Openreach’s upgrades to its full fibre broadband network could generate £66 billion for the UK economy by 2029, according to research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and Stantec.
The upgrades are expected to drive productivity gains and improvements to public services, including supporting more than 620,000 people back into the workforce. It will also enable more than 2 million to work from home, contributing an additional £19 billion annually, the report concluded.
Other key findings include:
• NHS support: An estimated 5 million online appointments by 2029 to help meet rising healthcare demands, doubling the current number.
• Educational benefits: An improvement in pass rates for 21,700 students in key subjects.
• Increases to property values: Homes with full fibre will increase, on average, by £1,900.
• Environmental gains: By 2029, 1.4 million more home workers will mean fewer car journeys and lower carbon emissions.
Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, said, “Our new full fibre network is a growth and prosperity engine. This report highlights how it will create jobs, enhance connectivity, and drive economic improvements across each nation of the UK, but continued investment depends on a stable policy and regulatory environment.”
Openreach’s new full fibre network is already available to more than 16 million homes and businesses across the UK, and the company aims to reach 25 million by 2026, and as many as 30 million by the end of the decade, assuming conditions for investment remain supportive.
The rollout is also improving healthcare access, exemplified by platforms such as eConsult, which enables online GP interactions for more than 50 million patients.
Dr Murray Ellender, CEO of eConsult, said: “The rollout of full fibre enables every single patient, wherever they are, to access their GP online.”
Full fibre will also help underpin further adoption of digital tools to help to reduce waiting times and GP workloads, and drive innovations.
Another growth area is in education; online learning tools have been widely adopted in schools across the UK, enhanced by necessity through the pandemic.
Based on Openreach’s existing rollout and future plans, its research shows that more than 13,000 more pupils (1 per cent of the total number of Key Stage 2 students) could achieve pass rates that are higher at Key Stage 2 maths, reading and writing as a result of the increase in full fibre connectivity between 2023 and 2029.
Additionally, more than 8,700 more pupils (1 per cent of the total number of Key Stage 4 students) could achieve pass rates that are higher as a result of the increase in full fibre connectivity between 2023 and 2029.