Research Round-up September 2025

Point Topic’s September publications:  European Broadband Operators and Tariffs Benchmark Report, Q2 2025; FTTP adoption rates and market value in Europe – 2024 update; UK Operator Sentiment Analysis

Key publication of the month:

Quarterly updates of forecast and take-up models

The most recent runs (using March, take-up; June, coverage 2025 data) of our postcode take-up model and forecasts for operator coverage.

Updates include new inputs for subscribers and technology adoption trends, and tracking consolidation of networks.

Take-up

Adoption and the rate of take-up for FTTP in particular continues to be a big story in the UK. Slower than many had hoped and projected, the market is making do with the bandwidth available and needs persuading to shift to something ‘better’.

The flattening of the data consumption curves in recent quarters and now years means that take-up will become a more direct competition on price, content, as well as customer service. 

Our models reflect this new reality, based on our longitudinal data and indicators from the market.  This release allows our customers to easily access another view to augment their own understanding of the adoption landscape.

It is important to remember that this is a model.  Data is distributed down from national and footprint level subscriber numbers.

Here you can see our free example output for Ashford in Kent split by LA ward (councillors take note), but you can find any local authority and postcode in our data.

Coverage Forecasts by operator and technology

We produce two sets of forecasts at postcode level for availability.  One which lists operators broken out individually and one which compounds the count of FTTP and gigabit supply in a postcode.

These allow the user to quickly arrive at a view of the future based on transparent and relatively simple models.  We don’t attempt to over-fit and force data into the shapes that we like. 

While our roll-back testing is improving, we hit 80% for some operators; we rely on simple regressions and competitive push and pull models to arrive at a clear outcome.  Our free coverage forecast output example for Ashford is below.

For free access, email isabelle.anderson@point-topic.com.

Read the complete article in our free analysis here and UK Plus subscribers can now access our quarterly Data Windows.

Explore insights and trends on pricing and ISP key metrics from 2020 to the present with our quarterly downloadable Datasets.

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Key September telecoms sector news

BT Group News

1 September – BT completes the sale of its wholesale and enterprise business unit in Ireland to Speed Fibre Group.

2 September – BT and Transaction Network Services (TNS) announced that TNS has agreed to acquire BT’s Radianz business. The transaction is expected to complete during the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearance.

9 September – EE becomes the world’s first mobile operator to launch Advanced RAN Coordination (ARC) technology in its distributed network. ARC is a ground-breaking technology¹ that allows mobile sites near to each other to remotely pair up and share capacity, dramatically boosting network performance – especially in busy areas at peak times – without the need for additional masts.

11 September – NGA2014/25 FTTP proactive upgrades, special offer and new product inclusion. On 10 October 2025, Openreach will launch the following in relation to FTTP proactive upgrades:

1. Special Offer: Nationwide rental offer for FTTP proactive upgrades to the 1000/115Mb, 550/75Mb and 330/50Mb bandwidth tiers for the rental price of 80/20Mb

   a. Only new proactive FTTP upgrade orders by a CP placed on eligible speeds within the offer window (between 10 October 2025 and 9 April 2026 inclusive) that proceed to successful FTTP installation qualify.

   b. If a new proactive FTTP upgrade order is placed on a speed that is not eligible under the terms of the special offer, the CP will have 60 calendar days from the FTTP installation date to modify the bandwidth of the circuit to an eligible speed to qualify for the special offer.

   C. The CP will benefit from the special offer price for 24 months from the date at which the eligible speed is activated, i.e. FTTP installation date or bandwidth modify date. 

   This briefing supports ACCN OR1015

2. New Service feature: Launching the £0 Proactive FTTP upgrade journey for the 0.5/0.5Mb speed tier for migrations from certain PSTN-based copper services facing retirement (WLR, WLR + SMPF & ISDN 2).

   
   

   a. The £0 Proactive Migrations FTTP connection charge will now also apply to proactive upgrades from WLR-only, ISDN2, and WLR + SMPF to the FTTP 0.5/0.5Mb bandwidth tier.

   
   

   b. The £0 Proactive Migrations FTTP connection charge will apply to proactive FTTP upgrade Standard provisions. Premium and Advanced connections for proactive FTTP upgrades will be charged at the prevailing rate as set out in the Openreach Price List, minus the standard connection charge. 

17 September – Openreach will launch its new telecare migration service across the UK this October, following the success of its Prove Telecare Pilot. The service will ensure that service providers can safely migrate vulnerable customers who rely on telecare devices to a new digital phone services operating over fibre and off the UK’s ageing copper phone network or Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) – due to be switched-off in January 2027.

24 September – Openreach’s UK FTTP network upgrade reaches 20m premises passed.

25 September – BT study shows digital network upgrade could transform critical UK services, free up NHS and council resources, and prevent over 1m emergency callouts.

29 September – Openreach published SOTAP004/25 Product launch of SOTAP Analogue. Following the successful pilot of the SOTAP Analogue product, Openreach notified CPs of its full commercial launch at a yearly rental price of £127.80 with 28 days notice.

Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) News

2 September – Closing the digital divide: a new VMO2 project will help 1,200 people get online and become more independent.

