City among 29 locations to get full-fibre broadband

An engineer at work providing full-fibre broadband Aberdeen is one of 29 new locations across the UK due to receive faster internet connections from full-fibre broadband by Openreach.

The BT-owned firm – which maintains the telephone cables, ducts, cabinets and exchanges – is aiming to reach four million homes and businesses with full fibre by the end of March 2021.

Full fibre, also known as fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), uses pure fibre optic cables to deliver internet connections directly to buildings, rather than via a cabinet.

Chief executive Clive Selley said the company is now building at “massive scale”, with the latest additions to its list of areas taking the total to more than 100 towns, cities and boroughs.

“Every 28 seconds, we pass a home or business with our new future-proofed full-fibre network,” he said.

“This has given us ever greater confidence in the level and accuracy of whatever we announce – which is why we’ve now laid out our build plans right up to the target delivery date of four million premises by March 2021.

“We also want to ensure we give our stakeholders – like council leaders, planners and MPs – the best view of where and when we intend to build so we can work together to build as rapidly as possible and help encourage people to take up the technology when it arrives.”

Ayr and Irvine are the only other two Scottish towns that have been added to the tally along with the likes of Brighton, Derby, Norwich, Watford and Newcastle (Northern Ireland).