Openreach Bring FTTP Broadband to 800,000 Scotland Premises
Network access provider Openreach (BT) has announced that their new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network now covers over 800,000 premises across Scotland, which has been achieved via an investment of just £240 million (reflecting their “average UK build cost” of £300 per premises passed).
On top of that, the operator has noted that around 30% of Scottish households and businesses have moved over to the new network in the areas where it’s available, which according to Openreach means that a further 70% (560,000 homes) who could upgrade are “currently missing out“. But it should be said that most of their initial build has been more urban focused, in towns and cities where gigabit-capable rivals like Virgin Media, CityFibre, Hyperoptic and others often also exist.
The vast majority of Openreach’s full fibre build across Scotland has reflected their own commercial investment, but it should be said that they’re also covering some with support from Gigabit Broadband Vouchers and the Scottish Government’s £600m Reaching 100% (R100) project will ultimately aim to upgrade another 114,000 of Scotland’s hardest-to-reach premises by 2028 (they’ve already delivered 14,353 premises of that target).
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Katie Milligan, Openreach CCO and Chair of its Scotland Board, said:
“Full fibre is the best way to provide ultrafast, ultra-reliable internet to millions of Scots. Around a third of the 800,000 homes and businesses now reached by our new Scottish fibre network are rural. We’re connecting parts of the nation other networks don’t reach, bringing an economic boost and backing rural communities.
Our superfast broadband is already available to most people in Scotland, but ultrafast full fibre is the future. It gives businesses, families and home-workers all the data they’ll ever need and provides the ultimate online experience at great value for money.”
Openreach’s engineers are now planning to extend this network in urban areas like Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Stirling and Glasgow and rural parts of regions including Fife, East Lothian, Highland, Aberdeenshire and Dumfries and Galloway during 2023.
Naturally, in order to benefit from the new network, then you’ll need to order the service from a supporting ISP like BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Vodafone, Zen Internet, iDNET, AAISP and many.. many more.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Funny, when I asked Openreach for a connection to a Scottish fibre they had in place they quoted me two years and £1.1m to do it. But I bet it’s counted the area as “connected” because there is a fibre there. I’d take the “800,000 Scotland Premises” with a large pinch of salt and a dram or three.
Being part of a publicly listed company, Openreach’s ‘premises passed’ figures are independently audited and reported to Ofcom, so i’ll take your bet. The fact you got a quote you didn’t like has no bearing on the credibility of their public accounts. Allegations like this are far too liberally deployed in these comments sections without any proof or even substantive evidence.
interesting where did that fibre go from and 2 or was some asking for a personal railway station between carlisle and clasgow on the west coast main line (the analogies are remarkably similar)
R100 build in Aberdeenshire has been very impressive, fibre running way out into the sticks and very happy with my rural hundred megabits at long last!