According to Openreach, red tape is preventing upgrades to apartment buildings and flats, potentially leaving 600,000 homes and businesses across London without access to faster broadband technology for many years.
More than 1.8m properties in the capital have access to gigabit-capable full fibre broadband through Openreach’s network – around a quarter of which have made the switch.
However, around 600,000 flats and apartments could be left without an upgrade because Openreach still needs access or wayleave agreements to be signed by landlords and property owners.
Currently, Openreach can use its existing wayleave agreements to enter communal areas in flats and repair its older copper network, but it is unable to use the same rights to install the latest technology.
A simple change to the Renters' Rights Bill – which has already been proposed and is being debated in parliament – would give tenants the right to request full fibre broadband from any provider, in a similar way to that being proposed to enable tenants to have a pet.
Openreach is working with some housing groups to bring full fibre to more flats and apartments – including around 8,000 owned by Barnet Homes in the Borough.
Whilst Openreach can use existing permissions to maintain older connections to homes and businesses in so called ‘Multi Dwelling Units’, it can’t use them to install the latest technology.
The company estimates the law change could unlock many of the estimated one million premises in UK flats or sub-divided houses where it has built full fibre to the door but has been unable to gain access.
