UK broadband glossary, 80+ clear definitions.

A

ADSL

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. Legacy copper broadband technology delivering up to about 24 Mbps download in ideal conditions. Largely superseded by FTTC and FTTP.

Affiliate

A commercial arrangement where a publisher earns a commission (typically CPA) for sending a customer to an ISP, network or comparison site.

Altnet

Alternative network operator. A UK broadband infrastructure operator that builds fibre infrastructure independent of Openreach. See our UK AltNet Tracker.

ASA

Advertising Standards Authority. UK regulator for advertising standards including online and broadcast.

Awin

The dominant UK CPS affiliate network for telco brands. Used by most major UK ISPs.

B

BDUK

Building Digital UK. The UK government executive agency responsible for delivering Project Gigabit and earlier rural broadband programmes.

Bonded ADSL

Multiple ADSL lines combined for higher throughput, mostly legacy business use.

Broadband

High-speed fixed-line internet access; technically any always-on connection above 256 kbps but in UK consumer use typically means 30 Mbps+ FTTC or faster.

Bundle

Combined sale of broadband with one or more of mobile, TV, landline or content. Common UK examples include BT Halo, Sky bundles, Vodafone Together, Virgin Volt.

C

CDPQ

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Canadian institutional investor active in UK altnet funding (notably Boldyn Networks).

CityFibre

The UK's largest independent wholesale full-fibre operator. See CityFibre profile.

Connected Nations

Ofcom's annual UK fixed and mobile connectivity report, the primary public source for UK FTTP and gigabit coverage data.

Contention ratio

The number of users sharing the same backhaul capacity. Lower contention is better. Modern FTTP networks have effectively very low contention.

CPA

Cost per acquisition. The standard affiliate commission model in UK telco: a fixed payment for a validated customer signup.

CPS

Cost per sale. Often used interchangeably with CPA in UK affiliate marketing.

CSP

Content Security Policy. A web security standard that controls which resources a page may load. Used across the FBRE network.

D

DOCSIS

Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification. The cable broadband standard used by Virgin Media in the UK.

Domain Rating (DR)

Ahrefs metric on a 0 to 100 logarithmic scale that estimates the strength of a domain's backlink profile. See UK Telco Domain Authority Index.

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line. Family of copper broadband technologies including ADSL, VDSL and SDSL.

DSLAM

DSL Access Multiplexer. The cabinet equipment that aggregates DSL connections from premises to the exchange.

E

EE

UK telco brand, now part of BT Group, repositioned as the premium consumer brand from 2024. See EE profile.

E-E-A-T

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Google's quality framework for content evaluation.

F

FTTC

Fibre to the Cabinet. Fibre runs to the street cabinet, copper completes the last drop to the premises. Typical speeds 36 to 80 Mbps download.

FTTP

Fibre to the Premises. Fibre runs all the way to the building. Typical speeds 100 Mbps to 2 Gbps; some operators (Community Fibre, YouFibre) offer up to 8 Gbps.

Fibrus

The leading Northern Ireland-focused altnet.

Full fibre

Synonymous with FTTP in UK consumer marketing.

G

GCAS

General Conditions of Authorisation. Ofcom rules that govern UK communications providers including switching and customer protection.

Gigabit

Broadband at 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps) or higher. Now available to approximately 80 to 85 percent of UK premises.

GEA

Generic Ethernet Access. Openreach's wholesale FTTC product purchased by retail ISPs.

H

Halo

BT Group bundle proposition combining broadband, mobile and TV.

Hyperoptic

UK altnet focused on multi-dwelling-unit (MDU) buildings. See Hyperoptic profile.

I

INCA

Independent Networks Cooperative Association. The trade body for UK altnets.

IP

Internet Protocol. Also used for "intellectual property" in business contexts.

IPv6

Internet Protocol version 6. The newer addressing scheme replacing IPv4. Variable UK ISP support.

ISP

Internet Service Provider. See our UK ISP database.

ITU-T

International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector. Standards body for telecoms including XGS-PON specifications.

J

Jitter

Variation in latency over time. Important for voice, video and gaming. Measured in milliseconds.

K

KCOM

Historic Hull telephony incumbent, now Macquarie-owned, operating its own full-fibre network across Hull and East Yorkshire separate from Openreach.

L

Latency

The round-trip time for a packet between your device and a destination. Measured in milliseconds. Lower is better; below 30ms is excellent for gaming.

