Openreach unveils 98 new locations for fibre rollout

British fixed line incumbent BT has revealed a further 98 exchange areas in which its network arm Openreach will make fibre-based broadband services available. With the new areas expected to come online by late-2013, BT claims that the deployment will add nearly 800,000 homes and businesses to the company’s previously announced fibre plans; the development forms part of its GBP2.5 billion (USD3.9 billion) fibre rollout. Mike Galvin, Openreach’s managing director of network investment, said of the plans: ‘This is great news for 98 communities across the UK. Our rollout of fibre continues apace, with over ten million homes now having access to the many benefits this technology can deliver … Today’s announcement brings us another important step closer towards our goal of providing this service to two-thirds of the UK by the end of 2014.’