The full fibre rollout is happening but what is it and are you eligible?
Over the past few years, you’ll have heard the terms faster Britain, full-fibre Britain, and more being used across the country and in government.
Despite the government conceding that we might not hit the deadline of 2025 for the fibre rollout, Openreach and its partners are steaming ahead with plans to ensure the whole of Britain has access to fast, reliable and stable connectivity.
How much of the UK is fibre-enabled now?
Openreach’s Fibre First programme has already seen two million premises covered and it is building the FTTP network to cover c.26,000 premises per week. However, by the end of 2020, it expects to be working to cover c.30,000 premises per week.
The scheme aims to cover four million UK homes and businesses by March 2021 with an ambition of having covered 15 million UK homes and businesses by 2025.
Out of Reach?
In August 2020, Openreach made a commitment to install FTTP, or full-fibre broadband, to 3.2million rural properties and have its network fully serviced by 2026.
Around 251 market towns, villages and rural areas have been identified as areas which require attention from Openreach and some of the network is expected to be completed sooner.
What is FTTP?
FTTP is also known as Ultrafast broadband. It’s the very best of business broadband solutions and allows businesses to use data-heavy applications, cloud hosting and telephony such as VoIP as well as host video conferences. It also manages emails, web browsing and file sharing without a hitch so you can imagine the difference having access to FTTP could make for businesses across the UK.
UK premises often rely on ADSL or FTTC (Superfast) broadband which can cause issues when it comes to doing business. Both ADSL and FTTC business broadband solutions rely on copper phone lines which can be prone to environmental degradation. FTTP on the other hand uses fibre-optic cables which are much more resilient and can transmit larger amounts of data, increasing the speed capabilities of the connection. FTTP can futureproof the broadband demands of most UK premises for years to come which makes the fibre roll out even more significant to UK businesses.
FTTP and the Future
FTTP is a significant upgrade on all existing broadband technology currently available in the UK. With the FTTP roll out alongside the introduction of 5G, the UK is set for a level of connectivity which is will help to propel UK businesses forward.
Openreach, Ofcom and the government all predict that the roll out of full fibre across the nation would boost UK productivity by £59billion every year!
To see if you’re in a full fibre enabled area, take a look at our postcode checker and find out!
