Who provides fibre broadband in the UK? Networks, providers and how to check your address

Network builders vs retail providers

Think of the railways. One organisation owns and maintains the track. Train companies run services over it and sell the tickets. Broadband works in a similar way.

• A network builder, also called a network operator or wholesaler, digs the trenches, puts up the poles and runs fibre optic cable past homes. It owns the physical line into your house.
• A retail provider, also called an internet service provider or ISP, rents capacity on one or more networks, sets the price, supplies the router and deals with you as a customer.

Some companies do both. Virgin Media sells broadband over its own network. Many of the smaller full fibre companies do the same. Others are wholesale-only: Openreach and CityFibre build networks but sell nothing directly to households.

Why this matters to you:

• Your choice of providers follows the network. If only Openreach reaches your home, you can pick from the many brands that use Openreach, but not from a company that sells only over its own cables elsewhere.
• Speed and reliability come mostly from the network. Two providers using the same network deliver broadly the same line. They differ on price, contract terms, router and customer service.
• Faults are fixed by the network, reported through the provider. You always contact your retail provider, who then deals with the network company.

If the terms full fibre, part fibre and cable are new to you, full fibre broadband explained sets out what each means.

The main full fibre networks in the UK

Openreach

Openreach owns the former national phone network and is by far the largest builder of full fibre. BT Group's half-year results, published on 5 November 2026, showed that:

• its full fibre network reached 24.1 million premises by 30 September 2026
• more than 10 million homes and businesses were connected to it by October, a take-up rate of 41%
• it now expects to hit its target of 25 million premises in March 2027, a few months later than the December 2026 date it had been working to

Openreach has an ambition to reach up to 30 million premises by 2030, which it has always said depends on conditions for investment remaining supportive. BT has not yet published a detailed build plan for the years after 2027.

Who sells over it: hundreds of providers. The best-known are BT, EE and Plusnet (all owned by BT Group), Sky, NOW, Vodafone, TalkTalk and Zen. Openreach itself has no retail arm.

Speeds: the fastest home product in November 2026 is 1.8 Gbps download with 120 Mbps upload. Openreach is piloting newer equipment capable of up to 8.5 Gbps, with a wider launch expected during 2027.

Openreach also still runs the part-fibre and copper lines that serve homes its full fibre has not reached.

Virgin Media O2 and nexfibre

Virgin Media O2 runs the UK's second-largest fixed network. Its third-quarter results for 2026 reported:

• 18.8 million homes its network can serve, all with access to speeds of at least 1 Gbps
• a full fibre footprint of 9.4 million premises at 30 September 2026, counting both its own upgraded lines and the nexfibre network

The rest of its network is cable, which uses coaxial cable instead of fibre for the last stretch into the home.

nexfibre is a separate company, a joint venture between Virgin Media O2's two owners (Liberty Global and Telefónica) and the investment firm InfraVia. It builds full fibre in areas the Virgin Media cable network never reached, and accounts for roughly 2.6 million of the premises above. Virgin Media is, so far, the only retail brand selling over it.

What changed in November 2026. On 3 November, Virgin Media O2 announced a cost-cutting plan that includes stopping further fibre upgrades of its cable network beyond commitments already made. Instead, it intends to use cheaper upgrades to offer 2 Gbps over cable to most customers during 2027. It also said it was exploring wholesale arrangements to sell broadband in areas outside its own and nexfibre's footprints. Press reports say the talks involve using Openreach's network; no deal had been announced when we checked on 13 November 2026.

For households, the practical point is that a Virgin Media address may be cable or full fibre, and the cable areas are now less likely to be converted soon. The package description will tell you which you are being offered.

CityFibre

CityFibre is the largest independent full fibre network. Its trading update to 30 September 2026 reported:

• 4.8 million premises passed, of which 4.6 million were ready for service
• 1.1 million customer connections

It operates in more than 60 towns and cities and has a long-standing ambition to reach around 8 million premises, which it now expects to achieve largely by buying other networks.

Who sells over it: CityFibre is wholesale-only. Providers using its network include Sky, Vodafone, TalkTalk and Zen, along with a range of smaller brands. A provider that uses both Openreach and CityFibre will connect you over whichever reaches your address; you may not be told which unless you ask.

The alternative networks ("altnets")

"Altnet" is industry shorthand for any network builder other than Openreach and Virgin Media O2. There are dozens. The trade body INCA and the analysts Point Topic put their combined coverage at 19.7 million premises in early 2026, though that figure includes a lot of overlap with each other and with the big two.

Most altnets sell direct to the public under their own name, and many offer symmetric packages, where upload speed equals download speed. The larger ones include:

Footprints as mapped by thinkbroadband in its July 2026 report. Companies' own "premises passed" figures are sometimes higher.

Others you may come across include Fibrus (Northern Ireland and Cumbria), Wildanet (Cornwall and Devon), Truespeed (South West England), Lightning Fibre (East Sussex and Kent), Quickline (Yorkshire and Lincolnshire), WightFibre (Isle of Wight) and Lothian Broadband (Scotland). Hull is unusual: KCOM, not Openreach, was the historic phone company there.

