Press release -
Openreach selects Huawei and Nokia to support its ultrafast broadband roll-out
Openreach has chosen two of the world’s leading communications technology companies, Huawei and Nokia, to provide a range of equipment in support of its ultrafast broadband roll out across the UK.
The companies, which have been working with Openreach on the world’s largest trials of ‘G.fast’ technology in Huntingdon, Gosforth and Swansea, will provide cutting edge switches, modems and cabinet ‘side pods’ to help deliver download speeds up to 330Mbps – more than 20 times the current UK average – to 10 million homes and businesses by the end of 2020.
The new kit will be rolled out in parts of Gillingham and Cherry Hinton later this year and will help Openreach deliver its ambition of getting ultrafast broadband of at least 100Mbps to 12 million premises in the same timeframe, and the majority of the UK by the end of 2025.
Clive Selley, Openreach CEO, said: “Openreach is pioneering G.fast technology because we want to get affordable ultrafast speeds to as many people as possible in the fastest possible time.
“We also want to deliver this next generation of broadband services in the most efficient and least disruptive way – so it is a testament to our world leading R&D team that they’ve managed to define and drive new standards with operators and equipment manufacturers around the globe.
“This country already has the best superfast broadband coverage and take-up amongst the big economies in Europe, and we want to repeat that success with ultrafast. We’ll be going flat out to reach 12 million homes by 2020 and we are really leading the way by bringing cutting-edge kit to the UK at a huge scale.”
Jeff Wang, president of Huawei Access network, said: “Huawei has been working with Openreach for many years and we are looking forward to continuing the partner relationship through the G.fast contract. Huawei’s investment and innovation in G.fast will help Openreach to deploy ultrafast broadband from the street cabinet instead of the distribution point, making the business case viable for a large scale rollout and accelerating the rollout speed.”
Cormac Whelan, CEO Nokia UK and Ireland said: “Openreach’s selection of Nokia is a testament to excellent performance in the trials underlined by our world class vectoring capability. We know that G.fast is the key to quickly rolling out ultrafast broadband. We’re excited about our cooperation with Openreach and are confident that our innovation, strength and operational expertise will benefit all broadband subscribers in the UK.”
Today, more than 91% of homes and businesses in the UK have access to superfast speeds of 24Mbps and above[1], whilst the Openreach fibre network is available to more than 25 million homes and businesses. More than 100 different communications providers (CPs) are offering services over the company’s open wholesale fibre network, and all CPs will have access to these new ultrafast services under the same terms, conditions and pricing.
Topics
- Sport
Categories
- vectoring
- gfast
- nokia
- huawei
- ultrafast
- openreach
- fibre broadband
- shareholders
About BT
BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services.BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Consumer, EE, Business and Public Sector, Global Services, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2016, BT Group’s reported revenue was £19,042m with reported profit before taxation of £3,029m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com
About Openreach
Openreach is responsible for the last mile of the UK access network – the copper wires and fibre connecting homes and businesses to their local telephone exchanges. Openreach provides communications providers with services and products associated with that network.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Our aim is to enrich life and improve efficiency through a better connected world, acting as a responsible corporate citizen, innovative enabler for the information society, and collaborative contributor to the industry. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Huawei’s 170,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers. Our innovative ICT solutions, products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving over one-third of the world’s population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.
About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in the technologies that connect people and things. Powered by the innovation of Nokia Bell Labs and Nokia Technologies, the company is at the forefront of creating and licensing the technologies that are increasingly at the heart of our connected lives.
With state-of-the-art software, hardware and services for any type of network, Nokia is uniquely positioned to help communication service providers, governments, and large enterprises deliver on the promise of 5G, the Cloud and the Internet of Things.
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