AT&T is just the latest telco to offload some or all of its data centres to a new generation of non-competitive colocation companies as it shifts emphasis to core connectivity provision and cloud service delivery from third party hosting facilities.

It's always important to take analyst forecasts with a pinch of salt. Predicting the future is difficult at the best of times (see our article on predictions in ITProportal) and a single unexpected geo-political event (Brexit anyone?) can scupper the most meticulously prepared financial projection overnight.

TalkTalk is well known for the voice and data connectivity services it offers to UK consumers, but it has been quietly building a flexible, high capacity IP network which also accommodates increasing numbers of business customers.

Revenue for TalkTalk Business accounted for over 30% of the £1.8bn total in the financial year ending March 2016, up 5% on the previous year and driven largely by growth in demand for data products, next generation voice services and broadband connections delivered by both its direct channel and wholesale partners.

Ofcom’s long awaited review of the UK broadband landscape offered both good and bad news for BT.

The regulator fell short of recommending the telco’s Openreach network infrastructure division be split into a separate company for now, but demanded that BT make it easier for rival internet providers to use its national network to deliver their own services to customers.