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Virgin Media O2’s UK broadband customers fall as cost cutting hits and FTTP upgrades stop

Tuesday, Nov 3rd, 2026 (7:45 am) - Score 14,040
Virgin Media O2 UK Walrus TV Advert Screenshot from YouTube

The latest Q3 2026 results from broadband and mobile operator Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) have today been released, which reports a fall in consumer broadband customers of -22,100 to total 5,395,800 (vs -28,200k in Q2) and another decline in their mobile base to total 46.348m (down from 46.428m). But the big story this time is one of cost cutting, job losses and a stalled fibre upgrade scheme.

We’ll start with the usual recap. The results confirm that Virgin Media and nexfibre’s combined UK broadband network reaches a total of 18,814,000 Homes Serviceable (mostly flat from 18,811,600 in Q2). The results also reveal that a total of 9.4 million Virgin Media and nexfibre premises (footprint) are now covered by full fibre (FTTP) lines – using XGS-PON and RFOG technology, which is up from 9m in Q2 (nexfibre alone account for 2.6m – most of the increase has thus come from Virgin’s own coax to FTTP upgrades).

NOTE: Virgin Media and giffgaff are currently the only major retail ISPs on nexfibre’s open access full fibre network and both share some of the same parentage.

However, it’s important to highlight how VMO2’s figures for broadband customers no longer include their fixed business base, so we’re now only able to count their consumer base in the total. On the financial front, VMO2 reported total revenue of £2,426.7m in Q3 2026, which is up from £2,398.9m last quarter.

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In addition, it’s worth noting that the outdoor population coverage of O2’s latest 5G+ (5G Standalone) mobile (mobile broadband) network remains unchanged at 86%.

VMO2 Q3 2026 UK Customer (Connection) Figures
5,395,800 Consumer Broadband – (down from 5,417,900 in Q2)
46,348,800 Mobile inc. Wholesale – (down from 46,428,700)

At the same time, it can’t have escaped the notice of our readers that VMO2 have been having a bit of a rough and unusual quarter. Recent news reports have warned of a c.£600m cost cutting drive to help manage the company’s debt pile and falling bond prices, which is expected to result in upwards of 4,000 jobs being cut.

None of the above has been helped by the CMA’s provisional rejection of nexfibre’s £2bn deal for Netomnia, which has created somewhat of a chaotic situation in the market for alternative networks (i.e. uncertainty over future consolidation options) and may risk removing a useful source of fresh investment for VMO2/nexfibre.

Further reports have since claimed that Virgin Media are set to halt both the planned upgrade of their existing Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC / DOCSIS 3.1) network to full fibre and future deployments of FTTP infrastructure into new areas. The same report indicated that VMO2 were close to reaching a deal to harness Openreach’s network for FTTP in the parts of the UK where their existing network doesn’t yet reach.

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What the Q3 2026 results confirm

Suffice to say that all eyes were on today’s Q3 results to see what they might contain. The group broadly confirms a new strategic plan and related cost reduction measures, which aims to “create a simpler company with prioritised investment to improve customer experience, commercial performance and cash generation with a commitment to reducing leverage.”

The company expects to deliver cost savings at an annual run-rate of approximately £800 million by 2029, with around £400 million delivered in 2027. Approximately £300 million of the 2029 run-rate saving is expected to come from a reduction in the size of the workforce, which equates to roughly 30% of the company’s total people costs over the next two years, with the majority of the reduction coming from non-customer facing roles.

Virgin Media also confirmed that they will “halt investment in further fibre upgrades” beyond its existing commitments to partners. The operator states that market economics do not support three overlapping fibre networks, and they believe the company’s HFC (coax cable) network will “continue to deliver market-leading broadband at scale, with a low-cost upgrade being deployed to bring 2Gbps services to the majority of the network in 2027“.

However, the operator adds that “where any future fibre investment makes strategic sense, it will be supported off-balance sheet and only in non-altnet areas“. Finally, Virgin Media confirmed they were also exploring wholesale arrangements to support the expansion of its services to off-net areas not covered by Virgin Media O2 or nexfibre’s networks, albeit without naming Openreach.

