Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

One of our readers has spotted (here) that mobile operator TPO (The People’s Operator) appears to be in the process of gearing up for a relaunch into the UK market, which may come as a surprise to many after the original company went bust in early 2019 (here) – disrupting services for around 15,000 customers in the process.

The revived brand appears to be backed by Uplands Mobiles (Uplands Onetelco Ltd) and aims to “encourage reusing, recycling, and refurbishing mobile devices to cut down on e-waste” (i.e. offering customers cash to recycle their old gadgets), while also committing to contribute “10% of our profits … to causes you care about“.

The refreshed brand has been live online for a while, but they recently added a wait list for their mobile service. “Our wait list is now live. Join today and be first to experience the new TPO eSIM with an amazing founder deal, transparent values, and connectivity that does good,” said the service via social media in October 2025.

The only eSIM plan currently being promoted for this appears to be promising unlimited calls, text and data (mobile broadband) for £15 per month via an eSIM on a 30-day rolling contract. But there’s also vague talk of a “transparent fair usage” policy, which will apparently only be used for “extreme misuse, with notice“. At present, it’s unclear what mobile network (MVNO) this will harness, although the site uses the plural “networks“, suggesting it may be a UK roaming style plan.

The big question now is, once it does finally launch, whether consumers will still trust the brand after the last attempt failed.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile operator O2 has revealed that more than 50% of Scotland’s population can now be reached by their 5G mobile network, while its next generation 5G Standalone (5GSA) network has so far gone live across 54 Scottish towns and cities. On top of that, Virgin Media has invested £330m to expand gigabit broadband to more than 1.5 million Scottish premises.

The updates were provided as part of a visit by Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney, to VMO2’s new Maxim Park office in Lanarkshire (home to 350 staff). O2 also revealed that the operator had more generally upgraded its 4G/5G mobile network in more than 28,000 Scottish postcodes this year alone, enhancing mobile reliability and performance (part of their wider £700m Mobile Transformation Plan).

However, at the time of writing, it’s unclear whether Virgin Media’s separate £330m gigabit broadband upgrades on their fixed line network in Scotland include separate investment from nexfibre. The ISP and network operator notes that their fixed line network now covers “50% of the population, officially making it Scotland’s largest gigabit provider“, except Thinkbroadband’s latest data notes that Openreach’s full fibre (FTTP) covers nearly 57% of premises.

First Minister, John Swinney, said:

“Digital connectivity is central to how we live, work, and learn. It supports our public services, enables economic growth, and connects people and businesses throughout Scotland – something that is particularly important for our rural and island communities.

Delivering better connectivity across the country requires collaboration, and Virgin Media O2 is a valued partner in that work: from investment in fibre and creating new mobile infrastructure, to supporting digital inclusion and our Connecting Scotland programme. I very much welcome the company’s ongoing commitment to Scotland and the invitation to visit its new Scottish headquarters at Maxim Park.”

In addition to the above, VMO2 said they’d now also partnered with the Scottish Government and Citizens Advice to provide 1,200 refurbished smartphones to people who cannot afford devices or data. This is via their Community Calling Partnership with environmental charity Hubbub and the National Databank scheme.

Finally, the provider has also recently announced that they’re working with the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) and Jangala to bring free Wi-Fi connectivity to mobile library services across Scotland. “This first-of-its-kind UK pilot will see mobile library vehicles in rural locations equipped with Jangala’s ‘Big Box’ technology, powered by mobile data donated by O2, that will provide a WiFi connection for residents“, said VMO2.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The ITS Technology Group, which have deployed various open access full fibre broadband and Ethernet networks across the UK, has today announced that they’ve partnered with bandwidth infrastructure company euNetworks to provide enterprises with direct connectivity to Europe’s “most strategically important” data centres.

The partnership brings together ITS’s business-grade full fibre network, which is already said to reach more than 25% of the UK’s commercial premises (and passing a third of data centres), with euNetworks’ footprint of 582-plus connected data centres across Europe.

Enterprise customers will now be able to take advantage of new high-bandwidth connections, with the two organisations providing connectivity up to 10Gbps from any point on the ITS network to any location across euNetworks’ European footprint. “Enterprises gain direct, secure links to IT workloads and multiple cloud environments, with guaranteed resilience, assured connectivity, and data sovereignty,” said the announcement.

