BT bets on budget provider amid broadband customer losses Tech BT has lost more broadband customers than expected, a sign that even its £15bn fibre rollout is struggling to retain customers from drifting to cheaper rivals. Openreach, BT’s network arm, reported a net loss of 242,000 broadband lines in the second quarter of its financial year, worse than the 205,000 analysts had pencilled in. The [...]
Virgin Media O2 and Starlink race to fix London’s connectivity crisis Tech Virgin Media O2 has switched on its first ‘giga site’ in central London, a move aimed at improving mobile connectivity across the UK. The site, which combines low-mid and high-band spectrum with Nokia’s technology, can deliver speeds of more than 10Gbps, enough to support 2,000 simultaneous HD video streams. The move is part of the [...]
BT urges government action amid standalone 5G rollout telecoms BT has called on the UK government to remove regulatory barriers and accelerate mobile network expansion. The call comes as the FTSE 100 giant announced plans to deliver standalone 5G (5G+) coverage to 99 per cent of the UK population by 2030, four years ahead of rival operators’ stated projections. Speaking at the Connected Britain [...]
Natwest and Lloyds expect lending hit from broadband battle August 28, 2025 Natwest and Lloyds have had to brace for losses on loans as players across the broadband sector struggle against escalating competition. Lloyds Banking Group’s commercial unit set aside £25m in provisions for loans that were unlikely to be fully repaid. William Chalmers, the group’s finance boss, said the coverage was mainly due to loans in [...]
Plusnet cuts jobs as sales and profit slashed August 15, 2025 Plusnet cut more than 100 jobs as its sales and profit were slashed during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. The Sheffield-headquartered broadband provider, which is owned by BT, has posted a turnover of £342.4m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2025, down from the £401.8m it achieved in the year before. Plusnet [...]
TalkTalk: Huge losses revealed amid job cuts and fleeing customers August 6, 2025 The full extent of TalkTalk’s financial woes have been revealed for the first time amid sky-rocketing losses and huge job losses as customers move to other broadband providers. New accounts for the Salford-headquartered group filed with Companies House have revealed its pre-tax losses surged from £153m to £465m in the year to 28 February, 2025. [...]
Vodafone boss faces renewed backlash over £85m franchise dispute July 29, 2025 Former franchisees accused telecoms giant Vodafone of driving small business owners to the brink at its annual general meeting on Tuesday, amid a deepening £85m legal dispute over its former retail partner model. At the meeting in Newbury, several claimants involved in the lawsuit directly challenged chief executive Margherita Della Valle and chairman Jean-François van [...]
BT ups dividend as firm refocuses on the UK May 22, 2025 BT has upped its dividend to shareholders as the telecoms giant reported a rise in profits. The FTSE 100 company has declared a final dividend of 5.76p per share, bringing its full-year dividend to 8.16p, an increase of two per cent on the previous year. The firm’s policy is to at least maintain or increase [...]
Vodafone CFO quits to become shortest serving in FTSE 100 giant’s history May 7, 2025 The chief financial officer of Vodafone is to quit the FTSE 100 company just over 18 months after taking the job. Luka Mucic, who joined the telco’s board in September 2023, said he plans to leave “no later than” the spring of 2026, a move that would make him the firm’s shortest-serving CFO in its [...]
Three’s ‘best value’ ads probe cleared after Vodafone complaint April 2, 2025 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled in favour of Three UK, rejecting Vodafone’s challenge that the mobile operator’s ads for its iPhone 16 Pro deal were misleading. Vodafone had argued that the telecom rival’s claim of offering ‘The UK’s best value unlimited iPhone deal’ could mislead consumers into thinking it was based on more [...]