Openreach will be supported by increased investment from BT Group and now expects to accelerate towards its target of reaching 25 million premises by December 2026, upping its build rate by 20% to up to five million premises passed during the year to March 2026.

Netomnia is expanding capacity and unifying its regional networks into a national core to facilitate subscriber growth and network expansion.
The altnet is connecting existing hubs around London, Manchester and Wales into a ring network using its own dark fibre and will leverage Smartoptics’ optical networking solutions.
Netomnia currently has 310,000 connections and footprint of 2.4 million serviceable premises which it hopes toswell to five million by 2027.
Sam Defriez, Director of Networks at Netomnia, said: “Investing in our own dark fibre and equipment was the clear long-term choice, with projected savings of millions compared to leased lit capacity over five to seven years.
Smartoptics stood out as its solution outperformed more complex and restrictive alternatives.”
Magnus Grenfeldt, CEO at Smartoptics, added: “The shift toward more flexible networking is reshaping how ISPs and fibre operators scale to meet subscriber growth.
Netomnia’s decision to invest in its own national core reflects a forward-looking mindset that moves beyond traditional capacity models.”