A recent survey from bOnline has shown that many SMEs are unsure about the availability of altnet in their area, with confusion over the UK’s broadband roll-out strategy.
Thu, 18/05/2023 - 12:18
Openreach’s fibre network has grown to 10.3m as of the full year to March 2023. This represents a 43% year-on-year growth and means Openreach is now 41% through its planned 25m build.
The company passed 702,000 premises with fibre in the last quarter with an average build rate of 54,000 per week.
Orders were up 70% year on year and its take-up rate grew 30.4% with a record net adds of 395k in the quarter. Its base is now 3.1m.
BT CEO Philip Jansen said: “Openreach is competing strongly and it’s clear that customers love full fibre. The Openreach Board has reaffirmed its target to reach 25m premises with FTTP by the end of 2026 and plans to further accelerate take-up on the network.
The results also predict the firms’ standing in 2030 and predict a fibre-heavy future, with plans to reorganise the group to ensure Openreach maximises its build potential.
It expects Openreach to end the decade with between 25-30m premises passed, up from 10.3m currently, and take-up to swell from 30% to 55%.
Jansen adds: “By continuing to build and connect like fury, digitise the way we work and simplify our structure, by the end of the 2020s BT Group will rely on a much smaller workforce and a significantly reduced cost base.”
The company is planning to shed 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade with a fifth replaced by AI.
