Yasemin Mersinoglu

BT has suffered a blow after Sky chose rival network provider CityFibre as its second broadband partner while the two telecommunications groups compete to roll out full fibre across the country. CityFibre, which is one of dozens of alternative network providers—or “altnets”—said that work was under way to make Sky’s broadband available to people on its network in 2025.

Europe’s biggest telecommunications companies have called on the European Union to compel Big Tech to pay a “fair” contribution for using their networks, the latest stage in a battle for payments that has pitched the sector against companies such as Netflix and Google. Technology companies that “benefit most” from telecommunications infrastructure and drive traffic growth should contribute more to costs, according to the chief executives of 20 groups including BT, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica.