Openreach cuts costs by 75% to attract builders to fibre diet

Openreach will be slashing the cost of installing fibre wires in new residential developments of less than 30 plots, as it looks to tempt housing developers onto a fibre diet.

Although it might seem remarkable, house builders are not currently mandated by law to install fibre broadband infrastructure on new premises. Considering the aggressive rhetoric being spouted by the UK Government when it comes to laying future-proofed foundations for the digital economy, it does beggar belief the opportunity to cut corners and ignore fibre is still available to these developers.

The ‘Housing Crisis’ in the UK is one which does attract headlines. The severity of this ‘crisis’ does of course depend on who you are talking to, though in certain regions it is undeniable there is a shortage of properties. All you have to look at the price of a two-bedroom flat in London to understand the pickle some youngsters might be in.

This does present an opportunity for the housing developers to make a profit. During the last quarter, the Office for National Statistics estimated 42,870 new homes were completed, though not all took fibre as default. Around 88% of plots on new builds contracting with Openreach elect fibre, though this number increases to almost 100% for plots of over 30 premises.

However, there are still numerous developers which are not taking fibre as a default position. Openreach suggests 124,000 of the new homes constructed in the UK in 2018 still lack access to ‘superfast’ broadband speeds of 30 Mbps or more. The situation is gradually improving, though there still much work to do.

With this in mind, Openreach is looking to increase the attractiveness of installing fibre connectivity through cutting costs by up-to 75% for multi-dwelling housing developments up to 29 properties.

“Our existing offer already provides huge benefits to both buyers and builders alike, but we wanted to go further and make sure everybody moving into a new build property can enjoy the advantages of Fibre-to-the-Premises broadband,” said Kim Mears, MD of Strategic Infrastructure Development.

“Our new offer provides a low-cost option to housebuilders and we hope it will help encourage the adoption of this future-proof technology across smaller developments so that no-one’s left behind.”

Although internet speeds might seem like an after-thought to some, research from LSE and Imperial College Business School suggests home-owners in London are willing to pay up to 8% above the market value properties in areas offering very fast internet speeds. The benefits of fibre connectivity for housing developers is key, though there are still some who are demonstrating a preference for copper, presenting a problem to the likes of Openreach and Virgin Media; it would be far simpler to connect properties while they are in the construction stages.

The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) concluded connectivity in new builds was not anywhere near the standard it should be, while the FTTH Council Europe estimates also paint a dreary picture. Fibre penetration is as low as 1.5% across the UK, woefully short of other nations such as Latvia (46.9% penetration), Sweden (43.6%) or Spain (43.6%). Even the lethargic Germany manages to beat the UK with 2.3%.

Moving forward, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is set to publish its opinion from a recent consultation into the matter, with the intention of making it mandatory for developers to install gigabit-capable connections to all new build developments in the future. This is a step in the right direction, though it does surprise us it has taken until 2019 for such rules to be considered.

The consultation should result in a change to the rules, though whether this goes as far as some would want remains to be seen. It would also be a fair assumption that these new rules would not be implemented immediately.

Openreach might have to use the financial carrot for a bit longer while the slow-moving cogs of government click into place.