Openreach Explained: A Guide to the UK's Broadband Infrastructure

Openreach is the UK's largest digital network business, responsible for delivering broadband services to millions of homes and businesses. It's a vital part of the country's infrastructure.

Openreach was formed in 2006, after BT separated its network division from its retail business, creating a separate entity to manage the UK's broadband infrastructure.

As a result, Openreach is now a distinct company, owned by BT Group, but operating independently to deliver broadband and telephone services across the UK.

Openreach's network spans over 650,000 kilometers of fiber, copper, and other cables, connecting over 25 million premises.

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Openreach was set up in 2006 to maintain and develop the UK's broadband and phone network. It was created as a separate division of British Telecom (BT) following the Telecommunications Strategic Review (TSR) in 2005.

Ofcom, the UK's telecoms regulator, argued that BT had significant market power in the British telecommunications market. This led to the creation of Openreach to provide equal access to BT's local access network and backhaul products.

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In 2017, Openreach became a separate company, although it's still a subsidiary of BT group. This change was made to address concerns that BT's ownership of the network gave it an unfair advantage.

The Openreach network is built and maintained by the company, and it's used by many broadband providers to offer their own services. You can't sign up for a broadband package to Openreach directly.

The network is made up of cables and exchanges throughout the UK, and it's used by most broadband providers. However, some exchanges are not LLU (Local Loop Unbundling), which means they have a more limited range of broadband providers.

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Openreach engineers visit around 29,500 homes and offices every weekday on behalf of its customers, the communication providers.

These engineers make 80,800 provision visits on copper, fibre, and TV networks every week, and manage 90,000 repairs to its copper, fibre, and broadband networks every week as well.

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They deal with 650 network breakdowns due to damage, theft, and weather every week, and test 12,000 poles and replace 920 of them.

Openreach engineers also remove around 40,000 unused cable connections from its exchanges and provide another 75,000 every day.

They fix 100 low wires and connect another 3,000 new site plots to its network.

Here are some key statistics about the scale of Openreach's operations:

Openreach engineers are responsible for ensuring everyone can access a decent and affordable broadband connection using the Openreach network, regardless of location, as the Universal Service Obligation (USO) provider for the UK.

Openreach has ambitious plans to upgrade the UK's broadband infrastructure with a full fibre rollout. They aim to make full fibre available to 25 million premises by the end of 2026, supporting faster speeds, better reliability, and modern digital services for businesses and households.

The rollout includes Fibre to the Premises, where fibre-optic cables connect directly into buildings, bypassing slower copper connections. This is a significant upgrade from the current fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband, which uses the same lines to supply fibre to homes and businesses.

Openreach is working to replace old copper lines with full fibre, with a goal of reaching 40,000 homes and businesses every week. This is a major effort to bring faster and more reliable broadband to the UK.

The full fibre rollout will make a huge difference in speed, with expected speeds of 1Gb+ for full-fibre broadband. However, it's only available to a small percentage of homes in the UK, and it's taking a good while to get everyone up to speed.

To speed up the process, Openreach is developing GFast technology, which uses the same lines as FTTC broadband but increases speeds up to 330Mb. However, this technology is only useful for connections over a short distance and is not a replacement for full fibre.

Here's a breakdown of the fibre rollout plans:

Openreach is also hiring 5,000 new engineers to support the full fibre rollout, which will also see its entire commercial fleet switching over to all-electric by 2030. This is a significant investment in the UK's digital infrastructure and will create thousands of jobs in the process.

Openreach has faced criticism for its broadband speeds and decreasing competitiveness in the UK's internet infrastructure. A study in 2015 found that the UK had lower average speeds than many European countries, but higher average speeds than others.

The company has received a high number of customer complaints relating to poor service. Openreach doesn't communicate directly with the public, but only with their service providers.

BT has been accused of abusing their Openreach monopoly, which generated almost 35% of operating profits in 2016. Underinvestment in the UK's broadband infrastructure, high prices, and poor customer service are major concerns.

Around 5.7 million broadband customers in the UK had internet connections that didn't reach Ofcom's acceptable minimum speed of 10 Mbit/s in 2016. This number includes 3.5 million customers living in rural areas.

A cross-party report found that a universal service obligation (USO) was proposed to grant remote households the right to request broadband speeds of at least 10 Mbit/s. However, this was countered by an offer from BT for Openreach to provide the infrastructure for 99% of UK premises to receive download speeds of at least 10 Mbit/s by 2020.

BT was fined £42 million and agreed to pay up to £300 million in compensation after an investigation by Ofcom found regulatory breaches at Openreach. This related to the delivery of high-speed Ethernet cable services between 2013 and 2014.

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Openreach's business and services are designed to support a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, internet service providers, and more.

