Virgin Media Start Opening FTTP Upgrade Areas to Existing UK Customers
Broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2) has confirmed to ISPreview that they’ve finally started to make their new XGS-PON powered full fibre (FTTP) network upgrade (aka – Project Mustang or Fibre Up), which is being deployed alongside their existing coaxial cable (HFC / DOCSIS 3.1) areas, available to existing customers too.
Just to be clear. The change being referenced above is NOT to be confused with nexfibre’s separate roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines into new UK areas, which has already covered 2.5 million premises (access to this is being sold to consumers via Virgin Media and giffgaff). The nexfibre build is entirely focused upon areas that weren’t previously reached by Virgin Media.
By comparison, this article is talking about Virgin Media’s own efforts to upgrade their legacy HFC (DOCSIS 3.1) and Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG FTTP) powered areas – covering 16 million premises – to add support for XGS-PON technology. The goal of this programme is to complete that upgrade by 2028, although migrating customers will take much longer as it requires an engineer visit (i.e. replacing old kit with new ONT / optical modem).
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At present, we still don’t know precisely how many HFC areas have been upgraded to support XGS-PON lines (costing c.£100 per premises), although several million premises are known to have been completed. But until recently the only ones able to access these new FTTP upgrade areas were new customers (here), which meant that if an existing customer wanted to upgrade from HFC to FTTP/XGS-PON then they had to cancel and re-subscribe.
However, some of ISPreview’s readers in HFC areas (i.e. those that Virgin have upgraded to support XGS-PON) have recently informed us that they’re now able to order up to Gig1 over HFC and Gig2 over FTTP, without needing to go through the tedious (early termination chargers and downtime etc.) hassle of cancelling and re-subscribing as a new customer first.
A spokesperson for Virgin Media has now confirmed to ISPreview that they have “begun offering existing customers in some areas the opportunity to upgrade their services to symmetrical and gigabit packages delivered on the XGS-PON network“. The key word in that response is “some“, since this is part of a phased roll-out as they continue to upgrade their network, so not everybody in a Project Mustang (Fibre Up) area may be able to benefit.. yet.
This is a positive development as Virgin Media really needs the XGS-PON upgrade to do more than just sit there, doing absolutely nothing (i.e. not generating revenue). After building, it’s important to make it as easy as possible for both new and existing customers to benefit from the newest network.
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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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Or to be slightly less generous this is how long it’s taken them to update their IT to cope with upgrades, something BT/OR managed years ago.
“Home Phone services are not currently available with full fibre” may have something to do with it.
I just hope when they start mandating upgrades they also dont mandate downgrading over to something like the 5x (no modem mode) and their stream based TV (no local dvr).
I have seen some images in the past of an ONT which converted back to coax.
VM recently installed Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG FTTP) to my location, while installing xgs via nexfibre few streets away. No logic apart from using up old stock?
Question is in areas where they missed places out but the network is close – will they now be allowed to extend that too? Now we have PIA and alt nets coming in to places using PIA ?
When I had a bunch of issues getting openreach to get fibre to where I live (mines underground, the rest of the area is overhead) I was looking at virgin media. They decided I needed a pre-install survey. I waited in for them on two separate days with no contact at all. It would have been easy to go from the swept tee, down a tiny embankment and in to the side of my house but because they didn’t talk to me, I got an email from them saying I needed wayleave from other random properties to install a cable across a load of communal land nowhere near my property. This makes absolutely zero sense and because I had my time wasted, their install got cancelled. They couldn’t understand why and didn’t care at all. Virgin Media needs to get the basics right to connect new people. Don’t hold your breath.
Project Mustang / Fibre Up is an overbuild of Virgin Media’s legacy HFC network using FTTP, and its economics depend on re-using VM’s existing duct infrastructure. Hitting a build cost of roughly £100 per premises is only achievable where fibre can be pulled through existing ducts with minimal civils.
Significant new digging would push costs beyond the Mustang budget and effectively turn it into a new-build project. As a result, network expansion beyond the existing duct footprint isn’t viable in this phase of the rollout but can be done after this project.
Yep let’s make more money by charging ingrediant a lot more to upgrade to stop. Ripped off enough as it is !
Could you translate that into English?
How do you go about find out if your property is “eligible”?
I’ve looked on their site and it’s showing 1GIG maximum. I assume unless it’s showing 2GIG your property hasn’t been FTTP yet?
Virgin Media always stupidity to get large chuck of price jump after contract should be BANNED by Ofcom.
M125 service starts at £24.99 per month on a 24 month contract, but jumps to £68 per month thereafter. (jump to £68 thereafter shouldn’t be allow)
I hope I don’t have to sign up to allow Virgin Media marketing to get a fibre upgrade, as it usually involves 5 phone calls a month about an “account review” where they try to upgrade my package or try to sell me an O2 contract.
I’ll be really glad when 5G is properly available in my area so I can get rid of them.
Just searched our house – they’re finally offering full fibre, but it’s buried way down. Seems they would rather dig up the garden to install coaxial, only to have to replace it all in a few years’ time. incredibly short sighted
Currently on RFOG in an HFC area. Virgin seem to have halted their roll out completely here now on new build estates. The ducting and pre install work is still going ahead but the streets are not serviceable on VM’s checker.
Nexfibre is available in some parts of the area. Everywhere else in the town is HFC.
Still only less than a quarter of the cut off Milton Keynes is covered by VM02 / Nexfibre.