The Wirral | Openreach

The Wirral has been announced as the latest area to benefit from our Fibre First programme, where fibre optic cables are laid from the exchange right to people’s front doors.

Hear from local councils, businesses, Chambers of Commerce and our Openreach teams about building a new fibre network across the UK.

Tens of thousands of homes and businesses across the borough will benefit from more reliable, and more resilient Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology. FTTP also brings speeds of up to 1Gbps, which is about 24 times faster than the current UK average of 46Mbps. This provides even greater capacity for multiple devices and things like on-demand video, virtual reality gaming and smart homes.

The rollout begins

To welcome the news, Liam Byrne MP, the shadow digital minister, and Angela Eagle, MP for Wallasey, joined our CEO, Clive Selley, at the Wallasey telephone exchange to join together the first piece of fibre cable as part of the rollout on the Wirral.

Liam Byrne said:

“Building fast internet connectivity is as crucial to Britain’s competitiveness as railways and roads were in the past. In today’s economy the internet is not a luxury but a utility, so providing the widest possible access to the fastest possible broadband must be a national infrastructure priority. It’s great to see Openreach’s ambition matching the Labour Party’s goal to future-proof the UK’s digital infrastructure. Fibre-to-the-Premises is available to 4 per cent of British premises compared to over 60 per cent in competitors like Japan and South Korea, so delivering on ambitious targets is essential to make sure Britain is a leader in the digital race.”

The Wirral joins nine other areas across the UK to benefit from our multimillion pound fibre investment.

Find out more about our Fibre First programme and FTTP technology.