Network access provider Openreach (BT) has just revealed how much they’ll charge ISPs for their new symmetric 1Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband package, which is due to launch on 1st April 2025 and will initially only be available to locations being covered as part of their rural Project Gigabit contracts (here).
Just to recap. Openreach’s full fibre network has so far covered over 17 million premises (there are around 32.5m across the UK), but they aim to reach 25 million by December 2026 and have an ambition to reach “up to” 30 million by 2030. But the fastest FTTP package currently available to consumers on this network gives a top download speed of 1.8Gbps and 120Mbps upload (220Mbps for businesses).
The new symmetric tier goes beyond this by essentially offering customers the same 1000Mbps speed for both downloads and uploads. “On 1 April 2025, we will launch a new 1Gbps symmetric FTTP speed tier (i.e. 1000Mbps downstream and 1000Mbps upstream) to further enhance our GEA-FTTP portfolio offering. This speed tier will be available to all premises built to under the BDUK Type C framework contracts only,” said Openreach.
The 1Gbps symmetric FTTP speed tier will launch with the following prices (excluding VAT).
| Standard Connection | £122.84 |
| Premium Connection | £152.84 |
| Advanced Connection | £297.84 |
| Connection – Multiport ONT Box Swap | £90.00 |
| Annual rental – Up to 1000Mbit/s /1000Mbit/s | £1,200.00 |
As usual, we must caveat that these are wholesale charges and thus do not include all of the many other elements that an ISP has to add in order to create the retail price that you or I will ultimately have to pay (e.g. 20% VAT, profit margin, capacity, service / network features etc.). So the monthly rental of £100 (or £120 if you include VAT) is, in reality, likely to be a lot more expensive at retail (c.£150+ seems likely).
The reality at this price is that Openreach are not going to be particularly competitive with other, more residential focused, alternative FTTP providers that already offer symmetric 1Gbps tiers for significantly lower pricing. At this price, the operator seems to be aiming more at small business customers, and this is underlined by the fact that it’s about twice the price of their asymmetric consumer 1.8Gbps package.
On the flip side, Openreach will be deploying this into areas where there are no alternative FTTP operators, thus they probably don’t have to worry too much about competition in these locations.. yet.