Network operator nexfibre, which shares some of their parentage with ISP partner Virgin Media (VMO2) and uses the same build teams, has today revealed that the roll-out of their new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband network has reached its coverage target of 2 million premises on time and is now moving on with the next phase.
Just to recap. Back in 2022 Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners setup nexfibre as a new £4.5bn joint venture (here), which aims 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. The funding reflects £3.3bn of fully underwritten financing and up to £1.4bn in equity commitments.
The operator previously reported that their full fibre network had been built to 1,557,000 premises as ‘Ready for Service’ at the end of October 2024 (here), which means that they’ve managed to add around 440,000 additional premises over the last two months. But it’s not clear from today’s announcement whether this figure now includes the 2023 acquisition of Upp and its c.175,000 premises.
“The business has delivered its network to more premises than any other fibre provider in 2024, except for the incumbent [Openreach], which makes it the UK’s second largest alternative network provider,” said nexfibre’s announcement today. But in fairness, CityFibre’s rival FTTP network has already reached 4 million premises, and we’re certain that Netomnia (YouFibre) has also just passed the 2 million premises mark (not yet official). Hyperoptic aren’t far behind the 2 million figure, either, but their roll-out has slowed.
Rajiv Datta, Chief Executive Officer of nexfibre, said:
“Reaching two million premises is testament to the dedication of our team and the support of our partners and investors. It reflects our commitment to building a network that prioritises underserved communities and creates a real and lasting impact – most of all by driving economic growth and improving living standards across the UK.
This is an outstanding achievement in just two years of operation – making nexfibre the UK’s second largest alternative network. However, our work is far from done. Our mission is to be part of a network platform that drives sustainable, nationwide competition, provides a genuine alternative to Openreach, and transforms access to broadband across the country.”
Sadly, today’s announcement, while extremely positive, doesn’t include a specific build target for the coming year. But given their progress and the future targets, it’s not unreasonable to expect them to do over 1 million premises during the next 12-months as well.
UPDATE 10:18am
Nexfibre has today informed ISPreview that, as the Upp migration exercise is expected to “reach its conclusion in the coming weeks“, the 2 million does include “some” of the Upp homes. But we expect to get a fuller update shortly.