UK Edition
Openreach to connect one million more homes to ultrafast broadband by next summer
Openreach has unveiled plans to upgrade broadband services for another million homes and businesses over the next nine months, as it continues to pursue a deal with Ofcom which will allow it to keep investing in its network.
BT's broadband infrastructure unit said it was extending its ultrafast network footprint to a further 81 locations, on top of the 250 where the technology had already been deployed.
Openreach said this was a "multi-million pound investment" which would introduce faster broadband in areas including Manchester, London, Birmingham and Blackpool, preparing those regions for a wave of smart home technology and higher take up of virtual reality gaming.
"As the digital revolution rushes forwards and the demand for data continues to grow, we need to sure we stay ahead of the curve," Kim Mears, managing director for strategic infrastructure development at Openreach, said.
Openreach's so-called Gfast network builds on existing infrastructure, meaning the company does not need to install new cabling or dig up roads to connect homes, instead just changing the way broadband signals are transmitted.
However, in the longer-term, Openreach is planning to connect around 10 million homes with full-fibre ultrafast broadband infrastructure, removing old copper telephone lines and replacing them with faster and more reliable fibre optics.
Openreach has said it is nearing a deal with Ofcom which would allow it to make a fair return on its investment to reach those 10 million homes by 2025, by removing regulatory hurdles and introducing a wholesale pricing regime.
The UK lags behind France, Spain and Portugal in terms of how widely available full fibre services are, given it was much slower in starting to roll out the technology, choosing instead to focus on relatively low-cost upgrades of existing systems.
In a survey compiled by Cable.co.uk earlier this year, the UK was among the bottom third of EU countries in terms of its broadband speeds, and came in at 34th globally, below countries such as Madagascar and Iceland.