LCP

Largest Contentful Paint. A Core Web Vitals metric measuring how quickly the main content of a page renders.

M

Mbps

Megabits per second. The standard UK consumer broadband speed unit. 1 Gbps = 1,000 Mbps.

MDU

Multi-dwelling-unit. An apartment block or similar shared building. Hyperoptic specialises in MDU fibre.

MVNO

Mobile Virtual Network Operator. A mobile brand that uses another operator's network (e.g. Smarty on Three, giffgaff on O2, Voxi on Vodafone).

MNO

Mobile Network Operator. The four UK MNOs are EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.

N

nexfibre

Joint venture between Virgin Media O2, InfraVia and Liberty Global to build out a wholesale XGS-PON network alongside Virgin Media's existing DOCSIS estate.

O

Ofcom

Office of Communications. UK independent regulator for communications.

OFCOM General Conditions

See GCAS.

OLT

Optical Line Terminal. The exchange-side endpoint of a passive optical network.

One Touch Switch (OTS)

The UK process introduced in 2024 where the gaining provider handles all switching steps on the customer's behalf.

ONT

Optical Network Terminal. The premises-side endpoint of a fibre connection.

Openreach

BT Group's wholesale infrastructure division. Operates the largest UK fixed-line network.

OSA 2023

Online Safety Act 2023. UK legislation imposing duties on user-to-user and search services around content moderation, age-appropriate design and harmful content.

P

PoA / POA

Price on application. Used where commercial pricing is confidential or bespoke.

Premises passed

Number of UK premises (residential plus commercial) where an operator's physical infrastructure can technically reach.

Premises ready for service (RFS)

Subset of premises passed where service can be ordered and installed immediately.

Project Gigabit

UK government programme delivering gigabit broadband to hard-to-reach areas via BDUK regional contracts.

PSTN

Public Switched Telephone Network. The UK copper voice network, being switched off by 2027 and replaced by digital voice over IP.

Q

QoS

Quality of Service. Network mechanisms to prioritise certain traffic (e.g. voice).

R

Router

The home device that connects your premises to your ISP and distributes Wi-Fi to your devices.

S

Schema.org

Vocabulary for structured data used to help search engines understand page content. Used across FBRE.

SIM-only

Mobile tariff sold without a handset, typically rolling-monthly or 12-month contract.

SLA

Service Level Agreement. A commercial commitment to uptime, response time or other measurable performance.

Speedtest

A tool that measures download speed, upload speed, ping and jitter on your connection. See UKSpeedTest.co.uk.

SSS Group

SearchSwitchSave Group. The parent group of FBRE.uk.

Symmetric

Equal upload and download speed. XGS-PON full fibre typically allows symmetric tariffs; DOCSIS does not.

T

Take-up rate

Percentage of premises ready for service that are actually paying customers. Urban altnet take-up typically 5 to 15 percent; rural altnet take-up typically 20 to 30 percent.

Tenancy

Fixed-price advertising placement on a publisher's site, in contrast to performance-based affiliate commission.

TTFB

Time to First Byte. Measure of how long a server takes to respond to a request.

U

Ultrafast broadband

Ofcom term for broadband at 300 Mbps or higher. Largely synonymous with FTTP entry tariffs.

USS

Universities Superannuation Scheme. UK pension fund and altnet investor (e.g. G.Network).

UX

User Experience. The overall feel of using a product or website.

V

VDSL

Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line. The technology used for FTTC.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol. Replacement for PSTN landline voice.

Volt

Virgin Media O2 bundle proposition combining broadband and mobile.

W

WAN

Wide Area Network. Typically refers to the ISP-side of your home connection.

WBA

Wholesale Broadband Access. Generic term for the wholesale layer between an infrastructure operator and a retail ISP.

Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)

Older Wi-Fi standard; common in older routers and devices.

Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)

Current mainstream Wi-Fi standard. Better performance in dense-device environments.

Wi-Fi 6E

Wi-Fi 6 plus 6 GHz spectrum. Even better performance but requires compatible devices.

Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)

Emerging Wi-Fi standard with multi-link operation and higher throughput.

X

XGS-PON

10 Gigabit Symmetric Passive Optical Network. The current mainstream wholesale full-fibre technology in the UK, supporting symmetric multi-gigabit tariffs.

Suggest a term

If you would like a term added or refined, email hello@searchswitchsave.com with subject "Glossary suggestion". We update the glossary quarterly.