The Trouble with Switching from Virgin Media UK to Giffgaff Broadband
Over four months have now passed since mobile operator giffgaff, which is owned by Telefónica UK, become the only other retail ISP after Virgin Media (O2) to start selling fixed broadband packages over nexfibre’s new full fibre (FTTP) network (here). But despite this welcome development, customers on Virgin Media are still struggling to switch.
Just to recap. Nexfibre was established a few years ago as part of a £4.5bn joint venture between Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners (here). The operator has since built FTTP to cover 2.5 million premises – supported by Virgin Media’s engineers (Telefónica is also co-owner of VMO2). But the operator’s original plan to cover “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) recently stalled and future build remains uncertain (here).
Despite the uncertain climate, many of those covered by nexfibre’s network welcomed the arrival of giffgaff’s service, not least because they appear to have adopted simpler packages with clearer pricing, as well as short (flexible) monthly contracts and the ability to use a third-party router directly from the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) on your wall (officially this is NOT yet supported, but various customers say it works).
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However, it wasn’t long before some interested consumers, who happened to still be customers of Virgin Media in the same nexfibre areas, found that they were unable to order and directly switch to giffgaff’s service (giffgaff’s support staff also echoed this). The only way around this was to cancel their Virgin Media connection first and then place an order for giffgaff’s service as a new line, which is far from the smoothest thing to do and often involves some downtime.
Speculation has been rife about the reasons for this. Some people suggested it could be down to limitations of their order management system / processes and others have indicated it may be more of a competitive decision, such as to avoid giffgaff hoovering up Virgin Media’s existing base with ease. Initially we thought it was just a post-launch teething issue, but the problem remains today and continues to attract complaints.
A spokesperson for VMO2 told ISPreview:
“There’s nothing preventing Virgin Media customers from switching to giffgaff, it’s just not currently a fully automated switching experience. We are working on a solution which we hope to have live soon.”
The above should perhaps be considered a joint statement, since it was given with the approval of giffgaff, although it’s currently unclear how long it will take to resolve the issue. In the meantime those in this boat who wish to switch to giffgaff will need to follow the manual cancellation route and all the extra hassles that may entail.
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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Think I am correct in saying that with VM over Nexfibre, an ONT is not fitted (fibre cable just connects to the Virgin Media router), but with a Giffgaff install, an ONT is installed and an Eero router is provided. If so, could this be the issue preventing migrations from VM over Nexfibre to Giffgaff?
JOK, you are, indeed, correct to say that VM over Nexfibre installs do not involve a separate ONT. It is integrated into the VM router, the Hub 5X. This is, however, NOT, the reason migrations are prevented. It has become clear that former customers of VM over Nexfibre have had the equipment swapped from the VM router to the GiffGaff ONT without any issues whatsoever.
It is, no doubt, some sort of internal, systems based issue that is preventing migrations. We already know that ordering systems are likely the reason that VM’s cable customers have found it difficult to switch to the newer Project Mustang fibre connections, even though their neighbours were enabled. This is probably something similar, which is why it makes it all the more galling for those who find themselves in this position.
Its been reported in the FT (paywall) that VMO2 is moving ahead with the acquisition of Netomnia here:- https://www.ft.com/content/cb3ffce2-f60e-45a9-8875-4521f461700b
Forgive me but as a VM customer that finds himself in the very position described in this article, I have to take issue with the assertions of both the author, and the VMO2 spokesperson that this is simply a manual switch, rather than an automated one. And it is incorrect to say that it “often” involves downtime.
That fact is, GiffGaff will not accept an order at all until after a VM disconnection has already taken place. There will therefore always be downtime involved so this does not constitute a switch of any kind, automated or otherwise.
This may seem like a subtle distinction but I’m very disappointed that the author, at least, has not made this point clear. And for the spokesperson to claim that “There’s nothing preventing Virgin Media customers from switching to GiffGaff” is a blatant attempt to muddy the water and, surely a breach of the spirit, at least, if not the letter, of Ofcom’s rules on One Touch Switch.
Please amend the article to make this point clear as soon as possible because this is what is causing VM customers to become angry and frustrated about this situation.
Wouldn’t that be a breach of the general conditions with relation to One Touch Switch…
The Financial Times thinks VMO2 is about to buy Netomnia for £2bn.
I can 100% confirm. I had Gig2 from VM and whilst I was a customer of theirs, attempting to order giffgaff lead me to be told it wasn’t available.
As I have Openreach FTTP, I decided to cancel VM at the end of my contract, due to the fun and games of renewing and the extortionate pricing I’d be pushed to.
After successfully disconnecting, a few days later I tried giffgaff again out of pure curiosity and sure enough I suddenly able to order.
£35 for symmetric 1 gig was a no brainer so as a backup connection (two fully remote workers here) I signed straight up.
Indeed you are supplied with an Eero and a separate ONT (this alone is worth going for giffgaff over VM because the hub5x is rubbish).
giffgaffs website says you can’t use your own router but nothing stopping you – you just need to tag your WAN interface with VLAN 911, it’s plain old DHCP, no PPPoE etc.
GiffGaff aren’t even on the latest* list of ISPs live on the TOTSCo system.
(* published earlier this morning)
https://totsco.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Brands-in-the-live-OTS-directory-03.02.25.pdf
Are they there under another name?
That list says it was published prior to GiffGaff launching their service.
It’s 2026.
Ooops!
Yes, it says 3rd of Feb, but last year.
Not much point having a “current” list if it’s 365 days old.
If GiffGaff launched their service after One-Touch-Switching went live, then there’s no excuse for not being able to switch from VM, since it’s supposed to be an OFCOM requirement.
Can GiffGaff can use OTS to accept inbound transfers from any other ISP I wonder?
Some thing needs to be done about this and all other matters to be honest also we are in Feb 2026.
Thanks
The latest OTS live directory dated 19th January 2026 is https://totsco.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Brands-in-the-live-OTS-directory-19.01.26.pdf