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Key Points of the new Strategic Plan

➤ In consumer, this will mean creating a more clearly defined role in the market for each of the company’s brands, each headed by a dedicated commercial leader driving better execution; simplifying the current product and proposition line up; addressing core customer pain points; and better rewarding loyalty to maintain value and reduce churn.

➤ In B2B, O2 Business which has made significant integration progress in its first year will be focused on streamlining its product portfolio to cut complexity and better suit the needs of businesses; accelerating commercial execution and margin expansion; and delivering ~£70 million pre-tax annual run-rate synergies by 2030.

➤ In wholesale the company will continue to sustain its position as the leading network of choice for MVNOs, and in fixed the company maintains strong credentials and capabilities to provide wholesale services through a single platform across the Virgin Media O2 and nexfibre footprints.

➤ Virgin Media O2 will continue to invest in its mobile network with a clear focus on reliability and connection quality. This investment includes the continued expansion of 5G+, alongside O2 Satellite, utilising AI tools and Virgin Media O2’s network sharing arrangement with Vodafone to ensure efficiency, and the deployment of acquired spectrum, taking the company’s share to ~30%.

➤ On the fixed network side, Virgin Media O2 will halt investment in further fibre upgrades beyond its existing commitments to partners. Market economics do not support three overlapping fibre networks, and the company’s HFC network will continue to deliver market-leading broadband at scale, with a low-cost upgrade being deployed to bring 2Gbps services to the majority of the network in 2027. Where any future fibre investment makes strategic sense, it will be supported off-balance sheet and only in non-altnet areas. The company is also exploring wholesale arrangements to support the expansion of its services to offnet areas not covered by Virgin Media O2 or nexfibre’s networks, providing an incremental revenue opportunity and flexibility for future.

In short, the operator has confirmed that pretty much all of the recent news leaks were largely accurate. Sadly, this does mean that customers in their HFC areas, where the FTTP upgrade programme has yet to reach, will now be stuck on HFC (note: the existing upgrade programme hasn’t suddenly stopped, it’s more in a ramp-down to complete existing commitments). But there is still scope to upgrade HFC itself, even though it will struggle to match the symmetric performance of modern FTTP lines.

Organisational changes are also already underway with a significant reduction of senior leadership roles since the summer. This includes Executive Committee changes and the bringing together of the previous commercial and operations areas of the business under Consumer CEO, Lyssa McGowan. Further reductions will occur across the wider business, with proposals subject to consultation.

Other significant cost measures will include reducing the use of contractors, simplifying supplier relationships and supply chain and reviewing technology licences.

Lutz Schüler, CEO of VMO2, said:

“The direction we’re setting today paves the way for the next chapter of Virgin Media O2: a company that will be leaner, clearer on priorities and faster in delivery, with brilliant brands and an unwavering focus to get back to what really makes a difference to our customers. Given the market conditions we face, the regulatory backdrop in fibre and the technological changes sweeping across all areas of the economy, standing still and doing what we’ve always done is not an option and while many of these decisions are tough, they are necessary for our future success and growth.

While we will give a fuller update on the new strategic plan in the coming months, we are already progressing and making difficult decisions to prioritise investments and reduce costs which includes the size of our workforce. This is not something I take lightly but my commitment to our people is that for those leaving we will treat them fairly and with respect, and for those staying we will work differently, but as one team, to get back to winning again. Virgin Media O2 must evolve, and the action needed to make that happen starts now.”

Officially speaking the CMA haven’t yet reached a final decision on the proposed nexfibre takeover of Netomnia, although the new strategic plan does appear to suggest that VMO2/nexfibre are not currently expecting the competition regulator to perform a sudden U-turn on their provisional rejection. But such a dramatic reversal does still remain a possibility, until the final outcome is revealed.

On the flip side it’s a good thing to see Lutz recognising that “doing what we’ve always done is not an option” and the recent move to make contract renewals cheaper for existing customers is a positive sign for consumers.

The reality is that VMO2/nexfibre had a lot riding on the extra investment that their deal with Netomnia would have delivered and without that they’re having to make some difficult decisions. Some of those decisions might have happened anyway, but we doubt they would have been as big.

