The nexfibre joint venture supports 10Gbps in both directions
The UK’s new wholesale fibre broadband operator, nexfibre, is underway. Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) is the anchor tenant and construction partner. It is now offering commercial broadband services across the infrastructure. The £4.5 billion network was announced last summer. It is jointly owned by InfraVia Capital Partners with a 50% stake while VMO2’s parent companies, Liberty Global and Telefónica, each have 25%.
nexfibre covers areas outside the footprint of VMO2’s cable infrastructure. The target is to pass 5 million UK premises by 2026 and to reach 7 million homes in total. It is built on XGS-PON tech which supports symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gbps.
Whatever comes next
Jeanie York, CTO at VMO2 (pictured) said in a blog,“Our network can already deliver ultrafast 1.1Gbps speeds and beyond, meaning that it’s fast enough to handle everything that customers want to do right now and in the near future.
“However, with customers using more and more data each year – with total data use on our network increasing by more than 10% last year – demand is only going in one direction. To keep offering customers the reliable and seamless services they expect long into future, we’re ensuring that we’re ready to deal with whatever comes next.”