They offer a range of wholesale services, including broadband, phone, and TV, which are used by many of the UK's internet service providers.

Their fibre broadband network is one of the largest in the UK, covering over 28 million premises.

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Openreach maintains and builds the phone and broadband infrastructure that serves UK's homes and businesses.

It's responsible for maintaining cables, telephone exchanges, and telephone network poles. This includes fixing faults and upgrading the network to keep up with demand.

Many broadband providers piggyback off the Openreach network to offer their own broadband and telephone services. This is because Openreach owns the network that most other providers use.

Openreach was set up in 2006 to maintain and develop the UK's broadband and phone network. It was previously owned by BT, but is now a separate company, although still a subsidiary of BT group.

A process called 'Local Loop Unbundling' (LLU) allows Openreach to open up parts of its telephone exchange to ISPs who have their own networks. This has increased choice for consumers, but also means that some exchanges have a more limited range of broadband providers.

You can find out what your local exchange is capable of by entering your address in Broadband Genie's deals checker. This will show you the deals that are available to your door.

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Openreach underpins several types of fibre optic business broadband across the UK.

Leased lines are a top choice for businesses that need guaranteed speeds and low latency. They offer symmetrical speeds, meaning upload and download rates are the same, and can range from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps.

These dedicated lines run directly from the exchange to the business premises, with no shared bandwidth.

Leased lines are ideal for larger businesses or those with critical internet requirements, although they come with a higher price tag.

Leased line providers offer uncontended lines, meaning businesses get the full speed they pay for, without any sharing.

Leased lines are a type of connection that's ideal for businesses that need guaranteed speeds and low latency. They're dedicated lines that run directly from the exchange to the business premises, with no shared bandwidth.

Openreach installs these leased lines, which offer symmetrical speeds, meaning upload and download rates are the same. Depending on the service, speeds can range from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps.

These lines are uncontended, making them ideal for larger businesses or those with critical internet requirements. However, leased line prices are much more expensive than other Openreach broadband types.

Here are some key features of leased lines:

More than 660 service providers use the BT Openreach network, including many well-known ISPs, so you're likely to find a provider that meets your needs.

So, you're looking for some information on the providers that use Openreach lines. Well, let's dive right in. Over 660 service providers use the BT Openreach network.

Some of the well-known ISPs that use Openreach lines include TalkTalk, Plusnet, Sky, BT, Zen, Cuckoo, Vodafone, and NOW Broadband.

You might be wondering what a local loop is. It's the technical term for the 'last mile' of the provider network, which includes your local telephone exchange, the phone lines to the green street cabinets, and the connection between your property and the street cabinet.

Rural areas can be a challenge when it comes to internet connectivity, especially with Openreach's slow rollout plans.

Openreach has committed to upgrading around 6 million rural premises in the UK by the end of 2026, but this is a slow process.

The Fibre Community Partnership (FCP) programme exists to help those in rural areas gain access to Ultrafast Full Fibre. Residents and businesses can enter their postcode to get a customised installation plan.

There are different funding schemes available for the FCP, including the Voucher Funded scheme, which uses UK Government funding to provide vouchers worth up to £4,500. Communities can pool these totals together to pay for the installation of fibre cables.

Here are the funding schemes Openreach is involved with:

Openreach has a target to reach 25 million homes and businesses by the end of 2026, but upgrading 6 million rural premises in the UK is a slow process.

If you live in an area outside of Openreach's rollout plans, you can enter your postcode to get a customised installation plan through the Fibre Community Partnership (FCP) programme.

The FCP programme is designed to help residents and businesses gain access to Ultrafast Full Fibre.

There are a few schemes Openreach is involved with that help fund a Fibre Community Partnership, including the Voucher Funded scheme, which uses UK Government funding to provide a voucher worth up to £4,500 per eligible property.

Communities can pool these vouchers together to pay for the installation of fibre cables.

Here are the funding schemes Openreach is involved with:

If your broadband service goes down on an Openreach network, the individual service provider is responsible for dealing with any issues. They can request a visit to your street cabinet from an Openreach engineer if necessary.

An Openreach engineer will never knock on your door without an appointment, so it's essential to be cautious of unsolicited visits.

If you're expecting a visit from an Openreach engineer, you can enter these phone numbers into your address book:

If you're looking for alternatives to Openreach, there are a few options to consider.

CityFibre is one of the main alternatives rolling out in more locations across the UK. Virgin Media is another popular provider that uses its own network and doesn't rely on Openreach.

You can also look into mobile broadband options, such as 4G or 5G, although this can be a costly alternative. Satellite broadband is another option, but it's not as widely available.

Some smaller ISPs that have their own network include Hyperoptic, which serves central London, and Gigaclear, which targets rural areas.

Here are some of the key players in the UK broadband market: