7 December 2023 this news is related to Openreach’s announcement on 7th December 2023

• 170,000 local homes and businesses added to Openreach’s full fibre plans
• Across the UK, Openreach is now halfway to its plan to make full fibre available to 25 million premises by the end of 2026

More than 170,000 homes and businesses across the East of England are set to get access to full fibre, thanks to Openreach.

The company is announcing a massive £51 million investment across 16 new locations, including Huntingdon, Wisbech and Yaxley in Cambridgeshire, Great Yarmouth in Norfolk and Belstead and Whitton in Suffolk.

Earlier today, Openreach announced it had reached the halfway point of its nationwide plan to reach 25 million premises with its full fibre broadband network by the end of 2026.

It also revealed 142 locations – including the 16 in the East of England – where it will deliver full fibre to around 1.4 million homes and businesses, including in some of the hardest to reach, most rural communities.

Openreach is building full fibre faster and further than any other UK provider – reaching around 60k new premises every week. That means passing another home or business with ultrafast, gigabit-capable broadband every ten seconds.

Openreach intends to keep building after it reaches its initial 25 million target, reaching up to 30 million premises with Full Fibre by the end of 2030.

Clive Selley, CEO, Openreach, said: “This is a national infrastructure project that’s a genuine success story. We’re delivering engineering on an epic scale, on time and on budget – and that’s thanks to a supportive policy environment which has led to huge investment and competition throughout the UK’s telecoms sector.

“From a standing start just a few years ago, we’ve now made this life-changing technology available to 12.5 million premises and counting and we’re building faster than any operator I’m aware of in Europe.

“Our build rate is still accelerating and it’ll take us half the time to reach our next 12.5 million. But we won’t be stopping there. Ultimately, we’ll reach up to 30 million premises by the end of the decade – unlocking a raft of economic and social benefits by supporting new models of commerce, healthcare and public services.”