I'm in a similar situation. I'm just down the road from you in Oakham. Openreach say Dec 2026. Currently on FTTC with Zen and would ideally like to stay with them. Virgin is available via the former UPP FTTP network but I don't like the way the price explodes after the contract period. eg the M500 broadband only is £33p/m. After the 18 month ends it shoots up to £72!

In reply to a post by No_One:

Virgin is available via the former UPP FTTP network but I don't like the way the price explodes after the contract period. eg the M500 broadband only is £33p/m. After the 18 month ends it shoots up to £72!

^^ This is the reason why I will NEVER go with VM!

In reply to a post by adslmax:

^^ This is the reason why I will NEVER go with VM!

Some of us don't have a choice. Slow FTTC or VM are my only choices. Two altnet's in road, neither permitted access to my flat. C'est la vie.

The workaround is to sign up again for 18months, that brings the price back down.

Yep. As pointed out already, the OP has XGS-PON available from Virgin media as well as fibre from OFNL and Openreach FTTC.

So yeah not having Openreach FTTP, immediately, is very much a first world issue.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

If you have two or more workable options, then you can take an introductory deal from one provider, switch to the other after 2 years, rinse and repeat.

Generally speaking that is correct and the way to go! That's something I have in mind as I have Community Fibre here and they offer 1Gbps for £25. I could go up to say around £35 a month with Virgin Media if the price jumps.

But I don't know with nexfibre what the prices will be like when more wholesale networks join. If it becomes like OFNL then it will be a big disappointment.

But there are some providers that are so expensive that their introductory offer is the equivalent of the price hike at the end of the contract!

This especially applies to the OP with OFNL. They are basically extortionists, to describe them in a word!
I've had a look at some comparisons and you simply can't choose anything decent for under £30 a month.

2 examples you see here with OFNL. https://www.mthnetworks.com/internet-ofnl/

MTH Networks OFNL package

900 Mbps
900/900

Download - 900Mbps
Upload - 900Mbps
Unlimited Bandwidth
Full UK Based Support
Prices Locked In Contract

£57 | month

But symmetric service via Freedom Fibre Network gives dramatically lower prices! https://www.mthnetworks.com/internet-freedom/

1000 Mbps
1000/1000

Download - 1000Mbps
Upload - 1000Mbps
Unlimited Bandwidth
Full UK Based Support
Prices Locked In Contract
24 month contract

£33.60 | month

Second example with Rocket Fibre OFNL

https://www.rocket-fibre.co.uk/residential-broadband...

900 Mbps
450 Mbps upload
£57.75/Monthly

VS Rocket Fibre CityFibre https://www.rocket-fibre.co.uk/residential-broadband...

Black Friday 1GB
1 Gbps Download and Upload
£28.00/Monthly

You have to pay around £55-£60 a month for the same 1Gbps via OFNL, while you'll get symmetric 1Gbps around £25-33 using any other Altnet via Freedom Fibre, CityFibre and even Openreach FTTP is more reasonably priced.

It's like a postcode lottery, your price offers depend on what you have in your area. If you have the worst providers like OFNL I'm not sure what special introductory deal you can get as all their ISPs are similarly priced. They also lack all the major providers like BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone, Zen, etc.

Even in London you will find there are housing associations like Poplar Harca who have an exclusive deal agreement with OFNL. There's no Openreach copper, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, etc in places like Balfron Tower E14 0UY. Residents are stuck with only OFNL! I feel sorry for these residents as they don't have any choice as all the copper has been removed from their tower as part of refurbishment.

I feel that just having 1 cheap Altnet is far better than having an expensive wholesale network like OFNL. But we don't have a choice to choose who builds in our area. Even I couldn't convince my management for Hyperoptic 10 years ago. Never did I ask for Virgin Media but that's their choice, they decided to agree in rolling this out but that would never have been my top picks as they are generally more expensive but still cheaper than OFNL offers.

I wished I had CityFibre as a choice here but I know they don't build in London. They are cheaper than Openreach. But I know Openreach FTTP is far more likely to come here in future and that's my hope unless nexfibre surprises me and offers wholesale prices that are similarly competitive to Openreach.

