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Industry News
New Rate Card effective 1st April 2020
Existing Rate Card New Rate Card (capped at 2k)
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Plots Contribution per plot Contribution per site Contribution per plot Contribution per site
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 £3,172 £2,337 £1,851 £1,527 £1,291 £1,110 £965 £846 £747 £662 £588 £524 £467 £415 £369 £328 £290 £255 £223 £193 £166 £140 £116 £94 £73 £53 £35
£17 £6,344 £7,011 £7,404 £7,635 £7,746 £7,770 £7,720 £7,614 £7,470 £7,282 £7,056 £6,812 £6,538 £6,225 £5,904 £5,576 £5,220 £4,845 £4,460 £4,053 £3,652 £3,220 £2,784 £2,350 £1,898 £1,431 £980 £493
Above: changes to the Openreach Rate Card;
£2,000 £2,000 £2,000 £1,800 £1,600 £1,400 £1,200 £1,000 £747 £662 £588 £524 £467 £415 £369 £328 £290 £255 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £4,000 £6,000 £8,000 £9,000 £9,600 £9,800 £9,600 £9,000 £7,470 £7,282 £7,056 £6,812 £6,538 £6,225 £5,904 £5,576 £5,220 £4,845 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Since launching in 2016 – Openreach has connected 354k new build homes with full fibre technology. This financial year alone the company has built full fibre to 125k new build premises, reaching around 3.5k new premises with full fibre every week, and is on target to reach 175k by the end of the fiscal year in April.
By dropping the threshold for free eligibility from 30 to 20 homes – Openreach plans to drive take up of full fibre by developers on these smaller developments from its current level of 45 per cent to 100 per cent.
In addition, Openreach has capped the amount UK house builders contribute if they ask Openreach to build full fibre to smaller-scale developments of just 2 and 3 premises – to help encourage further full fibre take-up.2 This is part of a revised rate card for developers – enabling them to upgrade broadband connectivity for new developments to full fibre by paying a set contribution for the size of the site.
The lower threshold for free FTTP for sites with 20 or more plots will take effect on April 1, this year.3
2 Developers’ contribution under Openreach’s rate card will be capped at £2k per plot for 2 and 3 plot sites. 3 Selective registrations for plots of 20 or more may be considered for free full fibre installation – where certain conditions/criteria are met – between now and April 1. 21
Kim Mears OBE, MD Strategic Infrastructure Development, said: “Our existing offer already provides huge benefits to both buyers and builders alike, but we want to go further and make sure everybody moving into a new build property can enjoy the advantages of Full Fibre broadband.
“The UK 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.
“We hope these new measures will provide the necessary incentive for housebuilders to adopt this future-proof technology across smaller developments so that no-one’s left behind.
“We urge the Government to push forward with planned legislation to ensure all new build homes have infrastructure to support gigabit capable connections, and we will work closely with government and housebuilders on how best to deliver this.”
Kieran Walker, Technical Director for the Home Builders Federation commented: “The HBF and its membership welcome this change to Openreach’s fibre offering and fully support Openreach in its strategic objective of providing full FTTP to all new dwellings.
“The customer of today expects, in line with other utility suppliers to be provided with fast, reliable, uninterrupted service upon receiving the keys to their new home. This further step improvement will assist housebuilders in ensuring their customers overall journey is positive one.
“This latest offering from Openreach allows housebuilders to further integrate FTTP to new developments that previously may have been financially constrained and is a demonstration of Openreach’s commitment to provide FTTP to all new dwellings.”
According to a London School of Economics & Political Science study of British homebuyers, a good broadband connection now tops off-street parking and access to local amenities as one of the vital deciding factors for people buying a new house. The study also finds that one in ten buyers have walked away from properties with poor internet connection and that broadband is generally connected even before gas. Home owners in London are willing to pay up to 3 per cent above the market price for properties in areas offering very fast broadband speeds.
Providing full fibre to new homes is an important part of Openreach’s commitment to invest in faster, more reliable broadband technology through its new ‘Fibre First’ strategy. The company is on track to reach 4 million homes and businesses with its Full Fibre network by the end of March 2021, and wants to reach 15 million by the middle of the decade if the right conditions are in place.