For ITS’s 500+ channel partners, the agreement provides access to integrated point-to-point or point-to-multipoint services with the “most strategically important data centres across the UK and Europe … Offered through a single contract, they will benefit from streamlined ordering, consolidated billing, end-to-end delivery, and in-life service management“.

Daren Baythorpe, Chief Executive Officer at ITS, said:

“UK businesses are demanding faster, more resilient ways to connect to their critical applications and data. By linking our full fibre leased line services with euNetworks’ reach, we’re giving enterprises and partners the ability to scale, innovate and stay secure, without complexity. This collaboration is about delivering the performance and simplicity customers need to thrive in a cloud-first, data-driven world.”

Marisa Trisolino, CEO at euNetworks, said:

“As a European provider of critical bandwidth infrastructure, euNetworks is proud to be able to extend the value of our expansive data centre footprint to ITS’s customers and partners as part of this collaboration. Our joint focus on automation and streamlined operations makes it even easier for UK enterprises to benefit from our combined reach, allowing us to quickly and proactively address the ever-increasing demand for scalable, secure, AI-ready connectivity.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Alternative UK broadband ISP Brsk, which harnesses Netomnia’s growing national full fibre network (here), has today officially started to make Netgem TV‘s new IPTV set-top-box and streaming service – PLEIO – available via their broadband and TV bundles. The new kit is both more powerful and features support for the new Freely live TV streaming service.

The development won’t come as much of a surprise because Netgem TV already announced that Brsk would be one of the first ISPs to adopt PLEIO as part of last week’s launch (here), although at the time Brsk hadn’t yet made the new hardware and service available to their customers. But that changes today.

The enhanced BetterTV service from Brsk is currently available exclusively to new full fibre broadband customers. Normally priced at £10 per month, the service is available at launch for a promotional rate of £5 per month (with a £10 activation fee) until 31st January 2026. Readers that want more detail on this should check out last week’s launch announcement above.

Matt Whitworth, Commercial Director at brsk, said:

“Our mission at brsk has always been to deliver simple, reliable, and high-quality connectivity that makes life better. Thanks to our continued relationship with Netgem through PLEIO, we’re able to take that same philosophy into the world of entertainment. We’ve always said that ‘Better Broadband’ deserves ‘Better TV,’ and with this new product, we are now offering a premium alternative to our competitors at a much more affordable price.”

Alternatively, anybody can buy PLEIO at retail via Amazon for £99, but this doesn’t include their optional service subscription for premium channels and games (that’s an extra £9.99 monthly if you buy the hardware at retail). Demand for the new set-top streaming box has also been quite high since it launched, which took Netgem TV by surprise, and thus there’s currently about a one-week wait for delivery (this probably won’t apply to those taking it via brsk).

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Energy and communications provider Telecom Plus, which trades as Utility Warehouse (UW), has just published their latest H1 FY26 Results to the end of September 2025 and revealed that their broadband ISP grew its total UK customer base to 561,086 (up by 176,196 in the year) and their mobile base grew to 698,054 (up by 171,887).

As previously reported, the company’s broadband base has been given a particularly big boost this year after they took on 95,000 of TalkTalk’s broadband customers via Origin Broadband (here and here). “We are making good progress with migrating these customers onto our platform, which we expect to complete ahead of the year end,” said the results.

The provider added that the acquisition of broadband customers from TalkTalk were also “allowing us to trial cross-selling our other services to these customers” and results from that are said to have “exceeded our expectations” (around 5,000 related customers have been upgraded and cross-sold). Elsewhere, UW noted that 65% of new customers who join their service are now taking full fibre (FTTP) services.

The results went on to note that UW expected to start selling to additional alternative networks in 2026, using their existing relationship with wholesale provider PXC. On top of that, they’re also gearing up to launch a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) based phone product for customers during the second half of 2026 (H2 FY26), but no further details on that were provided.

