Britain’s broadband moment: monopoly or momentum?
Rajiv Datta, CEO
| nexfibre
The nexfibre-Netomnia transaction will unlock £3.5bn of investment and create a scaled challenger to BT Openreach. At a pivotal moment for the fibre market, Britain should choose competition over the monopolistic status quo.
Earlier this year, nexfibre agreed to acquire Netomnia, one of the UK’s largest alternative network providers. With planned investment of £3.5bn in full-fibre infrastructure, we are set to establish the first genuine wholesale competitor capable of challenging BT Openreach at national scale.
The decision regulators reach on this transaction will determine whether Britain’s broadband future is defined by vigorous, sustainable competition or continuation of the status quo of monopoly-style dominance. It’s a clear choice.
Openreach still dominates the full-fibre market
Despite a decade of alternative-network (“altnet”) build-out, Openreach retains overwhelming market power. Its expansive footprint, retail relationships and deep balance sheet allow it to set terms that shape the entire sector. Many altnets remain geographically fragmented and financially fragile, limiting their ability to exert sustained, nationwide pressure on the incumbent.
These concerns are echoed in the latest Assembly Research report on the UK full‑fibre market, which warns that Openreach’s grip “risks replicating copper-era monopolies in the fibre age”. Unless a challenger with comparable scale and reach emerges, the UK risks compounding the Openreach dominance that has long constrained innovation and consumer choice. nexfibre’s mission is to change this.
Testing the limits of regulation
Openreach’s latest pricing tactics are testing the boundaries of Ofcom’s Telecoms Access Review (TAR) and are at odds with the government’s aim of promoting long‑term competition, investment and growth in the fibre market.
While headline price cuts may appear attractive for consumers in the short term, these are infact deep and targeted wholesale discounts, which make it uneconomic for rivals to scale. If allowed to proceed, it would entrench BT Openreach’s monopolistic position.
Sustainable competition depends on a level playing field. Ofcom scrutiny, and decisive action, is essential to ensure the market will mature to become sustainably competitive, enabling it to deliver investment, innovation and lower prices over the long term.
Building a national wholesale challenger
The combination of nexfibre’s network, Netomnia, and 2.1 million Virgin Media O2 premises which will also be upgraded to full fibre by nexfibre, will create a scaled, financially secure challenger to BT Openreach, with a full fibre footprint of around 8 million premises by the end of 2027.
When combined with the growing fibre footprint of Virgin Media O2, the two networks will collectively reach 20 million premises and give internet service providers a highly attractive wholesale alternative to the incumbent.
It is a bellwether transaction and will deliver three essential outcomes.
First, it will unlock £3.5bn of new investment at a time when capital for standalone altnets is increasingly scarce.
Second, it will create a financially secure wholesale platform covering millions of premises nationwide, giving internet service providers a meaningful alternative to Openreach.
Third, it will accelerate the full-fibre rollout while supporting AI adoption, cloud services and the productivity gains a modern economy demands.
The latter is a point that I made at the New Statesman Politics Live Conference earlier this week.
The UK is searching for growth, backing AI adoption, and our government is increasingly digitising. nexfibre is a next generation network provider, delivering the latest XGS-PON technology to premises across the country, ensuring Britain is connected - and prepared for the next stage of digital growth. But the full fibre market, which underpins the investment and growth we need, is often taken for granted.
Full fibre is essential growth infrastructure – and we need to make sure the conditions are there to support it – and fast. Every day of delay reinforces the incumbent’s advantage and slows the progress of genuine competition.
Britain’s choice
The UK faces a clear decision. We can allow dominance to deepen and maintain the monopolistic status quo that is holding our country back. Or we can equip the UK with a credible wholesale challenger and a sustainable competitive framework for the full-fibre era.
Britain’s broadband moment is here. Let’s seize it.
