Openreach extends XGS-PON expansion, lifting full-fiber top speed to 8.5Gbps

Openreach is widening the rollout of XGS-PON, the fiber standard that lifts top download speeds on its full-fiber network from 1.8Gbps to 8.5Gbps. Data Center Dynamics reported the plan on August 19. The first-year wave reaches more than a million premises, building on a pilot that started in March across 40,000 homes in Guildford and the surrounding area.

The BT subsidiary says the new tier is 28 times faster than the download a typical UK household gets today. XGS-PON supports shared access rates up to 10Gbps, so the 8.5Gbps product sits under the standard's ceiling. Existing full-fiber service, built largely on the older GPON standard, tops out at 1.8Gbps.

Openreach's full-fiber build now passes 23.4 million premises, and the company is aiming for 25 million by the end of this year. More than 9.4 million customers have moved onto full-fiber products. The XGS-PON expansion beyond year one is meant to cover about a third of that footprint within five years. That push, the company said, will be done through a program of further build, network upgrades and equipment modernization — a reminder that the speed jump is not solely a change of electronics in cabinets already in the ground.

Trevor Linney, Openreach's director of network technology, tied the investment to what will ride on the network. "By continuing to invest in upgrades, we're delivering a platform that will power the next generation of technology, from AI-enabled services, smart homes and future mobile networks, to cloud-based business and public services," he said. The demand case is growing data use; the pricing case is unstated. The announcement, as covered by Data Center Dynamics, does not give a retail price for the faster tier or a program cost.

The strategic bet is that a network reaching 23.4 million premises can sell more than one speed tier. GPON customers are already on the same fiber, and the XGS-PON upgrade is a way to extract more revenue from that asset base. The five-year target of a third of homes is the real test: it says Openreach wants 8.5Gbps to become a mainstream product, not a pilot curiosity. The first million premises will show how many customers find 8.5Gbps worth the extra money.