While the overall UK broadband market is stagnating, the transition to full fibre technology is accelerating.
Data from Point Topic suggests the UK’s fixed broadband market has officially hit a wall, recording a net loss of 14,000 subscribers in the second quarter of 2025, bringing the total number of connections down to 28.91 million.
However, full fibre – or Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) – is now available to 77.8% of UK premises. The number of active full-fibre connections has surged to 11.03 million, an 8% increase in just three months, as customers ditch older copper-based services like DSL and FTTC.
Openreach, the infrastructure arm of BT Group, remains the dominant force in this migration. The company extended its network to an additional 1.1 million properties in the quarter, pushing its total footprint to over 19 million premises, including 5.2 million in rural areas.
This expansion by Openreach was matched by record subscriber growth, with the network provider adding a massive 566,000 new full-fibre customers to reach a total of 7.09 million. Its take-up rate now stands at a healthy 37% where the network is available.
At the retail level, BT’s Consumer division saw a second consecutive quarter of modest growth, adding 11,000 net subscribers. The company is increasingly using its Plusnet brand to attract value-conscious UK consumers, a strategy designed to fend off competitively priced alternative full fibre networks, or ‘altnets’.
While BT holds its ground, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) faced a difficult quarter, shedding 51,000 broadband customers. The company has pointed to aggressive pricing from altnets and the impact of the ‘One-Touch Switching’ process, which has made it harder to retain customers with exclusive offers. VMO2’s full-fibre rollout has also slowed, a decision linked to financial pressures at its parent company, Telefónica, which also scrapped plans to launch a wholesale network rival to Openreach.
The rest of the major UK full fibre providers presented a mixed picture. Sky saw a small decrease of around 12,000 connections, while TalkTalk continued its run of losses, dropping approximately 20,000 subscribers. However, TalkTalk has secured £100 million in new funding to reinvigorate its consumer business, which will be welcome news for its key wholesale partner, Openreach.
However, the standout story of the quarter is the continued rise of the altnets. These independent providers collectively added 205,000 new subscribers, growing their total customer base by 41% year-on-year to reach 2.96 million.
Of the UK altnets, CityFibre is leading the charge adding 69,000 full fibre connections to reach a total of 650,000. Bolstered by a new £2.3 billion funding round, the company is positioning itself as a major consolidator in the altnet market.
CityFibre’s growing influence was underscored by a landmark deal with Sky, which has begun offering new multi-gigabit broadband packages over CityFibre’s network. This presents a challenge to Openreach, as Sky is expected to prioritise CityFibre for new customers where its network is available.
This intense competition is good news for consumers, who are seeing entry-level prices for ultrafast services fall. The average cost for a full-fibre package over 100 Mbps dipped by 4% to £26.80 per month. Providers like Gigaclear and Community Fibre are offering some of the most competitive deals at £18.00 and £19.00 per month, respectively.
While the overall number of UK fixed broadband subscribers has plateaued, the battle for the future is being fought on the full fibre front. The competition between Openreach, VMO2, and a consolidating altnet sector is set to intensify, promising faster speeds and greater choice for millions of households.
Source: https://www.telecomstechnews.com/news/uk-full-fibre-adoption-despite-stagnant-broadband-market/