Edited by BLaZiNgSPEED (Sat 04-Jan-25 14:43:08)

In reply to a post by BLaZiNgSPEED:

I've had a look at some comparisons and you simply can't choose anything decent for under £30 a month.

2 examples you see here with OFNL. https://www.mthnetworks.com/internet-ofnl/

MTH Networks OFNL package

900 Mbps
900/900

Download - 900Mbps
Upload - 900Mbps
Unlimited Bandwidth
Full UK Based Support
Prices Locked In Contract

£57 | month

That's not out of the ballpark. For a good quality Openreach-based provider, I'd expect to pay ~£55 per month for 1000/120. Anyone who claims a headline price significantly lower than that is likely hiding the true price via in-contract price rises. (For example, EE starts at £45, which becomes £48 then £51 by the end of the contract)

Altnets doing deals at £30 are all very well if you have them available, but not everyone does. Of course, if you can, you should take advantage - while they are burning their venture capital!

In reply to a post by BLaZiNgSPEED:

Even in London you will find there are housing associations like Poplar Harca who have an exclusive deal agreement with OFNL.

There are some housing estates in Fleet, Hampshire, where entire roads are OFNL only, no Openreach or Virgin Media. My block of flats is owned with the MTVH housing association whom don't enter into correspondance over broadband provision. They seem to be mentally stuck in the "BT provides all" idea.. (No Openreach FTTP in this town yet).

I also would have liked CityFibre to built in the area, but my road has F&W (Hey! Broadband) and toob, but neither can get dialogue with MTVH so it doesn't matter whom is outside if the building owner refuses to enter into conversation.

In reply to a post by BLaZiNgSPEED:

It's like a postcode lottery, your price offers depend on what you have in your area....

Even in London you will find there are housing associations like Poplar Harca who have an exclusive deal agreement with OFNL. There's no Openreach copper, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, etc in places like Balfron Tower E14 0UY. Residents are stuck with only OFNL! I feel sorry for these residents as they don't have any choice as all the copper has been removed from their tower as part of refurbishment.
...

I wished I had CityFibre as a choice here but I know they don't build in London....

I can understand the dilemma from some landlords and building owners not wanting duplicated fibre infrastructure from every wholesale or retail fibre network being run to each and every flat/apartment. Bundles upon bundles of separate fibres to each and every dwelling from every provider. Nightmare.

However it's staggered me, that to date, no one has been able to come up with a pretty simple and workable solution; which is to have a single or pair of fibres, perhaps owned by the community / housing association / whatever - to every dwelling cabled back to a central patch panel in a common rack.

Each network provider can then install their own fibre terminations up to the same rack.

Its matter then of simply patching one to the other. Dead easy.

Admittedly there would be some overhead in administration and perhaps security - but overall this would enable any fibre network to run its spine right into the main building central fibre patching space and simply patch out to subscribers from there.

Too simple and straightforward perhaps, or the wine is just speaking to me tonight 🍷🤣

Edited by Pheasant (Sat 04-Jan-25 23:47:28)

A simple solution for sure.

But the cost of the installation would surely be upon the community/housing association, or the flat management scheme, etc. And that means folk putting their hands in their pockets.
A very large percentage of the population still believe this stuff should happen FOC, and all they will pay is tuppence ha’penny for huge bandwidth.

Not sure what the answer is, but people seem unwilling to pay for it.

Yeah it was just thinking out loud, rather than anything else.

I suppose from a ‘who’s going to pay’ perspective - if each fibre network / provider is already paying or prepared to pay to do internal / within private property installation (very expensive), then doing what I propose, removes the need for that (or at least part of that) expenditure for the network.

If the owner’s cooperative / tenancy association / etc have incurred the cost for providing dark fibre from the central location to each dwelling, then they could levy an access charge of some sort - perhaps a one off flat fee. That may not necessarily cover all the install costs they incurred by one paying fibre provider, but if there are two or three or more fibre providers then perhaps it starts to make more sense economically.

Residents get a choice of fibre provider networks and its removed the need to have complete duplication in distribution fibre across all the premises.

Ideal world stuff of course….