bOnline Survey Finds UK Businesses Frustrated by Openreach FTTP Rollout
A new survey of 427 small UK business owners, which was conducted by business focused broadband ISP bOnline in the late June to mid-July 2024 period, has found that 70% of respondents either don’t know if Openreach’s (BT) gigabit-capable FTTP broadband network has reached their area or believe that it is not yet available.
At present Openreach are busy investing up to £15bn to ensure that 25 million premises are reached by their new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network by December 2026 (15 million have already been covered), which is then expected to reach up to 30 million premises by the end of 2030. But the new survey suggests that SME businesses are still confused or frustrated by this programme.
Indeed, of those surveyed, only 15% had been provisioned onto the new network and a staggering 23% are still operating on copper-based ADSL lines for their business internet activities. This is despite the fact that faster hybrid Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) networks are now available to around 98% of premises.
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However, it should be said that there are some niche areas where ADSL remains faster than FTTC, and it’s also unclear whether the survey had a higher proportion of responses from rural businesses (ADSL is often more common in such areas). Not to mention that not all businesses need a superfast broadband service in order to function effectively.
A similar number (24%) believed they were on hybrid copper FTTC lines, with nearly a fifth simply not knowing. Indeed, the majority of business owners questioned (54%) were completely unaware that “ADSL lines would become redundant under BT’s Big Switch Off – believing it only impacts voice-calls“. The same survey noted that this would now complete in “January 2026“, although vulnerable users may have until 31st January 2027 (here).
The ADSL statement is incorrect because, for example, in the small number of areas where FTTC and FTTP can’t yet reach, Openreach will still have a replacement broadband-only SOADSL / SOTAP service for older lines – this comes without a phone (voice) service. But as ever, contact your ISP if you’re unsure and discuss with them first.
Anthony Karibian, CEO and founder of bOnline, said:
“Both the implementation and communications around BT’s FTTP roll-out and copper line removal have been appalling. Small business owners simply don’t accurately know what is going on. Effectively 85% of micro-businesses have no access to the FTTP network with many having to regularly contend with outdated ADSL or hybrid copper FTTC lines that deliver debilitating speeds of just 1-50Mbps.
And for the lucky few that are fortunate enough to be in areas where FTTP has been introduced, many (33%) are left frustrated when attempting to be provisioned onto it with 6-8 week delays being common. In the interim, small businesses are having to pay through their noses – and historically face twice yearly price hikes – to have their calls and data routed over substandard kit.
The long-term cost to UK plc is significant with the country’s next generation of businesses being left to stall in the digital slow-lane.”
The good news is that 72% of those surveyed either want to be on FTTP (50%), are currently trying (7%) or have already upgraded (15%) to the new network, with their desire to switch being said to reflect their frustrations with Britain’s current network options. But it’s a shame that the survey seemed to focus so much on Openreach’s roll-out, while forgetting that there’s a massive market of alternative networks out there too.
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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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Doesn’t this survey say more about the failure of companies selling FTTP over Openreach’s network than the wholesaler itself? Take-up on the Openreach network is actually very strong compared to other networks. But of course, using the Openreach brand and having a pop at them means you automatically get attention and perpetuate a myth that everything is their fault.
Pop your postcode into Openreaches online checker and you will get an answer. How hard can it be?
It is also an indictment of the businesses. Even if small companies most should have an IT resource or know one. If they are treating it like they do gas/water they may be missing out on alternatives both technically and commercially.
The Openreach map may lack timescale detail but is detailed enough for business to plan and go for Altnet or 4G/5G or Starlink for either their primary broadband or backup arrangements.
A lot of very small single line businesses also do understand that as the landline is removed a consumer has the option to go to VoBB (provisioned on router and standard phone socket) but business accounts will move to standard VoIP phones/base stations etc.
One of the big issues is that once customers opt out of receiving promotional deals etc from CPs then they can legally no longer be informed when new products become available.
Not only businesses. Here we are in central London with maximum 30 Mbps on a lousy FTTC system that gets iffy when it rains and no plans for any Altnets or OpenReach until 2026. Given the prosperity of the area, the numbers of people working from home and the population density it beggars belief that OR is prioritising other markets when they could have a much higher rate of return on their investment here. This affects
We have a business customer in a business centre opposite a shopping mall the centre of Croydon to whom, along with the rest of the units in the area, Openreach are offering… ADSL.
No other altnets, no VM I could find, according to bidb.uk. I offered them fibre Ethernet (leased line) at £300+pm… for a startup business… The answer was no, I wasn’t surprised.
We tried them on O2 4G and they struggled to achieve 10mbps down and 1mbps up (apparently O2 have a known capacity issue in the area currently).
They’ve since moved to EE, early signs are good – but it’s a sad indictment on the state of the digital divide. In our nation’s capital, no less.
Dont be too quick to blame OR for this. Because of open markets builders, freeholders etc can control this themselves so could be down to them. Plenty of freeholds that have no OR.
Sorry if this is harsh but you are just a typical member of the public that doesn’t understand the constrictions and regulations surrounding the building of networks. It takes years and years to build a network and there could be a number of reasons for delays. Also they cant prioritise high value areas, that would be very wrong. At the end of the day 30mbps is pretty good.
looks like the standard anti BT whinging. There’s nothing stopping ISPs, including this “bOnline”, scraping the Openreach availability database (perhaps as CPs it’s given to them anyway?) and doing their own marketing.
I did laugh at “debilitating speeds” and “calls routed over substandard kit”. No one needs gigabit FTTP to run a few VoIP phones…
Someone above says “why aren’t they prioritising London” – probably because anyone who wants a leased line can get one, there’s already competition, and any roadworks come with additional red tape and cost. Makes more sense to prioritise areas where you maintain a monopoly.
It’s almost as if all those years of selling not-fibre as “fibre broadband” has caused some confusion….
No the confusion is the understanding of it which you don’t. Partial fibre is still sold as fibre broadband which is FTTC(fibre to the cab) and FTTP(fibre to the premise) is sold as full fibre. ADSL is copper only from the exchange. Its not mis sold, OFCOM are far to strict to let that happen.
I think before people start moaning they should do some research into how to build a fibre network in a developed woke nation. All the people that harp on about how qatar etc built their network in 5 years dont understand that countries like that have no planning restrictions, no safety restrictions, no monetary restrictions and only have to dig in sand. Its an absolute minefield in this country because you are dependent on multiple organisations to let you do the work and believe me they dont like giving permissions and then moan when they have no super fast broadband. Its a joke. Area’s like the new forest are even worse, you only have to fart and multiple woke brigades are sending you emails complaining and charging you for the privilege. Everything in this country is wrapped up in red tape and we can’t do anything anymore. How do i know? 40 years in the business is how i know.