Altnet rival Nextfibre has served a plate of vitriol to incumbent broadband wholesaler BT Openreach, saying the giant “has failed to invest enough in UK's full-fibre broadband”.
In comments published by The Telegraph on Friday, Nextfibre chief executive Rajiv Datta said BT was acting like a “typical monopoly” at the expense of the end user.
He said: “When you have somebody that has the dominant market share and has had the benefits of being the incumbent all these years, not investing in that core infrastructure is a typical behaviour of a monopoly.”
Despite Nextfibre’s criticism, last December BT Openreach hit halfway in its target of 25 million connected households by 2026.
But Datta said BT’s acceleration of its full-fibre rollout is just a response to heated competition from altnet competitors live Nextfibre, CityFibre and Hyperoptic.
“There was no incentive for them to invest, there was no real competition. They’re now sensing that there is some competition and that’s gotten them moving,” he said.
Nextfibre has a wholesale partnership with Virgin Media O2 to provide full-fibre access in locations where VMO2’s network does not currently reach.
The altnet, which is part owned by Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and Telefonica, aims to connect up to five million homes with fibre broadband by 2026.
Altnets have struggled in the high interest rate environment, with sweeping job cuts at Hyperoptic, Zzoomm in 2023 leading to the prospect of consolidations in the challenger sector.
Touching on the spectre of consolidations, Datta said Nextfibre was in “active discussions” with other altnets, calling his company a “natural home” for existing competitors.