Original article ISPreview UK:Read More
Network operator nexfibre, which is working alongside Virgin Media to deploy a new 10Gbps full fibre broadband (FTTP) network across millions of UK premises (c.2.2m have already been built), has told ISPreview that they “remain focused on enabling as many ISPs as possible“. This came after some of ISPreview’s sources indicated that their wholesale plans seem to have stalled.
Just to recap. Back in 2022 Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners setup nexfibre as a new £4.5bn joint venture (here), which aimed to deploy an open access (wholesale) full fibre network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT served by Virgin Media’s own network of 16m+ premises (side note: Telefónica and Liberty Global also back Virgin).
However, as previously reported (here), the nexfibre build recently suffered a big hit after JV partner Telefonica launched a strategic review. Not only did this pause Virgin Media’s (O2) own plans for opening up their existing broadband network to wholesale via a new NetCo company (here), but it also caused nexfibre to scale-back its FTTP coverage target for 2025 to 2.5 million premises (here) – roughly 500k premises less than expected.
At the time nothing was specifically mentioned about nexfibre’s efforts to onboard more ISPs as part of their own semi-separate wholesale plans, although we have long assumed that it might be impacted too – given the close alignment of strategy with Virgin Media and shared parentage.
Over the past few weeks’ a number of industry sources have since informed ISPreview that nexfibre appears to have slowed or paused their engagement with other ISPs, with related account managers being moved to other parts of the business. Naturally, we asked nexfibre about the status of their wholesale offering to the wider market and whether they were still open to other ISPs outside the VMO2 / giffgaff group. The response was mixed.
A nexfibre spokesperson told ISPreview:
“nexfibre is creating a wholesale platform for all ISPs – nothing has changed in our mission or belief that a scaled sustainable competitor to Openreach is needed for long-term market health.
The strong interest we have received from ISPs, outside of our shareholder eco-system, has been encouraging and reaffirms our investment in future-ready XGS-PON infrastructure.
While ISP integration is progressing, it is a complex process, often with bespoke requirements. In light of such demand, we have naturally had to prioritise our efforts, but we remain focused on enabling as many ISPs as possible to use our high-quality, full fibre platform.”
The operator doesn’t spell out precisely what they mean by “prioritise our efforts” in this context, although it could suggest that they’re opting to focus more on larger ISP partners for now (at the cost of smaller players), or have decided to focus on getting giffgaff ready for launch before progressing third-party ISPs to market.
The fact is that Telefónica is involved with both nexfibre and Virgin Media, thus their strategic review will be placing pressure on both sides and Liberty Global is having to manage that as best they can. Speaking of which, the CEO of Liberty Global, Mike Fries, recently indicated that it could take 24 months for Telefónica to arrive at a decision about their future direction (here).