All Fern Trading articles
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Interview
Cuckoo MD sees national retail reach as vital in loosening Big 4’s fibre grip
Startup consumer‑focused fibre ISP Cuckoo is positioning itself as a national-scale player at a time when many UK peers are thinking local, underpinned by customer-centric Sarah Howells and the Kraken next-gen ops platform (also backed by Octopus Capital). Login to learn more…
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M&A
UK altnet group AllPoints nabs new retail service provider Brillband
Fern Trading‑backed fibre altnet acquires Glasgow‑focused retail fibre startup, and backs plans for continued expansion.
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Financial & Performance
Grain claims to beat Openreach connection costs as EBITDA breakeven nears
UK fibre altnet frontloads capex to build to property boundaries, making for cheap connections when customers sign up, but Grain may be playing a high-risk game…
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Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: telco politics across Europe, infra sell-offs, new UK fibre leader pops up
Latest from the digital infra scene in Europe and beyond, including: Draghi’s plans for Euro consolidation; One Touch Switch impact; another LEO constellation funded; $40bn data centre IPO looms; people moves; plenty more…
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Venturing & Investments
Infracapital: UK FibreCo fundraisers must graft to overcome global ‘bad rep’, new gov showing ‘green shoots’
INCA event provides platform for investors and altnets including Octopus and Netomnia to review early weeks of Labour government, with broad optimism on show despite still rocky funding environment. The capital exists, but what will Downing Street do to bring it to the UK? Read more…
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Venturing & Investments
Hyperoptic crosses £1bn funding milestone with fresh UK investment
Altnet focused on plugging connectivity gaps in urban areas says £150m in UK Infrastructure Bank money will particularly benefit social housing residents.
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M&A
Altnets Netomnia-Brsk merging into UK FibreCo unicorn tier
This weekend sees confirmation of top-ten FibreCos combining into top-five integrated challenger with uprated three million footprint target, wholesale differentiation, prep’d for further M&A. Read more, including our updated market overview…
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Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: CTOs to the fore as industry reshuffles, DT disses 1&1, BDUK springs forward
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including big Project Gigabit wins for Quickline, Wessex Internet, and Wildanet; a first appearance in the wild of a DSIT-funded 4G mast; DT taking a swipe at its newest mobile rival; people moves, and plenty more…
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People
UK fibre challenger AllPoints nets Adtran CTO
High-profile Ronan Kelly joins £1bn-backed FTTP wholesaler within Octopus’ streamlined Fern Trading stable.
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M&A
CityFibre ignites M&A plan with Lit Fibre buy
Altnet lights M&A touchpaper with Lit Fibre deal, expands FTTP footprint and brings in Newlight Partners as minority investor. More to come from CityFibre soon…
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Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: net-sharing, consolidation and deal-making in UK and Europe
Latest from the UK and Europe’s digital infra scene, including interviews and OpEds from Fibrus and nexfibre; big talk from Liberty’s CEO; and DigitalBridge’s Marc Ganzi teasing M&A to come. Plus much more from altnets, European infra players, and investors…
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Interview
Interview: Lit Fibre’s Webster on altnet’s upcoming business segment play
Exec brought in to drive commercial expansion speaks with TelcoTitans Infrawatch about plans to debut in the b2b market, and how Lit is embedding its brand within communities. Read more…
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Interview
Hello, Beastie: Octopus Energy’s Kraken takes on legacy tech in broadband customer service
Exclusive: Kraken Utilities CEO and sibling Cuckoo’s CCO discuss how Octopus Energy’s tech platform underpins growth ambitions. Watch out Amdocs, NetSuite (Oracle), Salesforce, SAP…
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Eventwatch
UK's One Touch Switch debate erupts, with March 2024 deadline hanging in balance
INCA Conference 2023: Fiery panel discussion sees OTS platform questioned, accusations of ‘threatening’ behaviour, Ofcom deadline looming, exemplary punishment mooted, risk of altnets being cut off from opportunity to take market share with major ISP migrations…
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Enterprise (B2B)
London’s Vorboss breaks B2B fibre price-performance barrier for retailers
Leading on price as well as “unheard of” performance, CEO exclusively unpacks new low-priced 10Gbps Retail Connect proposition for TelcoTitans UK Infrawatch. Read more about how Vorboss is setting itself apart…
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People
Gavin Patterson takes chair at utility platform player Kraken
Former BT chief to help scale cloud-based supply chain automation platform in the energy sector and beyond.
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Strategy & Change
UK infra investment group Fern branches out into mobile services
Expansive fibre, energy, and property investor builds an MVNO enablement platform business, targeting high-street retailers and other consumer brands.
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Venturing & Investments
ITS bags fresh funding for UK fibre rollout, eyes M&A opportunities
Avenue Capital Group injects £100m of debt funding into B2B-focused altnet.
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People
Digital infra people moves: Cellnex reorg brings fresh C-level line-up
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer added to Cellnex management team, with new MDs appointed in four European markets.
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Network & Infrastructure
The Backfill: Helios Towers bags $720m in debt facilities
Helios Towers signs off on new debt facilities, partially to fund new cash tender offer. Fibre M&A continues in Europe, while MTN Nigeria replaces IHS with ATC in new tower deal. Read more…