Openreach cuts costs of full-fibre connections to new homes

Fibre cables

Openreach has cut the cost of installing full fibre broadband in new homes by 75% in order to drive adoption rates for superfast internet.

The company said it wants house builders to integrate full fibre broadband into new developments. This new scheme could connect up more than 40,000 homes across 5,000 small developments with faster broadband, significantly reducing the regular cost of around 25,000 per development.

However, the special offer is only available on developments with fewer than 30 properties, meaning larger areas won't be able to benefit from the lower cost infrastructure.

The offer will launch on 1 November, at the same time government is due to consult with housing developers and network infrastructure providers to see how they can work together to increase the availability of FTTP broadband services.

"The UK's is a world leader in digital infrastructure and services today, but as the digital revolution continues at an ever increasing pace, and our demand for data grows, we need to make sure this country stays ahead of the curve by building fast, reliable networks that cater for all the activities we'll want to do online in the decades ahead," Kim Mears, managing director of strategic infrastructure development at Openreach said.

"Our new offer provides a low cost option to housebuilders and we hope it will help encourage the adoption of this future-proof technology across smaller developments so that no-one's left behind."

According to a report by London School of Economics, homebuyers are now seeking a property with decent broadband connection over other property benefits such as off street parking and access to local amenities.

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.