Openreach Propose to Expand UK Area Covered by FTTP Broadband Discounts UPDATE

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today notified UK broadband ISPs that they intend to expand the Equinox Offer Area, which reflects their long-term wholesale pricing discount scheme for helping move customers from slower copper to faster full fibre (FTTP) lines.

The proposed change, which has been notified to Ofcom (they have up to 120 days to review it), would expand the Equinox Offer Area so that eligible FTTP premises made ‘Ready for Service’ (RFS) from the “applicable effective date of the contract amendment up to and including 31st March 2027 will qualify for Equinox pricing” on the same basis as premises already included within the Offer Area.

The briefing’s title – “Expanding the Equinox Offer Area” – actually makes all of this sound more dramatic than it really is, which isn’t helped by Openreach’s classic use of dry contractual language that makes it a bit tricky to understand at first glance.

In short, Openreach appear to be simplifying their approach and admin by making clear that any newly-built qualifying FTTP premises will now automatically join the Offer Area until at least 31st March 2027 (there’s no change to the offer itself). This reflects somewhat of a rolling expansion for the Equinox discounts, so they can now catch newly built FTTP premises more quickly, rather than having to keep updating the offer area / contract as new premises are added. At least that’s how we read it, but we could be wrong.

UPDATE 31st July 2026 @ 7:19am

We’ve had a comment from Openreach.

An Openreach spokesperson said:

“As we build further to harder-to-reach areas, and look to reach more than 25 million homes and businesses, this is simply a continuation of the existing Equinox offers that were already approved by Ofcom. The next chapter of the full fibre story is helping more customers benefit from the network we’re building, and at a time when many households are watching every bill, this continuation allows for more customers to get better value, more choice and faster access to full fibre broadband.”