Headline Figures (Official Summary)

Customers

  • Consumer Fixed-Line:Total consumer fixed customer base stands at 5.5m with a 23,300 customer net reduction in Q3 2026, a 9,400 year-over-year improvement. Trading remains tough.
  • Mobile:Total mobile connections across the O2 network stand at 46.3m – this includes O2, giffgaff, O2 Business, IoT and MVNOs such as Sky and Tesco Mobile
    • Mobile contract connections stand at 24.4m with a net addition of 31,700 connections in Q3, driven by wholesale growth. Consumer mobile contract connections declined by 7,800, a significant improvement vs Q2. Consumer mobile contract ARPU increased 2% year over year.
  • Customer service turnaround strategy is continuing to deliver, with a new voice AI agent launched to handle broadband fault calls and Ofcom’s latest data showing significant reductions in complaints across all areas, with Virgin Media complaints the lowest of any major broadband provider.
  • Investment in customer experience has stepped up, with a new long-term naming rights extension for The O2 through to 2038 which will increase the number of Priority tickets available to customers by 50%

Fully gigabit network across ~60% of the UK, second largest fibre network in the country and the UK’s largest 5G+ network

  • Investment: More than £1.5bn invested so far in 2026
  • Total fixed-line premises serviceable:8m premises (all with access to speeds of at least 1Gbps with a cost effective 2Gbps rollout underway)
  • 5G coverage: 5G Standalone (5G+) available to 86% of the outdoor population – making it the largest 5G+ network in the UK
  • Full Fibre footprint:4m premises (50% of the company’s total fixed network footprint)

Q3 Financials – in line with stated full year financial guidance metrics

  • Total Revenue (Adjusted for Daisy transaction): £2.4bn (-5.7%)
  • Total Service Revenue (Adjusted for Daisy transaction): £2.0bn (-3.5%)
  • Adjusted EBITDA (Adjusted for Daisy transaction): £995m (-2.6%)

2026 financial performance guidance reconfirmed

  • Total service revenue decline of 3 to 5% year-over-year, adjusted for the Daisy transaction
  • Adjusted EBITDA decline of 3 to 5% year-over-year, adjusted for the Daisy transaction
  • Investment of £2.0 to £2.2bn
  • Adjusted Free Cash Flow of around £200 million.
  • Update: Virgin Media O2 and its shareholders are reviewing options with respect to planned cash distributions to shareholders in 2026 and will provide an update when the company reports its full-year results and the outcome of the Netomnia transaction is known

Check out the Q3 2026 VMO2 results here.

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Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
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 .
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54 Responses

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  1. Avatar photo MDT says:

    Perhaps their annual price rises are encouraging customers to look elsewhere, the £4 per month annual escalator built into their new contracts is crazy.

    1. Avatar photo Roger Ramjet says:

      Seriously £4 are you that skint ???

    2. Avatar photo Ad47uk says:

      @Roger Ramjet, he may be that skint, you have know idea what some people are going through. Anyway, this increase in price in a contract is crazy and I am not just on about Virgin, time it was stopped

    3. Avatar photo tech3475 says:

      @Roger Ramjet

      That £4/£8pm can quickly make VM unattractive depending on your needs, at least where I live where FTTP is available.

      By next April their £29.99 1Gb/104Mb plan becomes £33.99pm and the following April £37.99pm (symmetrical costs £6 extra pm) .

      Giffgaff’s 900Mb/900Mb is £32pm fixed price on a 24 month contract.

      If my math is correct, adds up to about £60 in the difference or about £200 if you add symmetrical (which I personally want and make use of).

      Gets more ridiculous when you consider Giffgaff is a subsidiary of VMO2.

    4. Avatar photo >M says:

      But vms 1gig can be brought for £23 almost constantly? It probably puts it around the same price as GG, but you get free Netflix..

    5. Avatar photo tech3475 says:

      @M

      I was going by the website as of posting, baring in mind their BF sale hadn’t started and the “free” Netflix bundle costs £2 extra as of now.

      Even then, personally I already have Sky which comes with Netflix.

    6. Avatar photo MDT says:

      Roger Ramjet missing the point entirely, virgin fanboy I’m guessing!

