European Broadband Operators and Tariffs Benchmark Report, Q1 2024; Two or more FTTP networks covered 7m UK premises in Q1 2024; UK telecoms sector news; Project Gigabit, government and Ofcom updates
Key publication of the month:
This is our regular update on fixed broadband availability in the UK, tracking the progress between the end of December 2023 and the end of March 2024. The analysis is based on theThinkPoint broadband availability dataset which includes 1.7m postcodes.
Key headlines
At the end of Q1 2024, the overall FTTP coverage was 20.7m premises (64.7% of the UK total). This metric was up by 6.5% compared to Q4 2023.
Nearly 7 million premises had access to 2 or more FTTP networks, and 0.8m were covered by 3+ fibre networks.
In Q1 2024, the largest number of FTTP premises added was in Glasgow (+24.5K), Birmingham (+24K), Buckinghamshire (+20K), and Pembrokeshire (+20K). For the first time, we have local authorities from the South East and Wales in this ranking.
Among the FTTP altnets with at least 100Kpremises, we recorded the highest quarterly growth in premises passed FW Networks (+90%), Grain Connect (+59%) and nexfibre (+54%).
Across the UK, 19% of premises still lacked gigabit access, down from 21% three months earlier.
Despite some operators slowing down their footprint expansion due to cost, labour and contractor issues, 30 local authorities saw 10%+ growth in the percentage of their premises passed with FTTP networks, down from 31 local authorities (LAs) in Q4 2023. This time, high growth areas are spread more evenly throughout the UK, with the three highest percentage increase areas being in Wales.
At the end of Q1 2024, FTTP coverage was lower than 20% of premises in 13 local authorities, down from 14 three months earlier. The FTTP coverage was 50% or higher in 71.4% of local authorities, up from 63% of LAs three months earlier.
Read the complete article here.
Project Gigabit progress update – May 2024
On 21 May, Building Digital UK (BDUK) published its Building Digital UK Framework Agreement. The Framework Agreement sets out the broad governance framework within which BDUK and DSIT operate. It sets out:
BDUK’s core responsibilities
describes the governance and accountability framework that applies between the roles of DSIT and BDUK
sets out how the day-to-day relationship works in practice, including in relation to governance and financial matters
On 23 May, BDUK awarded supplier Freedom Fibre a £43 million contract to provide over 15,000 hard-to-reach premises in Cheshire with access to gigabit-capable broadband. The contract began in May 2024 with the first premises to go live in early 2025.
BDUK launched its National Rolling Open Market Review (May 2024) request for information for all suppliers to submit information about their existing and planned build at premises level over the next 3 year period across the UK. The review will run until 1 July with its findings published later in the year.
Key May telecoms sector news
BT Group News
Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) News
CityFibre (CF) News
Independent Operators (AltNets) News
Other News
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