Some of ISPreview’s readers have spotted that internet provider Home Telecom, which is part of the wider Telecom Acquisitions (TAL) group that also has an established strategic partnership with TalkTalk, appears to be selling broadband plans that are “Powered by Virgin Media” (VMO2). But seemingly only in FTTP areas that have been built for nexfibre.
Just to recap. Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners originally setup the new £4.5bn nexfibre joint venture in 2022 (here), which aims to deploy an open access fibre (FTTP / XGS-PON) network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT currently served by Virgin Media’s network of 16m+ premises (Virgin shares some of the same parentage). Nexfibre have already covered over 1.3m premises (here).
At present, Virgin Media is the only retail ISP selling packages over nexfibre’s network, although more providers are expected to be added in the future (here and here). In addition, Virgin Media’s own FTTP network will open up to wholesale via a new company – NetCo – in the future too (here), but that isn’t expected to happen until H1 2025.
Suffice to say that we were a little bit surprised to find (credits to Daniel and Chris) that the availability checker on Home Telecom’s website had begun optionally returning results for packages “Powered by Virgin Media O2“, albeit seemingly only for addresses that have been built for nexfibre (we say “for” because nexfibre are utilising Virgin Media’s engineers to do the civil engineering).
As per the picture above, related addresses currently list a 400Mbps and 1000Mbps package at £42 and £50 per month, respectively. This appears to be offered on a 24-month minimum contract term and includes a router. Some additional upfront fees are also listed, such as a £10 installation fee, £20 for “priority booking” (it’s unclear why that’s included by default, as it sounds like it should be optional) and a router delivery fee of £9.95.
Naturally, we have shot off several messages in order to try and get an official clarification from the related parties, but our suspicion is that Home Telecom are either conducting a trial for a future product (one that has now been stumbled upon) or it’s simply an accident, albeit a curiously well-prepared and structured one. Either way, we should have the answer soon. But this could potentially be nexfibre’s first non-Virgin retail ISP partner.
UPDATE 3:52pm
Thanks to our readers for helping to spot that the same packages also show up in some, albeit not all, of Virgin Media’s RFOG and Hybrid Fibre Coax areas. This seems far too soon for NetCo and so is more likely to be a mistake on Home Telecom’s part, but we await something more concrete to clarify. The fact the ability exists at all to show such packages is interesting.
UPDATE 4:23pm
Virgin Media has confirmed there isn’t a wholesale arrangement with their side, although they’re still investigating. But we have been given a hint from elsewhere that it might be more of a retail level / commission-based arrangement. Currently, we probably won’t get the full context until everybody is back at work on Monday.