VirginO2 - Nexfibre

A recent spate of activity by some fibre sub-contractors in the village, indicates that full fibre may be here in the near future. One of the installers said that it’s VirginO2, which suggests it’s probably Nexfibre, their network arm. At one time FibreHeroes were interested and I'm told that FullFibre expressed an intereste but nothing materialised. Once the village gets full coverage, I anticipate Virgin may, initially at least, try to monopolise the area under either the Virgin or O2 brands, since I can't see anyone overbuilding for some time, if at all.

I'm currently on FTTC with iDNet who do not have Nexfibre as one of their suppliers. A quick trawl of the Internet and I can't find any of the decent suppliers who do use Nexfibre. Tried Aquiss and Pulse8 neither of whom do so.

Does anyone know of any of the 'better' suppliers who use Nexfibre?
If I am forced to use VirginO2 do they allow you to use your own modem?
Are they Broadband only or are you forced to accept their version of VoIP?

The situation isn't yet very clear but I'm trying to get some grip on the implications if, as seems likely, this does come about. A few grey boxes have already appeared on the pavements with some cabling taking place.

Sorry for the long post.

From NextFibre wikipedia. (Last updated 21 July 2024)

In a podcast interview with Zen Internet's founder Richard Tang in February 2024, Datta claimed the company will connect more homes to full fibre in the UK than any other altnet in 2024, including rival provider CityFibre, utilising the expertise of VMO2 in a period many altnets are slowing down due to operational difficulties.

...

Like Openreach and CityFibre, Nexfibre operates solely as a telecommunications network provider, meaning customers must go through an internet service provider in order to get services that use the network. However, as of February 2024, Virgin Media O2 is the sole wholesale partner of the company.[9] In an interview with Richard Tang, founder and CEO of Zen Internet, Nexfibre CEO Datta, in reference to his company opening up its network to wholesale access, stated: "We've got a few I.T. systems activities that are ongoing, which we expect will be complete within the coming months that will allow us to actually physically bring customers [ISPs] on to the network."

Zen, an ISP currently operating on the networks of CityFibre and Openreach, have confirmed they intend to become a wholesale client upon the platform's launch.

Rajiv Datta is nextfibre CEO.

Looks like Zen will be the first alternative to VMO2. I hope that helps.

In reply to a post by Tacitus:

A quick trawl of the Internet and I can't find any of the decent suppliers who do use Nexfibre. Tried Aquiss and Pulse8 neither of whom do so.

We are talking to Nexfibre, but at present, whilst they are telling us they have had plenty of interest, onboarding for anyone is expected to be 2025 (from what they are claiming to us).

It is only available via Virgin Media at the moment. You would have to deal with Virgin Media support, should you have an issue. VOLT benefits are available if you have a mobile phone on O2.

There is no ONT on Nexfibre so you are forced to use their Hub5X. It seems people have now found a way around that by using an SFP+ module. That removes the Hub5X completely as shown below..........

https://fttppro.co.uk/replacing-the-hub-5x-with-a-wa...

You can have broadband only, they will not force you to have a phone service.

Edited by wolvesmad (Tue 06-Aug-24 09:24:16)

Yes, the FTTP service is the Hub 5X and as noted above seems to have a work around for lack of modem mode. VM are aware of this and may, or may not, look to close this door. It is also an expensive mod, but from the blog the users who do this have high end fibre switches, so it's a moot point I guess.
You should also be aware on FTTP VM only offer streaming TV, as the other offerings all need the old co-ax TV infrastructure cable.

Thanks very much for the replies, which confirm my fears.

@pluralist: Looked everywhere but never thought of Wikipedia.....

If there is no ONT on Nexfibre that would amount to lock in since alternatives would be forced to use non-standard, or less easily available kit. For myself, both the grief and additional cost of an SFP module wouldn’t be worth the trouble.

I use O2 mobile so overall cost would be less, but that's not the biggest consideration. Stability of the service and good tech support come before that.

@Martin Aquiss: Looking at the works, late 24 or early 25 seems most likely for it to go live. Certainly, if you did offer a service with them, I would consider moving across. The phone would probably go to Voipfone or similar.

From the reports I have seen from users on Nexfibre, it is a completely different beast to the traditional Virgin Media HFC service.

The routing onto the VM core network is different. It does not head to a local UBR / CMTS like on HFC.

The latency is very good, although not as good as Openreach FTTP it seems. Comparing my VM RFoG latency to localish Nexfibre, the pings are considerably lower.

The speeds on the 1 and 2Gbps service are excellent.

Unfortunately you're lumbered with the Hub5x and VM's DNS unless you go down the SFP route.

Support on VM if you use the VM message board is very good. They are UK based and have been a great help. Unfortunately the telephone support isn't great.

Worth bearing in mind that landline phone services are scheduled to cease by the end of next year. In many places you can't even order one these days. Hence Aquiss and others going SOGEA already.

We had Virgin Media installed through Nextfibre and from reports on our village Facebook group alot of issues with downtime are being reported.

Glad i didnt move and stuck with FTTC

For the record I contacted Zen who told me that the VirginO2 network is exclsive to them. However if OR or Cityfibre come to the area they could supply me.

So it looks as though any plans Zen may have had to partner with them have fallen through. If the technolgy is wholly different to that used by either OR or the majority of the altnets then it's hardly surprising.