James Page, the CEO of Proactive International PR, said era of buildouts by so-called altnets in the United Kingdom has given way to a new chapter, where investors want their money back.

Altnets, a shortened term for smaller alternate network providers, remain buoyant in the UK, despite earlier predictions from some that a consolidation doomsday would arrive.

"There is still more investment to come," Page said. "We've been talking for some time in this market about when consolidation was going to particularly hit and how quickly that was going to happen, and that seems to be something that's never quite hit."

Earlier fears connected to overbuilds have not necessarily played out either, Page said.

"Now when you've got 120, maybe more, altnets and there hasn't been yet that much consolidation, then there is definitely competition between them," he added. "I think that's entirely a good thing."