UK led European full fibre rollout in 2023 but lags in uptake

The UK added 4.7 million homes to its full fibre broadband footprint in the year leading up to September 2023, outpacing every other European country.

According to the latest market report from the FTTH Council Europe, this rapid expansion brought the UK's total fibre homes passed to 17.1 million—ranking it third in Europe behind France (26.3 million) and Turkey (18 million).

Given the UK's population size and need to catch up on fibre deployment, its leading position...

Telefónica will phase out copper in Spain by 2024

Telefónica has reaffirmed its commitment to transform its fixed infrastructure by completely switching to Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) and closing all its copper exchanges by 2024.

The copper switch-off will coincide with the company’s centenary. The move is in line with Telefónica’s strategy to increase the performance and speed of service while reducing energy consumption and its carbon footprint.

José María Álvarez-Pallete, Chairman of Telefónica,...

EU greenlights Vodafone-Altice FTTH plans

The EU Commission has given the green light to a joint venture between Vodafone and Altice to deploy fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) across Germany.

The joint venture is called FibreCo and will see the partners deploy FTTH to up to seven million homes over a six-year period.

Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone Group, commented:

“This partnership builds on Vodafone’s significant next-generation network with Altice’s industrial expertise and proven Fibre-to-the-Home...

AT&T delays 500,000 FTTP builds due to fibre supply issues

AT&T has been forced to delay 500,000 of its FTTP (Fibre-to-the-Premises) builds due to an industry-wide fibre shortage.

Fibre is in high demand following a year when people were forced to appreciate the need for fast and robust connectivity. Unfortunately, the pandemic also played havoc with supply chains.

During a virtual conference, AT&T Senior Executive BP and CFO Pascal Desroches said:

"Through the second quarter, we hadn't really experienced any...