Openreach reveals the next 11 areas for its fibre-to-the-premises build-out

Bury, Barking and Bexley all on the list along with Greater Glasgow

Openreach has revealed the next 11 areas that it will install fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) superfast broadband, with London receiving the lion's share of the investment.

They are Bury, in Greater Manchester; Barking & Dagenham; Bexley; Croydon; Greater Glasgow; Harrow; Merton; Redbridge; Richmond-upon-Thames; Salford and Sutton Coldfield.

The build-outs are being made as part of Openreach's ongoing Fibre First programme.

In addition, the independently run unit of BT has also published its schedule online for the first time, showing builds in progress and where building is expected to start within the next three months.

FTTP internet is expected to be available to three million UK homes and businesses by the end of 2020, and the company is recruiting 3,000 extra engineers to achieve that target. By the mid-2020s, the company is expected to have 10 million premises connected at a costs of between £3 billion and £6 billion.

Currently, the company's FTTP network only covers around 682,000 premises, despite running since around 2008. However, centrally mandated targets have ratcheted up the pressure on the company.

FTTP broadband will drastically improve internet bandwidth and reduce latency, compared to the current mainstream fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) offerings. Openreach claims that households and businesses connected to FTTP broadband will receive download speeds of up to 1Gbps, compared to FTTC's maximum bandwidth of 75Mbps.

The locations published by Openreach today add more detail about the company's Fibre First effort, which prioritises Coventry, Belfast, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Swansea and The Wirral.

"These new locations build on our commitment to reach three million homes and businesses with full fibre by the end of 2020, setting us on the right trajectory to achieve 10 million premises and beyond by the mid-2020s, should the conditions be right," said Kevin Murphy, managing director of fibre and network delivery at Openreach.