UW Summary of Broadband and Mobile Services

Broadband

Alongside our Which? Recommended Provider status for Energy, we are now also a Which? Recommended Provider for Broadband, the first provider ever to hold both awards at once. Broadband service numbers increased to 561,086, with 65% of new customers enjoying the benefits of Full Fibre Broadband. Our acquisition of broadband customers from TalkTalk is allowing us to trial cross-selling our other services to these customers and results so far have exceeded our expectations.

We are making good progress with migrating these customers onto our platform which we expect to complete ahead of the year end. Our partnership with CityFibre remains strong and we look forward to continuing this as they expand their footprint. Our relationship with PXC should also see us onboarding additional alternative networks in 2026.

We expect to be able to launch VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to our customers during H2 which we expect to result in the percentage of new customers taking Full Fibre broadband increasing further.

Mobile

Our mobile base increased to 698,054, an annualised increase of around 29%. We have further demonstrated our competitiveness in mobile by improving both of our core tariffs. Our new Essential Max tariff is one of the most competitive entry level tariffs we have ever offered at £5 for 10GB of data, whilst additional SIMs on our Unlimited Max tariff are free for the first 6 months. These improvements, coupled with the benefits of EE’s network, have seen a further acceleration in our mobile service growth which we expect to see continue through the second half.

Meanwhile, on the financial front, the operator saw total half year revenues grow by 6.7% to £744.5mm (2024: £697.8m) – “mainly due to customer growth, including the broadband customers acquired from TalkTalk“. But gross profit fell by -6.1% during the same period to £157.6m (2024: £167.8m) and adjusted pre-tax profit was sharply down by -29.5% to £32.5m (2024: £46.1m), which was attributed to the “previously announced change in phasing of certain energy industry costs (such as metering) more evenly across the financial year“.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Rome, 25 November 2025

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, and Planhotel Hospitality Group, an international company managing a network of luxury hotels in Tanzania, Kenya, the Maldives, Switzerland and Italy, announce a project to accelerate the digital transformation of the Group’s properties through faster and more secure connectivity.

Founded in Lugano, where it is headquartered, Planhotel Hospitality Group has been a key player in the tourism industry for over twenty years, with a portfolio of luxury resorts and hotels across the Indian Ocean region. The Group is internationally recognised for its ability to combine local traditions with Swiss style and service excellence.

Thanks to Sparkle’s Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions, Planhotel aims to optimise its network architecture, improving the quality and reliability of Internet connections and enabling employees to securely access the company’s information systems.

The SD-WAN solution intelligently balances and prioritizes traffic across multiple Internet connections – including satellite links – using advanced routing techniques to enhance service quality and continuity. The integration with SASE architecture further optimises and strengthens security, protecting access to corporate resources.

In recent months, Sparkle has completed implementation in two resorts in Tanzania, resulting in a significant improvement in performance and operational continuity, particularly for applications such as videoconferencing and booking systems. Following these positive results, Planhotel intends to extend the project to a third hotel opening soon, with plans to connect additional properties in the future.

With this agreement, Sparkle confirms its role as a key partner in the digital transformation of international companies, thanks to a portfolio ranging from connectivity to advanced solutions such as Cloud Connect, SD-WAN, SASE and IoT Global, as well as post-quantum security services designed to protect the most sensitive data.

“We are proud to support Planhotel in its digital transformation journey,” said Annalisa Bonatti, Vice President Enterprise at Sparkle. “With our SD-WAN and SASE solutions, we enable secure, high-performing and scalable connectivity, a key element for companies operating in international and distributed environments such as hospitality.”

“For us, technological innovation is an integral part of service excellence,” said Marco Rosso, Chief Digital & Business Automation Officer at Planhotel Hospitality Group. “A more powerful and secure network allows us to optimise daily operations and offer our guests an even smoother and more reliable experience, in line with the Group’s quality standards.”

About Sparkle

Sparkle is TIM Group’s global operator, first international service provider in Italy and among the top worldwide, offering a full range of infrastructure and global connectivity services – capacity, IP, SD-WAN, colocation, IoT connectivity, roaming and voice – to national and international Carriers, OTTs, ISPs, Media/Content Providers, and multinational enterprises. As a leading player in the submarine cable industry, Sparkle owns and manages a network of more than 600,000 km of fiber stretching across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and Asia. Sparkle’s sales team has a global presence, with representatives in 32 countries.

