Trends
Openreach reports 40 % surge in full-fibre usage as traditional broadband declines
Openreach says full-fibre broadband usage rose 40 % in 2025 as FTTP traffic overtook copper-based services across the UK.
Headline
Openreach says full-fibre broadband usage rose 40 % in 2025 as FTTP traffic overtook copper-based services across the UK.
Context
• Full-fibre broadband traffic on Openreach’s UK network rose by 40 % in 2025, overtaking older technologies and marking a shift in how consumers use broadband. • Total broadband data over Openreach’s network climbed by 4.8 % to over 108,599 Petabytes, but questions remain about the pace of full-fibre adoption outside urban centres. Openreach, the UK’s principal fixed broadband infrastructure provider, has revealed that usage of its full-fibre network increased by 40 % in 2025 compared with the previous year. This growth saw full-fibre traffic exceed that of older copper and hybrid technologies for the first time, with the shift occurring around late October last year.
Evidence
Pending intelligence enrichment.
Analysis
Overall broadband usage across the Openreach network — which carries traffic for communications providers including BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and others — rose by 4.8 % in 2025, with more than 108,599 Petabytes of data transmitted during the year. December was the busiest month, with over 10,317 Petabytes recorded, following a peak event on 30 November when the release of a popular Fortnite update pushed traffic to its single highest day. Openreach’s chief executive Clive Selley marked the figures as a milestone in broadband adoption during the company’s 20th anniversary. He noted that the average full-fibre user consumed roughly 22.1 GB of data per day, the equivalent of participating in some 40 hours of Zoom or Teams calls, reflecting increased demand for high-capacity connectivity for remote work, video streaming and gaming. Around eight million homes and businesses currently use Openreach’s full-fibre services, and the company says its network can reach 21 million premises today, with ongoing build-out connecting roughly one million new premises every three months. Openreach aims to extend its full-fibre footprint to 25 million by the end of 2026 and 30 million by 2030, though it stresses these targets depend on “the right regulatory conditions”. Openreach has also been adjusting pricing strategies for legacy copper products to encourage a shift toward digital alternatives. Last year, it increased prices for several copper-based access products and services in the run-up to the planned switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) in January 2027.
Key Points
- What happened: usage patterns change
- Why it’s important
Actions
Pending intelligence enrichment.
