BT : Openreach to target one million SMEs with new ultrafast services

Jun 15, 2016 08:34 BST

Openreach engineer connecting a business park

• Bath, Bradford, Bristol, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Salford first to benefit
• Areas without access to the Openreach fibre network will be prioritised
• Hundreds of thousands of consumers will also benefit

Openreachtoday announced the first nine locations that will benefit from a new Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) product specifically designed for SMEs, offering ultrafast speeds of up to 1Gbps. The roll out forms part of Openreach's wider plan to make ultrafast broadband available - via FTTP andG.Fast technology- to up to one million businesses by the end of 2020.

The deployment will be focused on SMEs located in high streets, science and business parks and clusters of businesses that don't have access to fibre broadband from Openreach today.

The first areas to benefit include parts of Bath, Bradford, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester and Salford - as well as Westminster, Holborn and the City - in London. The new network will be rolled out over the course of the next nine months, with communications providers able to offer ultrafast speeds to businesses from the end of December. Further deployment phases will then follow, with hundreds of thousands of businesses benefitting from this FTTP roll out by the end of 2020.

More than 300,000 homes and businesses already have access to FTTP today via Openreach's network. The business is planning to expand that footprint significantly in the coming years whilst increasing the top speeds on offer to businesses from 330Mbps to 1Gbps.

The expansion of the FTTP footprint will also eventually benefit hundreds of thousands of adjacent residential homes in the targeted areas. This forms part ofOpenreach's ambition to bring ultrafast speeds to 12 million homes and businesses by the end of 2020.

Businesses can currently access ultrafast speeds via dedicated lines but these services are best suited to larger businesses. The new FTTP product will provide an alternative for SMEs who may want ultrafast speeds at a lower price point.

Openreach will continue to consult with industry as it develops the product and pricing. It will also seek feedback from industry on the likely demand before confirming which specific areas will benefit from this phase of deployment. This approach will enable Openreach to identify areas that may not have access to its existing fibre services and where demand could be strongest.

Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, said: "Our aim is to make ultrafast broadband available to 12 million homes and businesses by the end of 2020. SMEs have told us they want an alternative to dedicated lines and that is what we are going to give them.

"Openreach has been trialling new deployment methods for FTTP in Bradford and I am pleased to say the trials have progressed very well. Now that we have proved the new techniques we will begin our wider roll-out, starting with these nine new locations.

"Hundreds of thousands of consumers will also benefit over the next few years as we continue our work to plug any remaining fibre broadband gaps. This targeted approach will help to deliver the ambition we share with government to improve broadband speeds in the final five per cent of the country."

The first phase of the deployment focuses on areas which boast strong science and technology sectors, including the Bristol and Bath technology hub and the cities which are integral to the 'Northern Powerhouse'.

As the new service becomes available, communications providers will be able to offer SMEs a range of ultrafast speeds and business grade service levels.

Openreach has been trialling new FTTP deployment methods in parts of Bradford, aimed at delivering the technology faster and more efficiently. For example, new 'plug and play' technology will allow customers to be connected more quickly and easily.

To date, Openreach has built the largest fibre broadband network in the UK - largely using Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology - which coversmore than 25 million premises, including SMEs, sole traders and home workers.

About BT

BT's purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Global Services, Business and Public Sector, Consumer, EE, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2016, BT Group's reported revenue was £19,042m with reported profit before taxation of £3,029m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visitwww.btplc.com

About Openreach

Openreach is responsible for the last mile of the UK access network - the copper wires and fibre connecting homes and businesses to their local telephone exchanges. Openreach provides communications providers with services and products associated with that network.