Consumer broadband ISP and mobile operator EE (BT) has today announced that their ultrafast 5G based (mobile broadband) network is expanding into more rural parts of the UK, reaching national parks, seasonal hotspots and over 500 smaller towns and villages. They’re also testing new technologies, such as mobile via LEO satellites. At present EE’s 5G […]

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today officially launched a new review that will finally examine whether inflation-linked mid-contract price rises give phone and broadband ISP customers “sufficient certainty and clarity about what they can expect to pay.” In an ideal world, the price you pay when you first join a new provider or package […]

Customers of Sky Broadband’s (Sky plc) various UK broadband, phone and Pay TV products are being told to brace for an average annual price hike of 8.1% (£5.60), which is to be introduced from 1st April 2023. But crucially, this is less than the 14-15% of their main competitors and below the current level of […]

Startup Story

Whilst new to the telecom sector, Pilot Round believes it can make a difference in the startup space for the sector. They will be joining Total Telecom at Connected North in Manchester in April.

Tell us about your start up
Pilot Round is a new, powerful FounderTech platform built to bridge the gap between pre-product founders and appropriate early-stage investors. Through an intuitive mobile application, founders can quickly onboard and provide details on how much of their Pilot Round they are looking to secure in order to fund their next 3-6 months. They then use the seamlessly integrated AI of ChatGPT to help prepare a compelling script around their founder’s journey, which they then can rehearse, present and record via the camera on their phone.

What is your USP, how do you stand out from your competition?
Unlike other founder investor platforms we powerfully enable pre-product founders in their early stage to leverage their Founder Market Fit to find aligned investors that are interested in funding and fuelling their next 3-6 months

Why did you establish the business?
After being a founder myself, I have spent over a decade pioneering how Founder Market Fit can be modelled, analysed and evaluated in early stage conversations

Who inspired you / who is your mentor or motivation?
Chamath Palihapitiya {a Silicon Valley venture capital investor described by Forbes as a tech firebrand.}

What does the future hold for your business?
We hope to make Pilot Round the go-to market pre-seed platform, format and standard in the early stage space.

COMPANY CV

HEADQUARTERS – LONDON
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES – 3
LAST FUNDING TYPE – PRE-SEED
WEBSITE URL – www.pilotround.com
FOUNDER: Dan Simmons

If you want to showcase your startup at Connected North, apply on the website or email startup manager Amie Tucker

 

Mobile network operator Smarty has quietly added the ‘SMARTY Social Tariff‘ to their website, which as the name suggests is a low-cost unlimited data (mobile broadband), calls and texts (SMS) plan that is only available to those on eligible state benefits and costs just £12 per month. Smarty, which is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator […]

Press Release

Fern Trading Limited today announced that it is consolidating Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre, Giganet and AllPoints Fibre into a single Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) operating entity to accelerate full-fibre delivery in the UK.

The combined group’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) brands will accelerate delivery of a ‘fast and fair’ full fibre offering for retail customers across the enlarged network.

The businesses will combine their regional operations and create a national wholesale network during the course of 2023.

The industry has seen considerable investment and growth in recent years as operators build market momentum and value. The unification of the four businesses will enable them to combine their resources, knowledge and expertise to hasten and grow full fibre network access across the UK.

Jarlath Finnegan, currently CEO of Giganet, will lead the combined group moving forward. He said: “All four companies are excited to build upon the solid foundations they have built over the last few years as a combined force. Together, we will become even stronger through exceptional customer service, combined with a relentless focus on technology and product. We’re looking forward to expanding our presence across the country and providing even more customers with access to full fibre connectivity”.

John Browett, chairman of Fern Trading’s fibre division, said: “In the coming years, the UK fibre market is going to experience exponential change, driven by the massive need to ensure homes and businesses in every part of the UK have access to a fast and fairly priced internet service. We expect to see continued consolidation within the industry, and by combining these successful businesses now, we will be in a fantastic position to take advantage of those market opportunities as they unfold. Our ambitions have always been high, but today represents the start of even bolder aspirations for our place in the UK fibre sector”.

How is the UK’s altnet landscape changing in 2023? Join the discussion with the operators themselves at this year’s Connected North conference live in Manchester

Also in the news:
Comcast signs deals worth $50m with State of Indiana for rural fibre expansion
Verizon records 5G upload speeds of over 1Gbps
Yorkshire Water partners with BT for smart water project

In a major development, investment firm Fern Trading has just announced that several of their full fibre broadband ISPs and networks (i.e. those where they hold a majority stake) – including Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre, Giganet (Cuckoo) and AllPoints Fibre – are to be consolidated into a single Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) operating entity. Regular readers might […]

London-focused broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which is building a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover 2.2 million UK premises by the end of 2024, has launched a new promotion that’s specifically targeted at Virgin Media’s customers in the city (e.g. 920Mbps for £27/month with 1 month free). The provider, which currently covers over 720,000 premises in the […]

News

The Dutch operator group has finally agreed to exit the Russian market via a sale of the unit to its executive leadership team

Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Veon has found itself in the unenviable position of owning mobile operators on both sides of the conflict.

In Russia, the Dutch company wholly owns Vimpelcom, Russia’s third-largest operator, which accounts for around half of Veon’s total revenues. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, it owns Kyivstar, the country’s largest operator.

Naturally, this convoluted situation has created a litany of challenges for Veon over the past year, with the company having seen its share price plunge by around 60% since the war began.

But while Veon indicated relatively early on in the conflict that it would like to follow numerous other firms in exiting the Russian market, doing so has proved problematic.

It was only after many months of debate, in November last year, that Veon announced it had struck a deal with a group of Vimpelcom’s executive leadership team, agreeing to sell the business to them for around $1.83 billion.

The group, lead by current Vimpelcom CEO Aleksander Torbakhov, said that they had presented Veon with the “most balanced offer” in what they called the “competitive process of selling the asset”. However, it should be noted here that Veon had previously valued the business at roughly $5 billion, hence the purchase represents a significant discount.

Nonetheless, Veon CEO Kaan Terzioglu at the time commented that the deal was the “optimal solution” for the company.

The Russian government, however, seemingly disagreed, with reports late last month suggesting that the buyout was opposed by the Russian finance ministry, economy ministry, and the central bank. According to sources, initial drafts of the deal had been rejected and sent back to involved parties for renegotiation.

Now, Veon has announced that it has obtained approval from required regulators, with the deal expected to close this summer.

“We are pleased to have reached this significant milestone in the transaction, which is expected to be accretive to equity, reduce VEON’s debt, and improve its credit profile,” said Terzioglu.

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Also in the news:
Comcast signs deals worth $50m with State of Indiana for rural fibre expansion
Verizon records 5G upload speeds of over 1Gbps
Yorkshire Water partners with BT for smart water project

Little-known ISP Open Fibre, which for the past few years has been selling broadband packages in Hull via MS3′s new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband network, has extended their agreement so that they can now serve those being covered by the latest network expansion across the North East of England. MS3 started rolling out their […]