Openreach's FTTP network now covers half of the UK

By the end of the year its FTTP network was available to 17 million premises, equal to half of all UK homes and businesses. That's up from 15.9 million at the end of September, and 12.8 million at the end of 2023. In addition, 4.3 million of the premises covered by its network are in rural and remote areas.

BT said it added a home or business to its footprint every eight seconds last year. At this rate, Openreach is firmly on track to achieve its coverage target of 25 million by the end of 2026, and its longer term target of 30 million by the end of the decade seems eminently achievable, barring any unforeseen bumps in the road.

As for take-up, according to BT's most recent financials, that had reached 35% by 30 September, meaning 5.5 million users are currently accessing broadband over Openreach fibre.

BT's latest update provides a bit more colour – orders increased 26% last year, reaching 68,000 per week, and the number of retail ISPs selling fibre services via its network now stands at more than 300. Data consumption is also up, growing by 10.8% in 2024.

"Fast, reliable connectivity is essential for the UK, and the increased traffic on our broadband network is evidence that customers are increasingly reliant on it in their daily lives," said Openreach CEO Clive Selley.

"We're building and connecting people faster than ever before and I'm proud of the progress our engineers have made. We're well on our way to delivering our ambition of reaching 25 million homes and business by the end of 2026, and now our sights are set on reaching 30 million premises by the end of 2030.

"While over a third of properties have already switched, there's plenty of room for more people to get a better connection right now," he said, urging prospective customers to check their network coverage.

Putting Openreach's latest figures into context, according to Point Topic, FTTP coverage in the UK reached 23.2 million premises at the end of Q3. With Openreach and its rivals – including Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), CityFibre, plus a host of smaller altnets – all rolling out fibre as fast as feasible, that number could be approaching 25 million by now, depending on the degree of overbuild, that is.

As for these aforementioned rivals, VMO2's FTTP network covers more than 4 million premises, with its wholesale venture Nexfibre accounting for more than 1.5 million of that total. By last March, CityFibre's network had passed 3.6 million premises, and Point Topic estimated that the number of live connections had reached 450,000 by the end of Q3.

Impressive stats, but thanks to the scale advantages that come with being an incumbent, Openreach is still way out in front.