How the main networks compare

A wide choice of providers on one network is useful when your contract ends, because you can change provider without a new line being installed. On a single-provider network, changing provider means changing network. Neither is better in itself. What matters is the price, terms and service on offer at your address, which how to choose and switch broadband covers.

What changed in autumn 2026, and what it means for customers

The industry is consolidating after several years of rapid building. Analysts at Cartesian calculated in July 2026 that all operators together had built full fibre past 49 million premises, in a country with about 34 million. In other words, many streets have two or three full fibre networks while others still have none. Not all of those networks can earn enough customers to survive on their own.

Three developments are worth knowing about:

• BT bought TalkTalk. On 5 October 2026, BT Group acquired TalkTalk's consumer business and its wholesale arm, PXC, out of administration. BT said the deal covered about 1.5 million retail customers. The government asked the Competition and Markets Authority to review it, and the review was still open on 11 November 2026. Until it concludes, the two companies operate separately and TalkTalk customers' services and contracts continue as before.
• The nexfibre–Netomnia deal is in doubt. nexfibre had agreed to buy Netomnia, the owner of YouFibre, for about £2 billion. In October 2026 the Competition and Markets Authority said, provisionally, that the merger could substantially reduce competition in wholesale broadband. That decision is not final, and nexfibre has said it will contest the reasoning.
• Virgin Media O2 is pulling back on fibre upgrades, as described above.

If your provider or its network is taken over, your contract normally carries on under the same terms, and you keep the same rights to switch. There is no need to act in a hurry. What may change over time is how many separate networks compete for your custom.

How to check what is available at your address

No single checker is complete, so use two or three.

1. Start with Ofcom's broadband checker at checker.ofcom.org.uk. Enter your postcode and pick your address. It shows which types of broadband are available and the highest speeds, drawing on data that network operators must supply to the regulator.
2. Check the network builders directly. Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre and the altnets each have an address checker on their websites. These show whether that network is built, planned or absent.
3. Run your address through a comparison site or two. This shows actual packages and prices. Ofcom accredits certain price-comparison sites that meet its standards.
4. Ask a neighbour. If next door has an ONT, the small white box that full fibre plugs into, the network is in your street.

Why checkers sometimes disagree

• "Passed" is not the same as "ready". A network counts a home as passed when its cable runs along the street. The home becomes ready for service only when the final connection point is in place and providers can take orders. CityFibre's own figures show the gap: 4.8 million passed, 4.6 million ready.
• Data ages. Ofcom's checker is refreshed periodically, not daily. Networks' own checkers are more current.
• Individual addresses get left out. A street can be mostly covered while particular houses are skipped, for instance where the old cable is buried directly in the ground with no duct to pull fibre through, or where permission to cross private land has not been given.
• Flats are their own case. A network may be in the road outside but not inside the building, because wiring a block needs the building owner's agreement.
• New addresses take time to appear. If you have moved into a new-build or a converted property, your address may not yet be in every database.

If a checker says full fibre is available and an order then fails, or the reverse, contact the provider and ask them to raise it with the network.

A worked example: moving home

Suppose you are about to move into a terraced house in a mid-sized English town. You check the address and find:

• Openreach full fibre: available
• Virgin Media: available, listed as cable
• CityFibre: available

That is a strong position. You can choose from the many providers on Openreach, the handful on CityFibre, and Virgin Media. You can compare on price and contract terms knowing the underlying line quality will be good in each case. If upload speed matters to you, you would look closely at what each provider offers, since Virgin Media's cable upload will be lower than its download. Our guide to broadband speeds explains when that matters.

Now suppose the result is different: only one small altnet has full fibre at the address, alongside Openreach part fibre. You still have a choice between a fast full fibre line from one company and slower part-fibre packages from many. Here it is worth reading the altnet's contract terms and reviews with care, because if you are unhappy later your only full fibre alternative is to wait for another network to arrive.

What to do if full fibre has not reached you yet

As of January 2026, Ofcom reported that 82% of UK homes could get full fibre and 89% could get a gigabit-capable connection of some kind. That leaves several million homes waiting. Coverage also varies by nation: the government's September 2026 update, using Ofcom data, put gigabit-capable coverage at 95% in Northern Ireland, 83% in Wales and 82% in Scotland.

1. Find out whether a build is planned

• Look up your exchange in Openreach's published build programme, and check altnets active in your area.
• Ask your local council. Many have a digital or broadband officer who knows what is scheduled.
• Be realistic about "stop sell" notices. Openreach stops selling copper-based products in an exchange area once 75% of premises there can get full fibre. That means up to a quarter of homes in a "finished" area may still be waiting.

