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The Competition and Markets Authority has published its preliminary findings for their fast-tracked Phase 2 investigation into the £2bn acquisition of full fibre broadband network Netomnia (Substantial Group) by the parents of nexfibre and Virgin Media (O2). Overall the CMA found the deal would result in a “substantial lessening of competition (SLC) in the wholesale supply of fixed broadband services.”
In case anybody has forgotten. Nexfibre (i.e. Liberty Global, Telefónica and InfraVia Capital), which shares some of their parentage with VMO2, announced in February 2026 that they’d reached a £2bn deal to acquire alternative network rival Netomnia (here). At the time the operator had already built their own FTTP network across 3 million UK premises (rising to c.3.4m premises and 500k customers by deal completion – expected in Q3 2026).
The deal was promoted as helping to unlock a £3.5bn investment in the UK market and assisting in the upgrade of 2.1 million of Virgin Media’s premises from coax (HFC) to full fibre technology. The combined nexfibre and Netomnia footprint aimed to reach 8m premises (FTTP) by the end of 2027, which when combined with Virgin Media’s network could collectively reach 20m premises (c.10m if only looking at FTTP) and create a “scaled, financially secure challenger” to Openreach (BT).