In the 21st century, access to connectivity is a basic essential in modern day life. However, a booming digital economy requires more than the basics; it requires access to higher speeds, greater resilience and better quality. The market must be in a position to support the needs of today’s digital economy, while also ensuring that there is a platform in place to help meet future demands, and to be able to scale as those needs inevitably evolve. To deliver full-fibre broadband across the UK, at pace and of a high-quality, it is key that we provide people and businesses a genuine choice on connectivity and service quality. As Chief Technology and Information Officer at nexfibre, I am focused on delivering our advanced and resilient digital infrastructure to communities across the UK – building a national-scale network that can credibly challenge the incumbent and provide much needed competition in the market.
nexfibre’s mission is to deliver our network to 5 million premises by 2026. We have already made great progress and are set to achieve 1 million premises shortly. We look forward to continuing ramping up operations in 2024 to reach even greater numbers of previously under-served communities up and down the country.
Technology fit for the future
The technology underpinning the delivery of our fibre network is XGS-PON. XGS-PON is capable of symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 10 Gbps and we take great pride in being the only provider of our scale to be exclusively deploying XGS-PON technology.
We have taken the decision to use this next-generation technology because there is no room for complacency when building a digital network. Future technologies, such as multimodal AI and cloud gaming, will mean that broadband customers will rapidly increase their data usage as these technologies evolve. Our XGS-PON network is able to power the technology of the future, because it has the capability to be continuously upgraded to meet consumers’ future data needs. By using the latest technology to build our network, we are investing in the UK’s future.
Supporting net zero
We are not solely focused on deploying the fastest technologies. We are committed to ensuring our network is built to the highest standards, including environmental ones. For example, not only is XGS-PON sustainable for customers, by using a passive optical network the technology has a lower energy consumption than comparative technologies, keeping energy costs down and thereby supporting the UK’s transition to net zero as well as better outcomes for people, businesses and the planet.
Ensuring quality and resilience
Critically, our rigorous testing and auditing processes ensure that as we scale at pace, the quality of our deployment and service is not compromised. We take this incredibly seriously.
We are focused on building capabilities that bolster our resilience and enable us to quickly identify and address even small service disruptions, which is historically where operators fail.
Streamlining integration
We are striving to build a platform that is as easy as possible to switch to and use, taking a straightforward approach to working with ISPs and using collaborative processes to make onboarding seamless and low-cost. nexfibre is in the process of developing its own Application Programming Interface (API), which will further streamline our integration process and enable even more ISPs to make the most of our network. These factors combined will result in a digital infrastructure network that sets a new benchmark for quality, while supporting the UK businesses and consumers that we serve.
I am thrilled to be part of such a phenomenal team delivering essential digital infrastructure that the UK needs. We are a platform for progress, bringing greater levels of choice, quality, and innovation to the market and using our technology to deliver better outcomes. As we accelerate our roll-out in 2024, we are excited to onboard more ISPs and continue strengthening the technological capabilities that underpin our high-quality, simple to switch to network that helps us stand out in a crowded market.