nexfibre confirms 800,000 premises ready for service

UK fibre operator, nexfibre, has confirmed 800,000 premises have passed and are ready for service as part of its footprint expansion plans. 

Source: nexfibre

The company’s aim to reach 5 million households by 2026. nexfibre said it expects to hit 1 million premises shortly and is set to become the second largest competitive fibre network by the end of the year.

nexfibre said targeted areas include  Lincolnshire, Durham, Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Kent and Buckinghamshire. Wales and Scotland are also areas of focus, with new territories announced such as Annan, Auchterarder, and Biggar.

Last week the network operator announced it will invest £1billion in broadband infrastructure this year as part of its strategy to drive long-term competition in the fibre access market on a national scale and challenge BT-owned Openreach’s “monopolistic position in the market”.

nexfibre is a joint venture between Liberty Global, Telefónica and Infravia. Virgin Media O2 recently annouced it will create a new Netco from the service provider’s infrastructure assets, including its legacy cable network, that will also be intended as a national competitor to Openreach. Though nexfibre will continue to operate as the same separately.

Rajiv Datta, chief executive of nexfibre, said: “Our latest rollout update outlines the remarkable progress we’ve made; we are on track to build more than any other competitive fibre network this year (aside from the incumbent). Our aim is not just to transform access to full fibre broadband; but also to provide lasting national-scale competition in the full fibre market across the UK. We are here to be the sustainable catalyst that is required to drive progress and innovation, and in doing so stoke the growth the UK economy needs.”

He added, “our focus from here is on ramping up our rollout and actively working with growth-focused ISPs – that prioritise quality, stability, and customer service – and onboarding them to our network. We’ve made a good start, and remain focused on boosting our presence in the market in the coming months.”