Network operator Openreach (BT) has announced that their 1.8Gbps capable Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network has now covered over 1 million premises across the South West of England (i.e. Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire), which reflects an investment of over £300m.
The deployment forms part of the operator’s wider £15bn investment to cover 25 million UK premises (80%+ of the UK) with their full fibre network by December 2026, including 6.2 million in rural and semi-rural areas (here), and they aspire to potentially reach up to 30 million by 2030. So far, the operator has already completed coverage for over 13 million UK premises and clearly the South West is responsible for a chunk of that.
To mark the milestone, the network provider has revealed the 20 locations in the region with the highest levels (%) of Full Fibre coverage, although annoyingly they haven’t provided any solid figures for each of the locations listed. Nevertheless, Alderbury, a small village with origins dating back to pre-historic times, tops the list, with more than nine out of ten premises there being covered.
The medieval Cathedral City of Salisbury, just a few miles north-west of Alderbury, is just a fraction behind and ranks second, whilst the coastal village of Downderry in Cornwall and the popular seaside destination of Lynton and Lynmouth in North Devon rank third and fourth. Bristol South is fifth.
In terms of active build, Openreach’s engineers are currently working in Truro, Totnes, Portland, Tewkesbury, Devonport, Yeovil and Trowbridge to expand the reach of FTTP.
Martin Williams, Openreach’s Partnership Director for the South West, said:
“Our amazing engineers and build partners have done a wonderful job to help us reach this significant milestone. This Full Fibre upgrade is a huge boost for the South West. We’re adopting a balanced build, bringing ultrafast speeds to the region’s biggest cities and most rural and coastal communities – as this list proves. We’re not stopping at one million – and people in the South West should visit the Openreach website to see if they can upgrade to Full Fibre already, or see when we’re coming to their area.”
Openreach expects to add a total of 3.5 million premises to their UK FTTP coverage across the 2024 financial year, which they predict will rise to 4 million in FY25. The per premises build costs are expected to stay within their £250 to £350 model for at least this period / next two years (currently it’s £300 in the South West).
However, only around two in five homes and businesses which could upgrade to the new network across the South West have done so. Naturally, in order to benefit from the new network, you’d need to order the service from a supporting ISP like BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Vodafone, Zen Internet, iDNET, AAISP and many more.