10 September – Virgin Media gigabit broadband is now available to 13,000 more homes in Worcester for the first time.

15 September – Virgin Media O2’s next-generation 5G Standalone network is now available in 500 towns and cities.

17 September – Virgin Media O2 brings together a new team to challenge the fixed wholesale market.

18 September – Virgin Media gigabit broadband is now available to 12,000 more homes in Sleaford for the first time.

23 September – Virgin Media gigabit broadband is now available to 21,000 more homes in Littlehampton for the first time.

29 September – Virgin Media O2 ramps up 3G switch-off programme as the older mobile network is to be withdrawn in Scotland from November.

CityFibre (CF) News

2 September –  CityFibre announced leadership transition: Simon Holden to succeed Greg Mesch as Chief Executive Officer.

Independent Operators (Altnets) News

1 September – Netomnia completes £300m junior debt raise. This includes £160m from existing investors I Squared Capital and Palistar Capital, originally part of the May 2025 funding, and an additional £140m subscribed through increased commitments from I Squared Capital and Palistar Capital alongside new lenders Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Bain Capital. This latest investment builds on Netomnia’s £880msenior debt commitment, bringing total debt funding support to £1.2bn.

2 September – Netomnia to extend UK full fibre broadband reach via Openreach’s FTTP Network.

3 September – B4RN announced 15,000th connected customer milestone.

9 September – Community Fibre announced it reached the 400,000th subscriber milestone, reaching a newtork penetration rate of 30%.

10 September – Quickline announced it has now delivered gigabit-capable broadband to around 8,500 homes and businesses across East Yorkshire, with a large portion enabled through Project Gigabit funding.

12 September – GiffGaff expand UK full fibre broadband trial with extra speed options and announced on 15 September that they have now fully launched their FTTP services over nexfibre's (VMO2) network.

12 September – BDUK announced that over 3,800 homes and businesses across north Northumberland can now access lightning-fast broadband in a major milestone for the Government’s mission to close the digital divide.

Broadband provider GoFibre has installed 415 kilometres of new full-fibre cable to dozens of rural communities in north Northumberland.

16 September – ISPReview reported that Sky UK has begun notifying their workforce that up to 600 of them are likely to be made redundant by the end of this year, while around 300 more may be impacted by a wider business reorganisation. Many of those expected to be cut appear to come from Sky’s tech and networking teams.

18 September – Fibrus released its audited accounts for the year ending March 2025; Customer numbers leapt 45% year on year to 113,500, representing take up of 28% of connectable homes, EBITDA Improved by £13m year on year and Fibrus became EBITDA positive from March 2025. The subsidised Project Stratum build programme is followed by the successful completion of the Group’s second milestone under its Gigabit programme in Cumbria which also received an £50m extension to cover an additional 21,000 underserved premises. The total number of connectable premises grew by 70K, totalling 407K at year end, which has risen to over 440K.

22 September – MS3 hit 20,000th customer milestone on Hull FTTP network.

23 September – toob announced connecting over 100,000 customers milestone.

Other News

2 September – TalkTalk announced that its, 'transformation accelerates with launch of refreshed brand, digital platforms and marketing campaign.'

3 September – Ofcom announced that on 16 and 17 September it will accept applications to bid in the auction for licences to use 26 GHz and 40 GHz spectrum (known as ‘mmWave’ spectrum).

4 September – BDUK published delivery performance, annual: April 2024 to March 2025. BDUK estimate that its interventions delivered 152,700 premises with gigabit-capable coverage between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. A cumulative estimate of 1,227,000 premises have received gigabit-capable coverage by BDUK’s gigabit programmes since their inception. 

9 September – Ofcom to authorise satellite connectivity for standard smartphones. Ofcom confirmed that it will move ahead with plans to make the UK the first country in Europe to enable standard smartphones to connect to satellites using mobile spectrum bands.

11 September – Ofcom published the Openreach Monitoring Unit’s (OMU) annual monitoring report for 2025.

12 September – Ofcom announced that 1.6m Brits have switched their landline or broadband provide since the launch of the One Touch Switch process one year ago.

17 September – Common Wholesale Platform Common Wholesale Platform (CWP), a founding member of the Technical Architecture Group (TAG), announced it will preview its new Business Switching solution at Connected Britain 2025. This launch marks a major step forward for UK businesses, giving them faster, simpler, and more reliable ways to change telecom providers while ensuring compliance with Ofcom rules. 

The solution builds on the Connected Services Framework (CSF) – the open industry standard for business switching and collaborative processes, developed by TAG. Unlike consumer switching, where the One Touch Switching (OTS) hub became the mandated centralised model, the CSF avoids the limitations of a single hub, offering a distributed, extensible, and cost-efficient framework for the UK telecom market. 

21 September – ISPReview reported that, TalkTalk Group is set to appoint PJT Partners to oversee UK break-up.

22 September – VodafoneThree signs multibillion pound investment deals, marking another major milestone in building the UK’s best network. Global communications technology leaders Ericsson and Nokia will deliver part of the unprecedented £11bn network investment plan.

25 September – Ofcom has fined communications provider Vonage £700,000 for failing to ensure certain business customers could make calls to the emergency services.

26 September – ISPReview reported that the Government to expand UK availability of Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.

30 September – TalkTalk announced that all steps to conclude its new funding and associated debt facility changes (announced 7 August 2025) have now completed.

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