UK’s nexfibre goes big, gets Substantial

Richard Agnew2026-02-20T13:59:00

Source: Netomnia

Deep dive: nexfibre’s planned takeover of Substantial Group, parent of infra rival Netomnia, is the UK’s first billion pound-plus fibre altnet transaction and may open the floodgates to long-anticipated consolidation in the fragmented, scale-hungry sector. Chief Executive Rajiv Datta speaks to TelcoTitans about how the deal boosts its challenge to incumbent Openreach on wholesale fibre.

This article includes:

Themes: Altnet consolidation; Broadband competition; Full‑fibre rollout; Infrastructure investment; M&A strategy; Market fragmentation; Premises passed; Wholesale fibre.
Events: Netomnia acquisition; Nexfibre–Substantial Group transaction; Upp acquisition.
People: Jeremy Chelot; Rajiv Datta; Simon Holden; Lord Stockwood.
Geographic: London; UK.
Organisations: Brsk; BT Openreach; CityFibre; Community Fibre; Hyperoptic; InfraVia Capital Partners; Liberty Global; Netomnia; Nexfibre; Openreach; Substantial Group; Sky; TalkTalk; Telefónica; Virgin Media O2; VodafoneThree; YouFibre.

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