BT pushes Openreach's 25 million full-fiber target to March 2027

BT Group pushed Openreach's 25 million-premises full-fiber target from the end of 2026 to March 2027, reporting the network had passed 24.1 million premises by Sept. 30.

The March 2027 target leaves Openreach under 900,000 premises to pass, implying a build rate of about 150,000 premises a month, down from about 200,000 in the first half. Openreach added 1.2 million premises in the six months to Sept. 30.

More than 9.9 million premises had taken FTTP at Sept. 30, and the total connected base passed 10 million last month. Allison Kirkby, chief executive of BT Group, said: "Openreach achieved record full fiber demand, with more than ten million homes and businesses now connected and take-up reaching 41 percent." FTTP net additions in the half exceeded 1.1 million.

BT lost 366,000 broadband lines in the half, including 175,000 in the second quarter, and expects to shed about 800,000 over the full year from roughly 18.9 million.

First-half revenue rose 1% to £8.753 billion ($11.78 billion) and profit before tax grew 12%, BT said. The company booked £312 million ($419 million) of savings in the half, taking cumulative savings to £1.7 billion ($2.29 billion) against a £3.5 billion ($4.7 billion) gross annualized target for FY30, at £800 million ($1.076 billion) of cost to achieve.

The revised target comes as Virgin Media O2 nears a wholesale deal with Openreach that would pause its own fiber build, as Private Infrastructure Daily previously reported, citing an FT report.