As the telecoms industry experiences rapid structural, regulatory and technological change, staying informed is essential.

Our telecoms newsletter brings you the latest insights and developments shaping the industry, including news for Alternative Network Providers (Altnets), Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), equipment and technology suppliers, along with the latest governmental and regulatory developments.

In this edition, we bring you some of the key developments in the telecoms sector over the last year so you can keep your business on track.

Latest News

Standardised infrastructure sharing to boost altnet collaboration

In 2025, a group of UK altnets, working through the Independent Networks Cooperative Association (INCA), launched a new infrastructure‑sharing initiative. The framework provides a standardised way for altnets, as well as mobile operators, data centres, tier‑one carriers and hyperscalers, to share infrastructure. The aim is to limit further duplication of network build by opening up these assets to a broader range of providers.

In some ways, it’s similar to the Openreach physical infrastructure access framework (PIA), where you can purchase access to existing Openreach ducts and poles. However, PIA has long faced criticism for its lack of transparency, inconsistent pricing and commercial terms and different treatment depending on the customer.

INCA’s new framework is designed to address these issues, offering standardised pricing and consistent legal and commercial terms across the board.

The aim is to help you share existing infrastructure more efficiently, reduce unnecessary overbuild and avoid becoming overly reliant on the Openreach network, while creating more opportunities for collaboration across the altnet market.

Even though only around 20 altnets have joined so far, the initiative still signals a positive shift. It shows that altnets are actively looking for smarter ways to use the capacity they already have, stay competitive and navigate what continues to be a tough market.

It will also be worth watching how Ofcom and Openreach respond, and in particular whether this pushes a rethink of PIA and leads to more transparent and standardised treatment for altnets.

Strengthening network security to prevent fraud

The UK MNOs have signed a new telecoms fraud charter, with a promise to upgrade networks to tackle spam calls and expose fraudsters.

As criminals increasingly use advanced technology and AI tools, the charter focuses on detecting fraud at source, strengthening the security of the interactions on mobile networks, and helping customers stay aware of evolving risks. It also aims to boost collaboration across telecoms, finance and technology so that everyone benefits from a more secure, joined‑up approach.

A key aspect of this charter isn’t just making it clearer when calls come from overseas. What will make the real difference is improved data sharing. By ensuring MNOs, banks and technology companies share intelligence on fraud, suspicious activity spotted on one network can be quickly flagged across all networks, so customers are less likely to fall victim.

Overall, this development shows that protecting consumers is still at the heart of decision making. It will be interesting to see how these goals lead to new technologies that can trace and block fraud at source, giving customers safer and more trusted communications.

Landmark Nokia and Nvidia Investment

Nokia and Nvidia have entered into a landmark partnership, with Nvidia taking a stake in Nokia and Nokia agreeing to integrate Nvidia technology into its RAN software.

With AI‑enabled processing units often requiring significant power and posing challenges for integration into existing telecoms sites, this investment could give Nokia the financial backing it needs to improve efficiency and ensure that the network upgrades required by MNOs are worth the investment.

Despite the concerns around power usage and site complexity, the scale of this investment signals strong confidence from both companies in the future of AI‑RAN technologies.

While much of the discussion has focused on the impact this may have on US network upgrades, it will be exciting to see what this will bring to the UK, especially in light of VodafoneThree’s CMA commitments on network investment and the UK government’s ambition to position the country as a leading destination for the development and deployment of advanced telecoms technologies.

Draft statement on strategic priorities for the telecoms sector

The UK government has published a new draft statement setting out five strategic priorities to support growth in the telecoms industry, which Ofcom will be required to consider when carrying out its regulatory functions.

The strategic priorities are:

• Driving growth through world class fixed and wireless digital infrastructure.
• Supporting growth through a transparent, competitive and fair retail market for consumers.
• Driving growth through maximising access to spectrum.
• Maximising opportunities for growth through secure and resilient telecoms infrastructure.
• Supporting growth through resilient and sustainable postal services.

