Openreach has expressed excitement about the potential of its G.fast broadband technology.
G.fast has been designed to achieve broadband speeds of up to 330Mbps over the existing copper network.
The technology has been deployed to 138,000 premises across the UK and is now being switched on.
According to Kim Mears, Openreach’s Managing Director for Infrastructure Delivery, this is a crucial step in its efforts to “stay ahead in order to meet the evolving needs of our customers”.
G.fast will allow us to do that by building on the investment we have made in fibre to date,” she commented.
“It will transform the UK broadband landscape from superfast to ultrafast, and it will reach the largest number of people in the quickest possible time.”
Openreach described the pilots as “hugely important” both to itself and to the households and businesses that will benefit.
“Whether you are somebody aiming to work more efficiently or grow your business, or a household going online for shopping, entertainment or studies, fast access to the internet has never been more important,” it stated.
Openreach added that G.fast technology has been proven to work and can be a “major benefit for customers”.
“These pilots will now help us test and improve all the factors involved in rolling out G.fast on a national scale,” it said.
This comes after Openreach Chief Executive Clive Selley confirmed that its longer term goal is to make ultrafast speeds available to up to 12 million homes and businesses by the end of 2020.
He said this would be “another boost to the UK’s thriving digital economy” and improve the lives of households and businesses across the country.
“Delivering high speed G.fast services at scale and pace means we can reach more of them,” he commented.