Find out more about Sparkle following its X and LinkedIn profiles or visiting the website tisparkle.com

Media Contacts:

sparkle.communication@tisparkle.com

X: @TISparkle

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Brussels – 25 November 2025 – BICS, a Proximus Global company, and Starlink have entered into a strategic partnership, appointing BICS as the preferred IPX provider in Europe for Starlink’s direct-to-cell satellite connectivity services. The collaboration enables Starlink to leverage the IPX network to connect mobile network operators (MNOs) today, while also paving the way for Starlink’s next-generation network that will be capable of providing broadband service to smartphones.

Proximus Global’s IPX network, which functions similarly to a roaming exchange, acts as a bridge to connect Starlink to MNOs, which enables standard smartphones to connect directly to satellites in remote areas without terrestrial coverage. In the future, it will support the next iteration of network coverage to optimize smartphone performance in non-terrestrial networks.

Mike Nicolls, Starlink, VP of Engineering at Starlink said: “We’re excited to work with Proximus Global to ensure Starlink’s next-generation constellation can leverage harmonized spectrum to provide the most powerful satellite-to-mobile service across Europe to further our mission of ending mobile dead zones and providing connectivity when people need it most. This partnership is a critical step in preparation to not only advance seamless connectivity but also interconnect European operators with enhanced data security.”

The first European operator to benefit from this partnership will be Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest digital and mobile operator, serving nearly 22.5 million Ukrainians as of September 30, 2025. Proximus Global and Starlink’s work with Kyivstar demonstrates how critical this service can be, particularly in emergencies when network infrastructure is harmed, even where base stations and fibre lines destroyed. Satellite connectivity is playing a vital role in bridging these gaps, ensuring uninterrupted communication during a time when connectivity is more crucial than ever. 

Ben Vandermeulen, Chief Revenue Officer at Proximus Global, said: “While satellites are a game-changer for global connectivity, it’s not inherently disruptive to existing players in the industry – there’s room for everyone. With partnerships like this, our IPX acts as bridge to unlock new opportunities. Satellite providers gain access to broader consumer bases, mobile operators can seamlessly plug coverage gaps, and end-users benefit from more reliable and consistent connectivity. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”

For Proximus Global, this partnership represents a significant milestone in its mission to unite satellite companies with terrestrial mobile operators through their extensive roaming network. Leveraging BICS’ leadership in IPX connectivity, built over more than 20 years, this collaboration underscores the importance of satellite connectivity as a crucial step towards achieving truly global, ubiquitous coverage—especially in underserved areas where traditional infrastructure is lacking.

About Proximus Global

Proximus Global, combining the strengths of Telesign, BICS, and Route Mobile, is transforming the future of communications and digital identity. Together, our solutions fuel innovation across the world’s largest companies and emerging brands. Our unrivaled global reach empowers businesses to create engaging experiences with built-in fraud protection across the entire customer lifecycle.  Our comprehensive suite of solutions – from our super network for voice, messaging, and data, to 5G and IoT; and from verification and intelligence to CPaaS for personalized omnichannel engagement – enables businesses and communities to thrive. Reaching over 5 billion subscribers, securing more than 180 billion transactions annually, and connecting 1,000+ destinations, we honor our commitment to connect, protect and engage everyone, everywhere.  

For more information visit https://www.proximus.com/proximus-global.html

About Starlink Direct to Cell
 
Starlink Direct to Cell is the world’s only and largest constellation with more than 650 satellites in low-Earth orbit that delivers data, voice, video and messaging to devices in mobile dead zones. Connecting more than 8M customers across five continents and counting, Direct to Cell satellites work with existing LTE phones wherever you can see the sky. Acting like a cell phone tower in space with the most advanced phased array antennas in the world that connect seamlessly across the Starlink network over lasers to any point in the globe, it enables network integration similar to a standard roaming partner. Starlink is the world’s largest 4G coverage provider and partners with Mobile Network Operators all over the world.

Learn more here and follow @Starlink on X

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The move comes as part of the company’s wider focus on efficiency under new CEO Marc Murtra

According to anonymous insiders speaking to the Financial Times, Telefonica is proposing to cut up to 5,000 in its home market, Spain.