2. Check whether public funding covers your area

Project Gigabit is the government's programme to bring gigabit-capable broadband to places commercial builders will not reach. The aim is 99% of UK premises by 2032. According to the September 2026 progress update, about 4 million premises still lacked gigabit coverage, and the programme had helped connect 1.4 million by March 2026.

Most of the money goes through regional contracts awarded to network builders. Figures published in October 2026 showed around 341,000 of some 862,000 contracted premises built so far. If your home is inside a contract area, it should be reached eventually, but timescales run over several years.

The separate Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which let groups of rural neighbours pool grants towards a connection, closed to new projects on 31 August 2026. Projects already approved continue.

New-build homes are generally outside Project Gigabit, because building regulations in England now require new homes to be built with gigabit-ready infrastructure and connections.

3. Use the best alternative available now

• Cable. If Virgin Media's cable network reaches you, it offers gigabit download speeds.
• Part fibre. Slower, but adequate for many households. See the speed guide for how much you need.
• 4G or 5G home broadband. A router with a mobile SIM card inside. Performance depends heavily on local signal and can vary with network load, but in a good location it can beat part fibre. Contracts are often short.
• Fixed wireless. A small antenna on your house receives a signal from a local mast. Available in some rural areas from specialist providers.
• Satellite. Services such as Starlink use a dish on your property. Ofcom noted that when lower-priced Starlink plans are counted, the number of premises without affordable decent broadband falls from 39,000 to about 4,000. Check current prices and equipment costs directly, as they change.

4. Use your legal right to request a decent connection

Every home and business has a legal right to request a "decent" broadband connection under the universal service obligation, or USO. Ofcom's guidance, last updated in June 2026, sets out how it works:

• "Decent" means at least 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload.
• You can apply if you cannot get that now and will not be covered by a public scheme within 12 months, or if the only decent service available costs more than £59.60 a month.
• You apply to BT, or to KCOM in the Hull area. You do not need to be a customer. They have 30 days to confirm whether you qualify.
• If the cost of building your connection is £3,400 or less, you pay nothing for the build. If it is more, you can choose to pay the excess, and BT or KCOM will survey and quote within 60 days.
• Most connections are built within 12 months, though some take up to 24.

The USO is a safety net for a basic service, not a route to full fibre, although BT sometimes meets it by building full fibre. In practice many eligible homes are now offered a wireless or satellite solution instead.

5. If the obstacle is permission, not cable

In flats and some rented homes, the network is in the street but cannot enter the building without the owner's consent. That is a different problem with different remedies, covered in our full fibre installation guide.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All sources accessed 13 November 2026.

• BT Group results for the half year to 30 September 2026 (PDF)
• BT Group see UK FTTP coverage top 24.1 million premises as broadband line losses slow — ISPreview
• BT Wholesale make 1.8Gbps FTTP broadband available to UK ISPs — ISPreview
• Virgin Media O2 Q3 2026 earnings release (PDF)
• Virgin Media O2 halts fibre upgrades in £800m cost-cutting plan — Broadband TV News
• Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs, halt UK fibre expansion — Reuters via LSE
• Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs and halt planned upgrades — Seaside Radio / Sky News
• Virgin Media O2's UK broadband customers fall as cost cutting hits and FTTP upgrades stop — ISPreview
• What Virgin Media O2's reported Openreach move means for UK fibre — Capacity
• CityFibre build UK broadband network to 4.8m premises — ISPreview
• CityFibre passes one million connected premises — Broadband TV News
• UK Broadband in Transition: full-fibre growth, altnets and regional pricing — CCS Insight
• The State of Broadband: July 2026 — thinkbroadband
• UK AltNet Tracker 2026 — FBRE
• The State of UK Fibre: scenarios and solutions, 29 July 2026 — Cartesian (PDF)
• BT Group has acquired TalkTalk and PlatformX — BT Group Newsroom
• BT rescues TalkTalk in £400m deal — Broadband TV News
• BroadbandSwitch.uk checklist for households whose provider changes ownership (CMA case status, 11 November 2026) — EIN Presswire
• Connected Nations update: Spring 2026 — Ofcom
• Broadband and mobile coverage checker — Ofcom
• Practical tips for improving your broadband speed (accredited comparison sites) — Ofcom
• Openreach is now 20 years old as full fibre footprint continues to grow (addresses that cannot be connected) — thinkbroadband
• Project Gigabit progress update: September 2026 — GOV.UK
• Oct 2026 contract progress of UK's Project Gigabit broadband rollout — ISPreview
• Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme closes to new UK projects — ISPreview
• Your right to request a decent broadband service: what you need to know — Ofcom
• Biannual October 2026 progress update on BT's 10Mbps UK broadband USO — ISPreview
• Social tariffs: cheaper broadband and phone packages (regional provider list) — Ofcom
• Openreach FTTP build update October 2026 — BroadbandSwitch.uk
• Openreach puts a stop to copper for another half million premises — Openreach

General information for UK households, not legal or financial advice. Facts checked on 13 November 2026; prices, coverage and rules change, so confirm details with a provider before you sign up.