Openreach, the network unit of BT, has confirmed that there are no plans to extend G.fast coverage until April 2021, according to ISPreview, which cites comments from a company spokesperson. This development follows reports in September 2019 that revealed the company had informed ISPs it would not provide any further guidance on rollout plans for the copper-based broadband technology, as it focused its attention on the deployment of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH).
Now, clarifying the short-term plans for G.fast, an Openreach spokesperson was cited as saying: ‘We recently announced that we’ll be building Full Fibre broadband technology to 20 million homes by the mid-to-late 2020s, so that’s our priority. We do still expect to use G.fast in some circumstances, but we don’t expect to be building G.fast to more premises this year.’ A further statement noted that, with the technology currently available to around 2.8 million premises across the country, anyone who has already placed an order for a G.fast-based service will receive this, and those within the existing coverage area can continue to sign up for such connectivity.