UK orders sale of Russian-backed broadband firm Upp over ‘security risk’

Regional provider is owned by LetterOne, whose investors include Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven

The UK government has ordered the Russian oligarch-backed investment company LetterOne to sell regional broadband provider Upp, saying its current ownership was a national security risk.

The business secretary, Grant Shapps, said the risk to national security relates to “the ownership of Upp … and Upp’s expanding full fibre broadband network”.