CF isn’t particularly national either. It’s pretty much just London with a few other SE pockets with Box

Yes I know. I also know how to suck eggs . My grandmother taught me.

In the end there will have to be a consolidation, as in the way VM came into being that I pointed out earlier. The only questions are how and when it will come about. Five years maybe. Almost certainly less than ten.

A slight chance of CityFibre and one other. It depends on when and where the big money lands.

The point is they weren’t minnows - ntl and Telewest were already large national players. The minnows had been swallowed up years prior (with ensuing loads of debt on the balance sheet).

Branson also did have a stake at the time, rather than just leasing them the trade mark as now.

Maybe time for that afternoon walk 😎😂

We’re already well in it. The music stopped a while ago. It’s just we’ve all got headphones on like a silent disco. 😂

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

The point is they weren’t minnows - ntl and Telewest were already large national players. The minnows had been swallowed up years prior (with ensuing loads of debt on the balance sheet).

That confirms what I've been saying. We are just at a much earlier stage.

Branson also did have a stake at the time, rather than just leasing them the trade mark as now.

So? Effectively sold his minnow to NTL like the others.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

VM started as loads of minnows.

in an era of more favourable financial lending; and the “minnows” ended up with a tonne of debt that is still being serviced and will be for many years.

(Also it's nothing to do with Virgin itself except for licensing the name).

Even Virgin Atlantic rents the name from Virgin Enterprises. That is how Branson always made his money; nothing new there. VM have more of a right to the name when the NTL:Telewest merged company purchased Virgin Mobile, which at the time was owned by Virgin Enterprises.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

In the end there will have to be a consolidation, as in the way VM came into being that I pointed out earlier. The only questions are how and when it will come about. Five years maybe. Almost certainly less than ten.

I actually think more will go bankrupt. If Virgin Media’s NetCo announcement works, and with their overbuild of the DOCSIS coax with XGS-PON gets into the same speed as Nexfibre’s growth then they could become the only real competitor to Openreach.

A slight chance of CityFibre and one other. It depends on when and where the big money lands.

CityFibre in two towns I visit has stalled; when the money went wrong (after Putin’s european war) over 50% of these towns has not been started or even look being installed. They may be a “busted flush”.

They aren't like Thames Water hat the government(s) daren't let go bust. If an AltNet goes broke another will buy its stuff for peanuts. That's how consolidation works.

PS: Jacob Rees-Mogg says Thames Water should be allowed to go under for that reason. Get rid of the debt burden.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

PS: Jacob Rees-Mogg says Thames Water should be allowed to go under for that reason. Get rid of the debt burden.

For once, I agree with him.

If it's a private company then the investors and banking backers should take the risks as well as the rewards, especially when it's been milked for years as a cash cow (dividends withdrawn at the same time as unsustainable debts building up)

Who exactly ends up with those assets is really the question - plus, what do you do to stop the new company ending up in exactly the same situation.