These priorities aim to ensure Ofcom helps deliver key national targets, including achieving 99% gigabit connectivity by 2032.

One interesting theme is the continued emphasis on competition in the fixed line market. While there are many altnets competing in challenging market conditions, true competition between altnets and Openreach remains limited. The draft statement recognises this by stressing the need for Openreach to treat altnets fairly, suggesting a clearer understanding of where competitive imbalances lie. Stay tuned for our comments on the recent Telecoms Access Review (2026), as we gain a better understanding of how Ofcom is looking to address this imbalance.

Beyond the discussions around altnets, consolidation and market competition, the UK government continues to highlight the importance of technology and innovation. It will be worth watching how the government supports new technologies to improve spectrum efficiency and how it promotes both existing and emerging network‑sharing initiatives to drive further growth.

Cyber Security and Resilience Bill

The new Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 12 November 2025.

The aim of this bill is to add to the existing Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations 2018, increase defence against cyber attacks and better protect public services.

This bill will do this via three pillars of reform, namely:

• Expanded scope: expanding the types of businesses and service providers that are within scope of the regulations.
• Regulator reform: drive for better reporting from businesses within scope, and better data sharing between regulators to ensure a consistent approach in managing compliance.
• Future-proofing: give government and regulators the flexibility and tools to be able to adapt to changes in cyber security threats and become more agile.

One of the biggest impacts of the bill is through the introduction of relevant managed service providers and data centres into the scope of the regulations.

If you are a provider of data centre services or fall within the bill’s definition of a relevant managed service provider (which will include those that provide managed services in the UK (whether or not established in the UK) and are not a small and micro enterprise), then you will fall within this expanded scope and therefore be subject to the provisions under the regulations requiring compliance with incident reporting requirements and obligations with regards to the cyber security measures you have in place.

Given the approach to also future proof the regulations, there is a risk that even if you are not within scope of the regulations, you may be brought into the scope of the regulations by being designated as a ‘critical supplier’ or by the introduction of new services and activities falling within the scope of the regulations.

Whilst a lot of this bill will have impacts for new businesses falling within scope of the regulations for the first time, there are also impacts for those businesses currently in scope, which you may be due to the services you provide (for example cloud computing services).

Some of what we view as the key changes intended to be introduced by this bill for those that are currently in scope of the regulations can be summarised as follows:

Incident reporting:

• Successful ransomware attacks and pre-positioning attacks that are likely to have significant impacts in the UK will fall within scope of notification obligations, even if the attack has not yet had an impact.
• Initial notifications will be required within 24 hours, with a full report being required within 72 hours of the incident.
• Regulators will be required to take into account wider ranges of circumstances when determining whether an incident has had (or was likely to have) a significant impact.

Enforcement:

• The penalty band structure is intended to be simplified to ensure penalties for non-compliance can be targeted at the appropriate level with increased transparency.
• Regulators will be required to take into account wider ranges of mitigating circumstances in order to determine the appropriate penalty.
• New maximum penalties will be introduced (£17million or 4% of annual worldwide turnover for more serious breaches, and £10million or 2% of annual worldwide turnover for less serious breaches).

The only changes that will take effect from the first day the bill becomes legislation will be future-proofing changes, and the post-implementation review procedure. This will therefore leave key elements such as incident reporting and enforcement to secondary legislation.

As well as reporting incidents that have a significant impact – businesses have to report those that are likely to have a significant impact. It will be interesting to see how the government ensures businesses have sufficient clarity to ensure they are able to quickly categorise incidents into those that have a significant impact and those that are likely to, and comply with reporting requirements in as short a time period as 24 hours.

How we can support you

If you have any questions about the issues discussed in this newsletter or would like advice on a telecoms‑related matter, please contact Ryan Doodson or Fraser Halle-Smith. Our Telecoms Team supports some of the biggest players in the industry with regulatory, commercial, infrastructure and transactional expertise.