Fiber to the premises (FTTP) infrastructure will reach half of the homes in the UK at some point in March, according to Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom's group director, network and communications. Fussell pointed to the benefits of competition as a catalyst that should lead to 80% of homes passed with “full fibre” within the next two years, in Ofcom’s estimation.
Reaching 50% of homes in the UK represents a significant achievement, given that only 6% of homes had FTTP access five years ago, according to Ofcom’s figures. The FTTH Council Europe called the situation even bleaker as recently as 2019, when its estimation of FTTP penetration in Europe stated that the UK had only just then surpassed 1.3% of homes passed (see “UK finally makes FTTH Council Europe top FTTH/B countries list”).
Fussell stated via a posting on Ofcom’s website that the rise of alternative broadband network operators (“altnets”) as competition for BT’s Openreach subsidiary has helped accelerate FTTP expansion. She wrote that the altnets should pass 11.5 million homes by the end of this year and their investment in further expansion should reach £17 billion ($20.47 billion) by 2025.
“When firms compete to build better networks, that leads to more investment and innovation,” wrote Fussell. “So Ofcom has set rules for the wholesale broadband market designed to boost competition, and ensure a level playing field among operators like Openreach, Virgin Media, and a range of smaller, ‘alternative’ network providers.
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