fibre cables seems to have been broken in the Birmingham area, although this is currently playing second fiddle to the Burnley incident.

Telecoms infrastructure is protected by strict laws in the UK and the police are likely to be investigating the incident. Sadly, the people who commit such acts rarely have any regard for the serious problems they cause, which can in some cases disrupt more than just internet access (e.g. telecare, access to emergency services etc.).