  2. Avatar photo Ex VMO2 says:

    Wonder how many redundancies have taken place since Lutz became CEO? Wonder if the buck will ever stop with him?

    1. Avatar photo Anon says:

      double digit changes in the board and leadership team since the merger, how can a company run when there is not stable strategy ?

    2. Avatar photo Stream live says:

      I can’t understand how he is still the CEO, his woke leadership is dire, where I hear he’s more bothered about employees completing DEI courses than actually creating good products. His bizarre want to outsourcing everything. Unfortunately that all gets very expensive as VMO2 are probably finding out!

      My only thought is no one else wants the job. Bit of a poised challis! He had zero plan when O2 and Virgin media merged, whenever that was & it seemed a bit of a surprise when it happened. A company I was happy to use, now has become the laughing stock of the broadband industry..

      Time for Lutz to leave.

  3. Avatar photo FANNY ADAMS says:

    Clearly tantrums over CMA for the halt of hfc to full fibre. They make announcements to customers who have stayed thinking they will get full fibre by 2028. Now they won’t, so those customers will likely leave fed up. Meanwhile, their HFC kit crumbles away and large swathes of their network clearly become legacy whilst Openreach and Cityfibre infrastructure is modern full fibre and costs less to run and is more energy efficient.

    1. Avatar photo James says:

      But remember they said customer don’t care how it’s delivered, hence them adding 2gbps to HFC

    2. Avatar photo FANNY ADAMS says:

      From the company that you used to try and call equivalent of FTTC, “Full fibre” and their “superior coax cables” used in advertising and their own web pages.

      You can add 2gbps to a higher latency (than FFTP) DOCSIS network, but upload of 100mbps is way lower than what people would expect at that tier. Let’s see the take-up as some would say….As customers leave, utilisation may no longer be an issue it once was in a number of areas.

      The fact they have come out and said no room for 3 national providers, is a signal that they don’t want competition, as they just see them and Openreach originally. That’s clear enough from horses mouth for CMA.

    3. Avatar photo Polish Poler says:

      Both of these posts look a lot like tantrums over being stuck on cable with the only FTTP option arriving any time soon being the very asymmetrical Openreach GPON said poster constantly derides.

      TL;DR they can’t afford it. They need to sweat their existing network and pay down debt else when they have to refinance in 2029/30 they’ll be broke.

      If you’d like to fund the upgrades as InfraVia were offering to, send them a billion quid and recruit half a million customers I’m sure they’ll be happy to continue. As it is they need to reduce their debt burden rapidly as refinancing will cost way more.

      Numbers:

      Total carrying amount of third-party debt and lease obligations £ 22,382.2 million

      Senior and Senior Secured Credit Facilities:
      Term Loan Q (Term SOFR + 3.250%) due 2029 £ 980.1 million
      Term Loan AC (SONIA + 3.250%(i)) due 2030 £ 1,675.0 million

      Senior Secured Notes:
      5.500% USD Senior Secured Notes due 2029 £ 1,074.3 million
      5.250% GBP Senior Secured Notes due 2029 £ 340.0 million
      4.000% GBP Senior Secured Notes due 2029 £ 600.0 million
      4.250% GBP Senior Secured Notes due 2030 £ 635.0 million
      4.500% USD Senior Secured Notes due 2030 £ 689.8 million
      4.125% GBP Senior Secured Notes due 2030 £ 480.0 million

      Fully-Swapped Debt Borrowing Cost: 5.3% as of Q3 2026

      Debt trading – 71% = implied 29% chance of default.

      Virgin Media O2’s safest debt (such as senior bonds) has been trading at around 71 pence in the pound (approx. 71% of par value), down from near par value at the start of the year.

      Riskier debt instruments (such as vendor financing notes and select high-yield bonds) have faced sharper declines, dropping into the 34% to 46% range or down to roughly 41 pence following a broader sell-off and recent cost-cutting announcements.

      Credit rating:

      ‘Virgin Media O2’s issuer credit rating sits in single-B territory (rated B+ / Negative by S&P Global Ratings and B1/B2 by Moody’s’

      LLM deduction based on 8.875% secured credit issued in January below:

      ‘If Virgin Media O2 were to issue new debt today, they would be required to offer approximately 9.0% to 11.5%+ for senior secured borrowing, and well into the mid-teens (or higher) for unsecured debt, depending on the currency, maturity, and instrument structure.’