Sources say that roughly 3,650 roles at Telefónica Spain could be cut, representing around 41% of the unit’s total headcount. Around 1,100 jobs at Telefónica Mobile an around 270 at Telefónica Solutions could also be on the chopping block.

The sources stressed that no formal decision has been announced and actual job cuts could be lower.

The UGT (Unión General de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores) trade union has confirmed these plans, having been told by management that the cuts are being made for “organizational, technical, and production reasons”.

The UGT is demanding that all job losses are carried out as a “purely voluntary process based on early retirement schemes”.

The announcement of these job cuts at Telefonica should not come as a surprise, with downsizing having been underway across the Group for years. In January last year, Telefonica reached an agreement with unions to cut around 3,400 jobs in Spain, describing the decision as ‘necessary’ for the company’s long term growth. By 2025, with new CEO Marc Murtra at the helm, Telefonica was looking to further accelerate its streamlining efforts, with Murtra pledging to further reduce costs and focus on the company’s four key markets, Brazil, Germany, Spain, and the UK.

Rumours that these cost-cutting measures would result in further Spanish job cuts first began to circulate back in May.

The announcement of the impending job cuts comes shortly after Telefonica’s Capital Markets Day, in which Murtra stressed the need for further cuts and pledged to make ‘tough decisions’ for the business’s long-term welfare.

Ultimately, the company’s is seeking to save €2.3 billion by 2028, and €3 billion by 2030

As part of the announcement, Telefonica said it would cut its dividend in half, move which saw the company’s share price sink by over 10%.

Meanwhile, Telefonica’s retreat from its overseas empire continues. The company has been divesting of its Latin American operations, notably pulling out of  Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay earlier this year.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news with the Total Telecom newsletter

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Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

A new survey of 90 global internet providers, which was conducted by Heavy Reading (Omdia), in collaboration with eero (Amazon) and Qualcomm Technologies, claims that more than 50% of ISPs have already deployed or expect to deploy WiFi 7 based service plans within 12 months. Part of this is to support the roll-out of multi-gigabit speed packages, said to be growing at 20.5% a year (CAGR).

In terms of what the ISPs currently support. A combined 63% of global service providers indicate Wi-Fi 5 is no longer supported or will only be for up to 2 years. Of all respondents, 16% will continue support for “3–4 years” and 22% “up to 5 years.” By comparison, 38% of respondents expect to support Wi-Fi 6 for up to 2 years.

Faster broadband speeds (61%) are said to remain the top driver for Wi-Fi upgrades to newer technologies like WiFi 7, with “Quality of experience/user experience” (48%) and “lower latency” (47%) following close behind. Not to mention that the most frequently reported customer concern related to ISP supplied Wi-Fi kit is “poor indoor coverage/dead zones” – 61% of respondents commonly recommend using a multi-device wireless architecture (based on a combined group recommending Wi-Fi extenders (33%) and mesh systems (28%)).

Additional Survey Highlights

➤ A combined group of 66% of respondents for business connectivity and 59% for consumer use consider Tri-band frequency support in Wi-Fi 7 (2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz) to be extremely important or important for their connectivity offerings.

➤ 94% of ISPs currently offer, or plan to deploy, multi-link operation (MLO) – a key performance boosting feature of WiFi 7.

➤ Security and safety features (67%) are the top software priority for service providers when selecting Wi-Fi equipment. Device and real-time service optimization (54%), internet backup (29%), and the ability to sell value-added services, including third-party subscriptions (28%), follow behind.

➤ Automated troubleshooting (28%) and network optimisation (26%) are the top use cases for AI-based Wi-Fi network management. Predictive management (16%) and configuration management (15%) follow behind.

The catch in all of this is that Wi-Fi 7 is still more of a premium market feature, with most ISPs maintaining a mixed estate of Wi-Fi generations across their installed base. However, vendors are starting to introduce more affordable, entry-level products to make this technology more accessible, just as they always do.

The full Wi-Fi 7 Operator Survey can be accessed via the ISPA’s website (here), although we would have preferred to see the results for a survey that only focused on UK based broadband providers. Naturally eero also has a vested interest in plugging adoption of the latest router technologies.