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Access to full fibre, gigabit broadband connectivity could revolutionise productivity in the UK, according to Openreach
Connecting every property in the UK to fibre to the home services by 2025 could boost UK productivity by around £60 billion, according to Openreach.
A report commissioned by Openreach and compiled by the Centre for Economic and Business Research suggested that UK productivity would improve by approximately £1,700 per worker.
The UK government has set an ambitious target of connecting every home and business in the UK by 2025, accelerating the country’s previous plan to deliver 100 per cent fibre penetration by 2033.
The report suggests that as many as 400,000 workers could opt to work from home, in the event that the UK achieved a near 100 per cent FTTH rollout, with a further 270,000 able to move out of cities and into rural areas.
Perhaps most appealingly, the report also suggests that up to 300 million commuting trips could be saved each year, with 3 billion fewer kilometres travelled by car.
“Full fibre is a vehicle to turbocharge our economy post-Brexit, with the power to renew towns and communities across the UK. We’re proud to be leading the way with over 1.8 million homes and businesses already having access to our full fibre network. We’re currently building full fibre to around 22,000 premises a week– which is one every 28 seconds. But we want to go even faster and further – to 15 million premises and beyond if we can get the right conditions to invest," said Openreach’s CEO, Clive Selley.
"Through our Fibre First programme, Openreach is now building to 103 locations across the UK and we’re on track to build to four million premises by March 2021. With the right policies and regulation, we can build a better, more reliable broadband network faster than any other country in the world and unlock the benefits for the whole UK."
“If that doesn’t happen, then many people will be locked out of a more connected future and the UK could lose its status as a global digital leader.”
Openreach currently provides 1.8 million FTTH connections across the UK and plans to double this figure over the course of the next year.
Clive Selley will be discussing Openreach’s plans to deliver FTTH services across the UK at ext year’s edition of Connected Britain. Click here for more information and to find out how you can be a part of the show.