    4. Avatar photo FANNY ADAMS says:

      *checks post for mention about Openreach GPON* – Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

      HFC won’t cut it, its dumped when contract ends, also other issues with service and yearly price hiking and the contract renewal haggling aka ‘renewal dance’. GPON better than HFC by a mile.

      As for sending money to VM – seriously, put down that whacky juice you are drinking.

      P.S. Isn’t it amazing what AI can do to present numbers these days.

    5. Avatar photo Ad47uk says:

      @James, most people don;t care how they get their broadband, if it came on a bit of string it would not matter to many as long as it worked and they got the speed they wanted.

    6. Avatar photo Polish Poler says:

      The numbers besides the AI estimate of borrowing costs are copy/pastes from the VM results. No idea what you’re talking about.

      Your posting history on here both with this name and as ANONYMOUS in all caps is pretty well known to anyone who reads comments regularly so no idea what you’re trying to pull.

      The sending money to VM was ironic. They can’t afford the upgrade anymore and need someone else to fund it. Exactly as Liberty’s CEO said in the investors call as published on this site today, day after my above comment.

      It’s not complicated, Burn, but if you choose to ignore it that’s your call.

    7. Avatar photo FANNY ADAMS says:

      No, I was NOT ANONYMOUS all the time. Other people also used that handle, and there were other variants like anonymoose. Just because someone uses the same handle/username does not mean it is that person for every post. You have to work for one of the telecoms company, because when you disagree with ANYONE you get terse like only your view matters on anything.

  4. Avatar photo James Pain says:

    I’m disappointed that they’re holding the rollout. Their green fibre cabinets appeared on my street over a year ago and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the service to become available. I have no other fibre services in my area so this news is very disappointing and frustrating to me.

    1. Avatar photo Ian says:

      A year??!! Wow. Not much hope for us then, 2 months down the line…

    2. Avatar photo Anyone can be Jeremy says:

      Starlink might be a good option for you – yes it’s more expensive but you don’t need any other network

  5. Avatar photo Jack says:

    I find their “market economics do not support three overlapping fibre networks” comment interesting. lol…

    1. Avatar photo James says:

      It’s like they can’t handle competition

    2. Avatar photo Winston Smith says:

      The altnets are currently proving that statement to be correct. Only Openreach seem to be thriving.

  6. Avatar photo Ivor says:

    Sweating the assets kind of worked for NTL and Telewest in their “mega debt era” because ADSL wasn’t anywhere close to competing on price or performance at that time, although Sky remained the superior digital TV platform.

    I get that they’re once again struggling with debt issues but clinging onto HFC just feels like a death spiral when there are no end of FTTP operators who offer genuinely superior service.

    The potential of an Openreach based VM service for offnet customers is a good move. Insane if they start using it in their cabled areas though.

    1. Avatar photo No name says:

      I’d agree Ivor. It feels like it’s the start of the end for the VM brand. I don’t think the company will collapse but I do think VM will be a legacy brand with little improvement in terms of tech before 2030. Then the brand will slowly and quietly be wound down.

      I reckon they’ll plot an O2 Broadband revival. Serve it on their XGS network, OR and HFC. They might buy an Altnet’s assets if an Altnet collapses and expand that way if they can.

      The future looks pretty bleak on their fixed line side.

    2. Avatar photo Jack says:

      If they can rollout a 2gpbs service on HFC quickly, they can keep on par with Openreach’s GPON service, which should buy them a few more years. But that does nothing to future proof the network, docsis4 would also squeeze some more life out of their HFC network, but I don’t believe they wouldn’t save that much rolling out docsis4 over fttp upgrades which would have a “cleaner” future upgrade path for them.

      > Insane if they start using it in their cabled areas though.

      Pretty sure they have said its for off-network areas, being able to reach new customers currently outside of their network.

