Full fibre reaches 75 per cent of UK premises

Internet services comparison expert thinkbroadband recently provided an update on how many homes and businesses in Britain can access full fibre.

In spring 2023, the UK reached a major milestone when full fibre became available to 50 per cent of properties. Now, just 22 months after the achievement, the nation has hit its next target of 75 per cent. This breaks down to three of every four premises being able to get access to full fibre – also known as fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband.

The report from thinkbroadband also stated that 27 per cent of addresses also have a choice of internet service provider (ISP) as the coverage exists from two networks supplying full fibre broadband.

The build rate suggests that the UK might reach 95 per cent full fibre coverage by March 2027. This is based on the traditional theory that considers as commercial broadband rollouts extend further and starts to spread out, it creates a slowing effect. However, given the pace of network provider Openreach’s ambitious FTTP efforts, conventional thinking may not apply.

Thinkbroadband has noted each percentage point increase in the UK’s full fibre rollout based on data from a full range of operators including nexfibre, Openreach, CityFibre and Lightspeed, among others. It noted that the hike from 74 per cent to 75 per cent took 34 days to achieve. This was a little faster than the time taken to hit 74 per cent, but nowhere near the record for the fastest percentage point gain of just 19 days.