Openreach marks 20th anniversary
Openreach is marking its 20th anniversary by announcing a big increase in broadband usage last year.
Its network increased by 4.8% in 2025, with enough capacity to stream more than 10 million hours of TV every single day.
The use of full fibre broadband rose by 40% last year, overtaking older fixed broadband technologies in late October.
The average full fibre customer uses the equivalent to taking part in 40 hours of Zoom or Teams calls every day.
Openreach said the latest network numbers showed how far the UK’s digital habits have come over two decades with growing demand for fast, reliable connections.
When Openreach was formed in 2006, Nokia and BlackBerry ruled the mobile device world and DVDs were mainstream while streaming was in its infancy.
Clive Selley, chief executive of Openreach, said: “As we celebrate 20 years of Openreach, this is a historic moment for UK broadband.
“In two decades, we’ve gone from dial-up speeds to building the nation’s digital backbone and, today, full fibre is the network of choice for millions.
“People are upgrading for speed they can rely on, connections that don’t drop out and the capacity to support everything from remote work to smart homes.”
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Very nice advertising puff piece. This will not impress many households in Wales who still suffer with intermittent, unreliable copper wire connectivity which only allows low speed internet connection.
There are also large areas of Wales which lack mobile phone coverage – these areas often correspond to areas of unreliable internet connection.
Rather than boasting about 20 years of progress, Openreach should be explaining why after 20 years of near monopoly, they have failed to provide a reliable service to large numbers of customers in Wales. Comparison with countries like France confirm how far behind Wales is.
Spun off from BT yet still entirely owned by BT. The illusion of competition.