Rumour Mill – Giffgaff May Launch UK FTTP Broadband via Nexfibre
Some sources have indicated to ISPreview that reputable mobile network provider giffgaff, which is owned by Telefónica and uses the associated Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) provided by O2 (Virgin Media) in the UK, are allegedly testing the possibility of offering full fibre (FTTP) broadband packages via nexfibre’s network.
Just to recap. Nexfibre is the product of a £4.5bn joint venture (here) between Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners, which aims to deploy an open access 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 (Telefonica and Liberty Global also own Virgin Media).
Nexfibre’s 10Gbps capable FTTP (XGS-PON) network has so far covered 1,277,800 premises (RFS), which is up from 986,000 in Q1 2024 and much of that has been built by Virgin Media’s engineers. But they’re currently in the process of investing another £1bn this year to help cover an additional 1 million UK premises (i.e. on top of their existing coverage) and this should get them to around c.2m by the end of 2024.
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Suffice to say that it’s not impossible to see giffgaff, given the many aspects of intertwined ownership, getting into the fixed broadband game too. But thus far there has been no indication of such activity, and giffgaff has instead always tended to remain exclusively focused upon mobile provision.
Nevertheless, information received by ISPreview suggests that giffgaff may at least be exploring such a move, which appears to be occurring as part of a limited trial on part of Nexfibre’s network – possibly in part of Scarborough. In this area nexfibre have allegedly been spotted deploying a number of seemingly unbranded ONTs (optical modems) in homes for an operator other than Virgin Media and the indications suggest it’s giffgaff.
The solution at work looks similar to a white label agreement, although plenty of details remain unknown and we must stress that none of this has yet been officially confirmed. We did ask both giffgaff and Nexfibre about it and they each declined to give a comment.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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I know an ONT is just an ONT, but do VM brand theirs? Why go to the extra effort?
I currently have two ONTs in my house, only one of which has a clear network brand, and a third may soon be added. Now I know which box is for which network/ISP, but a future owner of the property might not, which is why it can be wise to brand the ONT or to at least label it. Not all network operators are considering this, sadly. In some areas I’ve seen two networks rolling out and using the same generic ONT, which could be fun.
Virgin technially use a ont/router so it’s just thier hub5 whith a ont inside making it the hub5x.
@ Martyn. They use an all-in-one? Not sure if i like that idea, i know we had it for ADSL/FTTC, but they use normal cables that don’t break easily and can be replaced easily if they do. I prefer my ONT to fixed onto the wall and an Ethernet cable from that to my router.
No modem mode on the HUB 5x either, so you are a bit stuck if you want to use your ownn kit without double NATing.
Ad47uk
I have a suspicion that some of the altnets may be using combined ONT/Routers too. When BT first launched FTTC they used to supply a separate VDSL modem so I guess this would be a well trodden path.
I’m in scarborough o.0 be nice to know more tbh.
Since Giffgaff belongs to O2 and O2 is part of Virgin and Nexfibre is also partly owned by O2/virgin and what ever other name they want to be known at, then I suppose it is obvious that it may happen. Some people not knowing who owns Giffgaff may feel they can trust the brand more than O2/Virgin, even if it is the same company.
Not going to affect us here as I doubt very much Nexfibre will build here, with two networks already here, it would be stupidity to build another network in such a small city. Unless Zzoomm decides to sell up and Nexfibre takes over. God help us if that happens.
Don’t underestimate the inefficiency of private capital. I live in a medium sized town in Sussex and we have Openreach, nexfibre, AllPoints Fibre, and F&W, plus patches of Lightning Fibre and Box Broadband. It’s a little bit silly!
@Ad47uk same for us in Crewe. I’m like you with Zzoomm but was previously on the Openreach network with BT/EE. We have now Virgin on the Nexfibre network available, it’s crazy the amount of overlap between the networks for a small town like Crewe.
Like Ben, here in Banbury we Openreach, All Points and F&W yet it hasn’t stopped VMO2 building as well. Some bits have all 4 networks but mostly varying combinations of 2 or 3 of the others (I have Openreach and All Points) yet 2 of the biggest estates have none at all because they were built as direct dig in the 70s and it’s going to be expensive to deploy. Absolutely crazy.
@ben, Michael and Big Dave, but this is Hereford, I was shocked that we had Zzoomm, in fact I am shocked that we have FTTP at all. This city is pretty backwards compared to others. Also, I really don’t think there is room for more than two networks here. I would also be surprised if Nexfibre know where Hereford is.
I suppose I could be surprised someday, if I am here long enough
I can see Giffgaff FTTP being just a budget branding, similar to Sky/Now.
The question is what will they do to differentiate the two, TV, Priority, etc. will be a given, but will they limit the speeds, provide VOIP, (somehow) worse customer service, etc.
NF/VM is expanding to my area, I am hoping that their wholesale side offers something decent because as of now besides maybe faster upload speeds, I can’t really see a reason to switch to them from OR FTTP….except maybe masochism.
That said, my brother somehow has access to 3 providers for FTTP (OR, VM and Youfibre), although the latter came most recently.
I live in Maidstone, I can use OR, VM or Youfibre. Though not everywhere in Maidstone YF is available. Cityfibre are rolling out here and of course there is Trooli in parts. Whilst it might be crazy, it’s good for the consumer. Though I do feel for areas with no choice.
I can see this happening. nexfibre is a wholesaler and why not use Giffgaff, O2’s budget brand, to be an early adopter. This will benefit both nexfibre and VMO2 who have a lot to learn about the wholesale market.
Also Giffgaff is unusual in having a strong community-driven customer service and marketing, and I wonder how well this will work (at least in the beginning).
“After raising 3 separate complaints with VM over my nexfibre install I’m happy to report they have decided not to charge me for my “free” instal (though they were keen to!).
The VM router (a 5x hub) is very basic and currently without a bridge mode, churlish to complain about this given the speed ramp of 1gb/s up and down is good but I would look forward to not paying VM when the contract ends, would be interesting to see how nexfibre manage the switch to a different isp in 17 months time….
By then Lightspeed may offer something better for less and perhaps even BT will have switched to synchronous…
Virgin need to go wholesale as their customer numbers are static despite building very quickly. When they do go wholesale it is going to toast what’s left of the altnet business plans.
Don’t know who is deciding on which areas to install this new network but it’s awful planning. They’re building in towns that are already flooded with Openreach and much cheaper alt nets.
My observation seems to be rural towns and villages are getting flooded with builds, and cities tend to have 0-2 builds (yes zero in some city areas). For some reason the rush is in particular rural areas.
Someone in these companies has decided its better to build in a highly competitive rural area than a area with limited competition.
My area has just 1 build with no others planned.
Is it where cables are overhead that most of the build is going on? (because much cheaper)
I wonder how many more properties would be enjoying FTTP if the government of the day had insisted that only one fibre to each property, just like all other services.
I wont mention that the UK could have had FTTP years ago, clearly these decisions go through the Ministry of Stupidity to ensure it is as difficult as possible to implement anything.
Still hopefully the Ministry of Stupidity has been disbanded as a cost saving measure.
On the bright side, lots of civils going on in Dankshire, and a reel of fibre was spotted recently.