Hayes flats get ultra-fast broadband thanks to Hillingdon Council's partnership with Openreach
Tuesday 15 February 2022: A building in Hayes has become the first block of flats in Hillingdon to get a full fibre internet connection through the council's new partnership with digital network company Openreach.
Openreach's network delivers fibre optic cables from the local exchange to residents' and businesses' front doors, also known as Fibre-to-the-Premises technology (FTTP) or 'Full Fibre' and can deliver speeds of 1 Gigabit and beyond.
The completion marks a major milestone in the rollout of the full fibre availability across the borough as part of the council's ambition to ensure residents and businesses have access to the best and fastest available connections.
Currently some 35,000 homes and businesses across Hillingdon can access Openreach's ultra-fast network, the result of a £10million investment in the borough, to date.
Cllr Douglas Mills, Hillingdon Council Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Transformation, said: "This is fantastic news for residents and businesses.
"We're working hard to ensure the best-possible internet connections are available so people in Hillingdon can seamlessly access the services they rely on and businesses can innovate and thrive.
"Through Openreach's full fibre connections, people will have access to a multitude of internet retailers, so they can choose the provider that will work best for them."
More buildings - including further blocks of flats - are currently being surveyed to see if they're suitable for connection to Openreach's network. Others, that have already been surveyed, are set to go live soon as many more homes and businesses stand to benefit from full fibre speeds over the coming year as the rollout continues.
Openreach full fibre is 10 times faster than average speeds today. With digital traffic estimated to increase by 25 per cent to 40 per cent in the near future, these better connections will help Hillingdon's businesses and town centres to recover faster following the pandemic and attract vital footfall to the borough's commercial centres.
Additionally, the fibre optic cables aren't affected by bad weather and are far less likely to slow down, or 'drop out' like existing broadband connections might.
Hillingdon Council agreed its new partnership with Openreach last year as part of the authority's commitment to its digital strategy, which pledges to provide the best-possible connections for residents and businesses.
Kieran Wines, Openreach's Regional Director for London, said: "Nobody in the UK is building Full Fibre faster, further or at a higher quality than Openreach. We're reaching more communities than ever and our team of highly-skilled engineers, alongside our build partners, are working hard to deliver some of the fastest and most reliable broadband available anywhere in the world.
"It is great that so many homes and businesses in Hillingdon can now access ultrafast, Full Fibre broadband and I'd encourage people to check what's available at their address using the postcode checker on our website, www.openreach.com.
"Once you've put in your address and seen what's available, the checker will then show you which of the many providers which use our network are available and you can choose the provider to best suit your needs."
A map of Openreach's commercial plans in Hillingdon is available at www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/fibre-first. To find out whether Full Fibre is available at your home or business, check your postcode at www.openreach.com.