Analysis · 5 min read
The great UK altnet consolidation has begun
After years of land-grab overbuild, the UK’s independent fibre builders are entering a long-predicted phase of mergers and rationalisation.
By Elena Marsh · Infrastructure Editor
United Kingdom
EuropeLast updated 14 Jun 2026
- Population
- 67.6M
- Gigabit-capable
- ~83%
- of premises
- Subsea landings
- 50+
- cable systems
- Network builders
- 100+
- altnets + incumbents
- Internet users
- 95.5%
- Fixed broadband (per 100)
- 42.2
- Mobile subscriptions (per 100)
- 121.6
Overview
The United Kingdom is in the middle of a once-in-a-generation upgrade from copper and cable to full fibre. A competitive market of more than a hundred network builders — led by Openreach and a wave of well-funded altnets — is rewiring the country, while London remains one of the most important interconnection and subsea landing hubs in the world.
- Population
- 69.2M
- Economy
- c. $3.3tn GDP — services-led, with a large digital economy
Digital infrastructure summary
Gigabit-capable coverage now reaches the large majority of UK premises, driven by competing full-fibre rollouts. Copper retirement is underway, with the national PSTN switch-off reshaping the access market.
Fibre coverage: Full fibre (FTTP) available to a majority of premises and climbing rapidly
National broadband strategy
Project Gigabit is the government’s £5bn subsidy programme to bring gigabit broadband to premises the commercial market would not otherwise reach, complementing private investment of tens of billions of pounds.
Ecosystem
Major operators
- Openreach
- CityFibre
- Virgin Media O2
Data centres
- Slough Data Centre Campus
Subsea cable landings
- 2Africa
- Amitie
- Apollo
- Atlantic Crossing-1 (AC-1)
- Beaufort
- BT Highlands and Islands Submarine Cable System
- BT-MT-1
- CeltixConnect-1 (CC-1)
- Channel Islands-9 Liberty Submarine Cable
- Circe North
- Circe South
- Concerto
- Cowes-Fawley 2
- CrossChannel Fibre
- E-LLAN
- Emerald Bridge Fibres
- ESAT-2
- Europe India Gateway (EIG)
- EXA Express
- EXA North and South
- FARICE-1
- Farland North
- FLAG Atlantic-1 (FA-1)
- Geo-Eirgrid
- Glo-1
- Grace Hopper
- Havhingsten/CeltixConnect-2 (CC-2)
- Havhingsten/North Sea Connect (NSC)
- High-capacity Undersea Guernsey Optical-fibre (HUGO)
- Iceni
- IOEMA-1
- Isles of Scilly Cable
- Lanis-1
- Lanis-2
- Lanis-3
- Manx-Northern Ireland
- Mercator
- NO-UK
- Northern Lights
- Pan European Crossing (UK-Belgium)
- Pan European Crossing (UK-Ireland)
- Portsmouth-Ryde 10
- Portsmouth-Ryde 11
- Q&E North
- Q&E South
- R100 North
- Rockabill
- Scotland-Northern Ireland 3
- Scotland-Northern Ireland 4
- Scylla
- SHEFA-2
- Sirius North
- Sirius South
- Solas
- Tampnet North
- Tampnet South
- Tangerine
- Tata TGN-Atlantic South
- Tata TGN-Western Europe
- UK-Channel Islands-7
- UK-Channel Islands-8
- Ulysses 2
- Verena
- Yellow
- Zeus
Key cities
Projects
- Project Gigabit
Related articles
Guides · 4 min read
The PSTN switch-off, explained
The copper phone network is being retired across Europe. Here is what that means for consumers, businesses and critical services.
By Elena Marsh · Infrastructure Editor