New boost to Openreach’s ‘Better Broadband’ build programme welcomed by CWU
Telecoms & Financial Services, Openreach June 25 2018The CWU has warmly welcomed Openreach’s announcement today (June 25) that it is stepping up its programme to upgrade the UK’s broadband infrastructure in a bid to speed up progress towards an ‘Ultrafast Britain’.
Augmenting the company’s ambitious ‘Better Broadband’ programme, Openreach is using Gfast technology – which builds on existing infrastructure, changing the way broadband signals are transmitted to make them ultrafast without the need to dig up roads and install new cabling all the way to the property.
The 59 new Gfast investment locations announced today more than double the 46 areas where the technology is already in use.
Aberdeen, Bury, Taunton and York are among the 59 towns and cities (see full list below) which will make up the next phase of the programme, providing ultrafast broadband to an additional 370,000 homes and businesses across the country.
The investment forms part of a wider programme that will also see Openreach building future-proof Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology to three million homes and businesses by the end of 2020 through the ‘Fibre First’ programme.
Openreach has already made ultrafast broadband available to more than one and a half million premises across the UK, and has ambitions to go even further.
The business wants to extend this rollout to around 10 million premises by the mid-2020s, and ultimately the majority of homes and businesses across Britain, assuming there are the right conditions to invest.
Meanwhile, Openreach is continuing to focus on delivering FTTP to rural areas, in partnership with the Government, to make sure some of the hardest to reach communities in the UK get access to future-proofed, FTTP networks.
The company’s ‘Fibre First’ programme – where fibre optic cables are laid from the exchange right to people’s front doors is gathering pace with engineers building the network to a further 8,000 more homes and businesses coming within reach of the new network every week.
Welcoming Openreach’s continued commitment to building Britain’s broadband infrastructure, CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said: “Our hardworking members, who tirelessly work in all weathers to upgrade the network, should be thanked and rewarded for their efforts.
“It’s very much down to these skilled engineers that Openreach is able to make the commitment to invest in ultrafast and fibre broadband. The company is already committed to recruiting and training 3,000 new frontline engineers, all on permanent contracts, this year – a far cry from the outsourced and agency resourcing models of a number of other providers which sadly often represents a race to the bottom with regards to terms and conditions.
“Openreach’s impressive commitments on infrastructure build is not just welcome in terms of the improved connectivity it will provide – but also in terms of the creation of more skilled jobs in engineering, something which is, of course, great news for the economy as a whole.”
- The Openreach exchanges which will benefit from the additional Gfast upgrade investment announced today are: Aberdeen Denburn, Acocks Green, Altrincham, Aylesbury, Bedford, Birmingham Central, Bishops Stortford, Boscombe, Bowes Park, Bury St. Edmunds, Bury, Byfleet, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Chester, Cosham, Didsbury, Erdington, Gipsy Hill, Guildford, Hampton, Harlow, Harrogate, Headingley, Heywood, Kingston, Lancaster, Leamington Spa, Leeds, Llantrisant, Maidstone, Market Harborough, Mile End, Morley, Narborough, North Finchley, Paignton, Plymouth, Rugby, Shipley, Slough, South Kensington, Southampton, Southend Town, St Albans, Stockton Heath, Swadlincote, Tamworth, Taunton, Telford Wellington, Tunbridge Wells, Walthamstow, Weston Super Mare, Windsor, Wolverhampton, Woodhouse (Berkshire), Woodley, York.