    3. Avatar photo NE555 says:

      No more insane than trying to buy a network which has ~80% overlap with their existing network

    4. Avatar photo Simpfeld says:

      I guess they might gain more speed if they remove standard cable TV. My experience is that their broadband is very variable dependent on the area you are in. Sadly that is the nature of HFC.
      They will bleed customers as thet actually need to speed up FTTP deployment.

  7. Avatar photo Alan says:

    They reap what they sow, I would never go back to any of their products due to the sharp way they treat end customers. So difficult to deal with.

    1. Avatar photo Malty says:

      “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” comes to mind. Except in Virgin Media’s case, they didn’t just bite their customers’ hands, they ripped all their limbs off and still left them with at best, a mediocre service.

      Shock horror! High prices, poor customer service, unreliable broadband and annual price increases result in customers leaving the network in their droves.

      Who could possibly have seen that coming?

      I sometimes wonder what goes on in the so called CEOs mind.

  8. Avatar photo newapollo says:

    I see VMO2 own news page makes a point in showing their “disappointment” with the CMA https://news.virginmediao2.co.uk/virgin-media-o2-prepares-ground-for-new-strategic-plan-to-simplify-the-business-and-drive-sustainable-growth/

    “It comes against the backdrop of a tough macro-economic climate, an intensely competitive and shrinking broadband market and . This is balanced by the rapid evolution and adoption of AI tools that are transforming how businesses run and operate, presenting an opportunity to move more efficiently and at pace.”

    1. Avatar photo newapollo says:

      Part of my post is missing. Should include “a paradoxical regulatory direction in fibre that does not reflect economic reality.”

      Therefore full post reads, “It comes against the backdrop of a tough macro-economic climate, an intensely competitive and shrinking broadband market and a paradoxical regulatory direction in fibre that does not reflect economic reality. This is balanced by the rapid evolution and adoption of AI tools that are transforming how businesses run and operate, presenting an opportunity to move more efficiently and at pace.”

  9. Avatar photo Gary Baker says:

    Pretty fed up I was waiting for FTTP to future proof my connection. I want to brick weave my front garden and needed the FTTP first.

    1. Avatar photo Jack says:

      Lay ducting first. Either have a small access box near where the existing cable crosses the boundary or cap it and bury it near the existing run so if/when you want to use it, you only need to lift a few bricks. Get who ever lays the drive to leave a dozen or two bricks after the job and stash them in the shed, if when you lift the bricks they crack (should be fine, but just in case) you have spares on hand to replace them.

    2. Avatar photo >M says:

      Yup ducting and a pull string, did the same under my floor so OR + VM are coming up under the stairs 🙂

  10. Avatar photo FibreBubble says:

    Debts repayments start to bite from 2029. No point in continuing to spend shed loads digging whilst customer numbers stand still. The days of the regulator guaranteeing Virgin a comfy play are over.

    1. Avatar photo Polish Poler says:

      ‘Debts repayments start to bite from 2029. No point in continuing to spend shed loads digging whilst customer numbers stand still.’

      Pretty much.

      ‘The days of the regulator guaranteeing Virgin a comfy play are over.’

      Not so much.

    2. Avatar photo FANNY ADAMS says:

      Any company that has no money to invest at a time when competition is trying to eat you, usually doesn’t last too long, especially when piled with debt.

      Once upon a time, long before Netomnia deal surfaced, VMO2 had money to announce they would upgrade all HFC to full fibre by 2028. NexFibre partnership went ahead and did new areas. Then, the Netomnia deal was eyed at billions, and now it won’t be approved, the money has gone. Poof. Just like that.

      The original upgrade was not dependent upon Netomnia take-over deal for extra money. Was the original upgrade just smoke as money not ring-fenced for the investment to modernise the existing HFC network?

    3. Avatar photo Polish Poler says:

      Okay. Read this twice or however many times you need to:

      Since they announced the upgrade the cost of building it has gone up, the money they can make from it hasn’t really budged, if anything is gone down and, most importantly, their cost of borrowing has increased hugely. They need to hold onto cash to pay down debt before their 2029/30 bonds come due.

      Maybe you can understand this: mortgage taken during pandemic, 1.5% fixed for 5 years on biggest place you could afford. You’re coming up for renewal time and the best you’re being offered is 9.5%.

      Kinda that.

