Openreach will invest a further £100m to connect more than 100,000 further homes and businesses to its full fibre footprint in Northern Ireland.
Lit Fibre is expanding its network to cover an additional 60,000 homes across Watford and 30,000 homes in Basildon.
The altnet’s network is already available in the Essex town of Clacton-on-Sea and will go live in Chelmsford in February. In Hertfordshire, Watford will join Bishop’s Stortford, Welwyn Garden City, Harpenden, Potter’s Bar and St Albans.
Tom Williams, CEO of Lit Fibre, said: “We are committed to the towns we serve and want to give everyone the freedom of full-fibre internet to make life in these areas run smoother.”