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Mobile network provider giffgaff, which is owned by Telefónica and uses O2’s associated virtual operator (MVNO) platform, has provided customers of their new home broadband trial – based on nexfibre and Virgin Media’s 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP / XGS-PON) network – with additional speed options other than 500Mbps.
The trial has been running with “up to 500” live customers for a couple of months now (here and here). The service initially only offered a single package, which offered symmetric speeds of 500Mbps on a 12-month term for the heavily discounted price of £10 per month. Such pricing is only for the trial period and won’t reflect their final retail pricing, which is likely to be higher.
Customers who have signed-up to this typically seem to be ending up with exterior kit that still features Virgin Media’s branding (pictured), as well as an Optical Network Terminal (ONT) inside their homes from Arcadyan Technology (PB6802B-LG) and one of Amazon’s Eero 6+ routers (UI features giffgaff’s branding).
The main change this week appears to be that giffgaff have now introduced two additional trial tiers for customers. The first is an entry-level style 200Mbps package for the ridiculously low price of £5 per month, and the next is a higher end 900Mbps tier for £15 per month (although we’re starting to view 900Mbps as more of a mid-tier in the current market). Credits to couldbefaster on our forum for the update.
At present we don’t know when the commercial launch will happen or what their final packages / prices may be when that occurs.