    4. Avatar photo FANNY ADAMS says:

      Then simple, don’t make a massive press announcement about completing an HFC upgrade by 2028 (Mustang). Rather than have new installs done by other companies, some customers would have held on thinking they would be upgraded and now they are not. Hardly good customer relations.

      It was ONLY when the Netomnia deal did not go to plan, that they rowed back on the remaining areas to upgrade.

  11. Avatar photo dragon says:

    Least openreach GPON doesn’t goto crap every time it rains.

    The number of damaged boxes on the side of customer/ex customer houses or coax joints just out in the open is shocking in some areas, if those customers have service fix it if not disconnect their drop so they’re not impacting the rest of the network every time the weather turns bad.

    But no that would actually require doing some plant maintenance

    1. Avatar photo FANNY ADAMS says:

      And that rain on those exposed connectors and in some cases slashes in coax sheath, can cause noise ingress that affects a number of people on the cabinet, or localised SNR issues. Some of the cabs are in a right state for HFC too, with splitters added to coax cables instead of usual tap points which were originally balanced for the number of houses served.

    2. Avatar photo Mark says:

      We were with Virgin 10 years plus ago now. We had a fault and they broke the box on outside wall. No worries said engineer, I will get maintenance to call by and fix it. It is still broken now. After months of chasing and broadband going down everytime it rained we switched to BT FTTP when it became available and difference is light and day. We would never go back to Virgin no matter what they offered!

  12. Avatar photo Ghost says:

    I have noticed that no one has mentioned also.The ping on hfc is more than GPon Openreach I went from 20 ping when I was on virgin media and now 8 ping Openreach network notice the difference on web pages load faster now and when I’m playing multiplayer, do much better.So have no desire to go back to virgin in that basis , only way I was considering going back is that if they had upgraded to full fibre in my area.

    1. Avatar photo FANNY ADAMS says:

      It’s been mentioned recently in other posts.

      A lot of people have gone from 23ms to 6ms or lower when changing to FTTP.

      Certain people on here will say it’s not noticeable, but it is, things feel snappier in response and gamers will notice as will anyone serving stuff from their nas/server.

    2. Avatar photo Bert says:

      Latency is actually much more important than raw throughput, and even FTTC typically had lower latency than HFC.
      With FTTP i get <5ms to google.
      A typical webpage involves multiple DNS lookups and subsequently multiple different connections to different places, usually to receive small pieces of data like scripts or images. The latency means that each DNS lookup, each TCP handshake, each SSL negotiation and each request takes longer. The actual data transfer time is usually a tiny fraction unless you're on a very slow <10mbps link.

      Moderate throughput and low latency beats high throughput with high latency for pretty much every use case except large bulk downloads.

      Also the lack of IPv6 has caused myself and several other technically minded people i know to steer their friends and relatives away from virgin. They've lost around 15 customers because of me personally.

    3. Avatar photo Polish Poler says:

      Most of the extra latency is routing not due to HFC so no guarantee full fibre would get you to Openreach levels. Would improve jitter for sure.

    4. Avatar photo James Pain says:

      Even VDSL tends to edge out Virgin’s HFC on latency (roughly 10–15ms versus 15–25ms). Neither gets you to single digits though, and that’s what matters to me. Only FTTP does it reliably.

  13. Avatar photo Rob Walker says:

    They’ve been busy here in West Yorkshire over the last week installing new mini FTTP cabs next to each HFC one. I just hope they actually run some fibre to them.

    1. Avatar photo James Pain says:

      Every few weeks I give those cabinets a little kick to see if it still sounds hollow. I hope they fill them soon.

  14. Avatar photo Bob says:

    I don’t understand the fuss, or the taboo, about using Openreach. The O2 backhaul network is almost exclusively on BT/OR tail circuits, since it was first built.

    1. Avatar photo Fibre Scriber says:

      Not surprising when you think back to the days of BT CellNet.

  15. Avatar photo Jerry says:

    I’m not surprised they lose customers. Virgin wanted £77 per month for 1000/100 internet. I called them to lower it and they offered 65. Joke.
    I switched to another ISP and I’m paying only £23 for 1G symmetric fiber.

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