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 13 Jul 2026
- Population
- 67.6M
- Gigabit-capable
- ~83%
- of premises
- Subsea landings
- 50+
- cable systems
- Network builders
- 100+
- altnets + incumbents
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
- 69.5M
- Economy
- $4T
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
Data centres
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
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