In a move aiming to see considerably more UK get considerably better internet connections, UK infrastructure provider Openreach has lowered the threshold for free to its scheme offering fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) installation free of charge for new housing developments.
The company has announced that UK developers building smaller new sites of just 20, rather than the previous 30, or more properties are now eligible to have full-fibre connectivity built across their sites at no cost. Openreach believes that this move, to take effect from 1 April 2020, will benefit more than 13,000 new homes across about 600 small housing developments each year.
Openreach figures have shown that that since launching its scheme in 2016, 99% of plots on development sites of 30 or more homes have registered for FTTP and that it has connected 354,000 new-build homes with full-fibre technology. In its current financial year, the company has built full-fibre to 125,000 new-build premises, reaching about 3,500 new premises with full-fibre every week, and says it is on target to reach 175,000 by the end of the current fiscal year in April 2020.
To help encourage further full-fibre take-up, Openreach has capped the amount that UK house builders contribute if they ask the broadband provider to build full-fibre to smaller-scale developments of just two or three premises.
Openreach says that through its new Fibre First strategy, it is on track to reach four million homes and businesses with its full-fibre network by the end of March 2021, and aims to reach 15 million by the middle of the decade.
“Our existing offer already provides huge benefits to both buyers and builders alike, but we want to go further and make sure everybody moving into a new-build property can enjoy the advantages of full-fibre broadband,” said Openreach managing director of strategic infrastructure development Kim Mears. “The UK is a world leader in digital infrastructure and services, but as the digital revolution continues at an ever increasing pace, and our demand for data grows, we need to make sure this country stays ahead of the curve by building fast, reliable networks that cater for all the activities we will want to do online in the decades ahead.”
Full-fibre broadband build-out was a key commitment for the recently elected UK government and there has already been in 2020 new government legislation designed to ease access for broadband providers to gain access to properties in order to install fibre access. At the same time, UK comms regulator Ofcom unveiled new regulations which it said would help build a full-fibre network across the whole of the UK.
Openreach figures have shown that that since launching its scheme in 2016, 99% of plots on development sites of 30 or more homes have registered for FTTP and that it has connected 354,000 new-build homes with full-fibre technology. In its current financial year, the company has built full-fibre to 125,000 new-build premises, reaching about 3,500 new premises with full-fibre every week, and says it is on target to reach 175,000 by the end of the current fiscal year in April 2020.
To help encourage further full-fibre take-up, Openreach has capped the amount that UK house builders contribute if they ask the broadband provider to build full-fibre to smaller-scale developments of just two or three premises.
Openreach says that through its new Fibre First strategy, it is on track to reach four million homes and businesses with its full-fibre network by the end of March 2021, and aims to reach 15 million by the middle of the decade.
“Our existing offer already provides huge benefits to both buyers and builders alike, but we want to go further and make sure everybody moving into a new-build property can enjoy the advantages of full-fibre broadband,” said Openreach managing director of strategic infrastructure development Kim Mears. “The UK is a world leader in digital infrastructure and services, but as the digital revolution continues at an ever increasing pace, and our demand for data grows, we need to make sure this country stays ahead of the curve by building fast, reliable networks that cater for all the activities we will want to do online in the decades ahead.”
Full-fibre broadband build-out was a key commitment for the recently elected UK government and there has already been in 2020 new government legislation designed to ease access for broadband providers to gain access to properties in order to install fibre access. At the same time, UK comms regulator Ofcom unveiled new regulations which it said would help build a full-fibre network across the whole of the UK.
