Openreach has announced plans to upgrade more of its full-fibre network to deliver faster broadband speeds, greater capacity and what it calls a “more future-ready platform”.
The cornerstone of the programme designed to support the next generation of digital services is the expansion of the company’s roll-out of XGS-PON technology, capable of supporting network throughout speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps).
Explaining the rationale for the move, Openreach said its full-fibre network – which now reaches more than 23.4m premises – is built largely using gigabit passive optical network (GPON) fibre optic technology used in most of its existing full-fibre network, delivering today’s higher-speed broadband services.
Yet despite the success in delivering services based on GPON technology across the UK, Openreach noted that as more people move onto fibre and demand for data continues to grow, newer technology is needed to unlock even higher speeds and additional network capacity.
Furthermore, it noted that over the longer term, the business was looking to expand the future-proofing technology to cover around a third of its full-fibre network over the next five years. This will be carried out through a programme of further build, network upgrades and equipment modernisation, and will continue to review further expansion opportunities based on market demand.
The technology is rated as being able to go beyond current top download speeds of 1.8Gbps on full-fibre and push up to 8.5Gbps. Based on data from UK comms regulator Ofcom, this is 28 times faster than the download speed a typical UK household currently experiences depending on the equipment of each location.
Going forward, Openreach says it intends to make the “turbocharged” speeds available to more than a million premises over the next 12 months – building on an ongoing XGS-PON pilot launched in March 2026 across 40,000 residential premises in Guildford and surrounding areas.
With download speeds of 2.3Gbps and 8Gbps available from launch, Guildford’s infrastructure was designed for increasingly connected households, supporting bandwidth-intensive activities such as 4K and 8K streaming, online gaming, remote working, video conferencing and smart home technology. It is also claimed to have the capacity to support up to 190 of the latest connected devices simultaneously without any drop in performance.
“Our full-fibre network already offers Gigabit-capable broadband to more than 23.4 million premises, and more than 9.4 million customers have upgraded so far,” said Trevor Linney, Openreach’s director of network technology. “As demand for data continues to grow, our investment in XGS-PON technology will enable us to offer even higher speeds over the same network, and the additional capacity needed to support the UK’s digital future.
“By continuing to invest in upgrades, we’re delivering a platform that will power the next generation of technology, from AI-enabled services, smart homes and future mobile networks, to cloud-based business and public services.”
