What Is Openreach? How It Works, Who Uses It, and the UK Fibre Rollout Explained

June 17, 2026 George 0 Comments

Openreach is the infrastructure company that owns and maintains the wires, cables, ducts, poles, and exchanges that make up most of the UK’s fixed-line broadband and telephone network. Whether your broadband comes from BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone, or dozens of other providers, there is a good chance the physical connection into your home was built and is maintained by Openreach — not by your ISP. Here’s how the whole system works, who actually uses Openreach, and where the UK’s fibre rollout stands.

What Is Openreach?

Openreach is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc — the same corporate family as BT Broadband and EE. However, Openreach operates with a legal separation from BT’s retail operations, a structural requirement imposed by Ofcom in 2017 to ensure it provides fair access to its infrastructure to all ISPs, not just BT-branded services.

The scale of what Openreach owns and maintains is significant:

Approximately 190 million km of copper and fibre cables
Around 94,000 km of underground ducts and tunnels
Approximately 5.4 million telegraph poles
Around 5,600 telephone exchanges across the UK
Connections to over 30 million UK homes and businesses

When a broadband engineer from BT, Sky, or TalkTalk visits your home to install or fix your connection, that engineer is almost certainly an Openreach engineer — not one employed by the ISP you signed up with. The ISP sells you the broadband package; Openreach owns the network it runs on.

How Openreach Works: The Wholesale Model

Openreach operates as a wholesale infrastructure provider — it does not sell broadband directly to consumers. Instead, it provides its network access to Communications Providers (CPs), which include every broadband ISP and telephone company in the UK. Those ISPs then package that access into the broadband deals they sell to homes and businesses.

This model means:

Openreach maintains the physical infrastructure (the last-mile connection from the street cabinet or exchange to your home)
Your ISP rents that connection from Openreach at regulated wholesale prices
Your ISP provides the router, customer service, billing, and often adds their own equipment at the exchange
If something goes wrong with your physical line — a cut wire, a fault on the pole, a problem with the connection point — it is Openreach that sends an engineer, not your ISP

The regulated wholesale prices Openreach charges ISPs for network access are set by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, through periodic reviews. The most recent Telecoms Access Review (TAR 2026-31) covers the period from April 2026 to March 2031 and confirmed Openreach’s obligations to provide fair, transparent, non-discriminatory access to its infrastructure.

Which ISPs Use Openreach?

The majority of UK broadband providers use Openreach’s network. The question that generates the most searches — ‘does Sky use Openreach?’, ‘does Virgin Media use Openreach?’ — reflects genuine consumer confusion about who actually owns the infrastructure.

Broadband Provider	Uses Openreach?	Notes
BT Broadband	Yes	BT’s retail arm uses Openreach’s wholesale products, the same as any other ISP
Sky Broadband	Yes	Sky uses Openreach’s network for ADSL, FTTC, and FTTP connections
TalkTalk	Yes	TalkTalk has its own equipment at some exchanges but uses Openreach’s physical lines
Plusnet	Yes	Plusnet is a BT Group company and uses Openreach’s network
EE Broadband	Yes	EE (owned by BT Group) uses Openreach
Vodafone Broadband	Yes (and CityFibre)	Vodafone uses both Openreach and CityFibre’s separate network depending on location
John Lewis / Waitrose Broadband	Yes	Operated on Openreach’s network
Zen Internet	Yes	Uses Openreach’s network
Virgin Media O2	No	Virgin has its own cable infrastructure covering around 17 million UK premises
Hyperoptic	No	Hyperoptic builds its own full fibre infrastructure, typically in MDUs (flats and apartments)
Community Fibre	Mixed	Community Fibre builds its own network but uses Openreach’s ducts and poles via PIA (see below)
CityFibre	No (own build)	CityFibre is an independent wholesale-only network, not using Openreach’s fibre — but may use ducts via PIA in some areas

Does Virgin Media Use Openreach?

Virgin Media O2 does not use Openreach’s network for its residential broadband service. Virgin’s coaxial cable network covers approximately 17 million UK premises — a separate infrastructure investment that dates back to the cable rollouts of the 1990s. When you sign up for Virgin Media broadband, your connection comes through Virgin’s own cable, not Openreach’s copper or fibre.

The distinction matters practically: if you live in a Virgin Media coverage area, you have a choice between Virgin’s network and Openreach-based ISPs (BT, Sky, TalkTalk, etc.). If you live outside Virgin’s coverage area, you are reliant on Openreach-based ISPs or alternative network builders.

Does Sky Broadband Use Openreach?

Yes — Sky Broadband uses Openreach’s network. Sky is one of the largest users of Openreach’s wholesale infrastructure, having built significant equipment into Openreach exchanges (what the industry calls ‘local loop unbundling’ or LLU, where Sky installs its own DSLAM equipment into exchanges while still using Openreach’s physical cables). Sky’s fibre broadband — including its full fibre FTTP products — also uses Openreach’s FTTP network where available.

What Is Openreach PIA?

PIA stands for Physical Infrastructure Access — a regulated product that allows competing network operators (known as altnets, or alternative network builders) to access Openreach’s existing underground ducts and telegraph poles to run their own fibre optic cables. Rather than digging up roads and erecting new poles (expensive, disruptive, and slow), altnets can thread their own fibre through Openreach’s existing duct infrastructure.

PIA was introduced as a regulatory remedy to accelerate the UK’s full fibre rollout by reducing build costs for competitors. The logic: Openreach already has ducts and poles everywhere. Making those available to competitors at a regulated price, rather than forcing each new network to build entirely from scratch, speeds up the national fibre buildout.

Key PIA facts:

PIA is regulated by Ofcom under the Telecoms Access Review framework
Ofcom found Openreach holds Significant Market Power (SMP) in physical infrastructure access — this justifies the regulated access obligation
The current regulatory period runs from April 2026 to March 2031 (TAR 2026-31)
Pole access pricing for 2026/27 is set at £28.27 per annum per pole
PIA users include many of the UK’s most active altnet builders — CommunityFibre, Gigaclear, nexfibre, AllPoints Fibre, Netomnia, Brsk, and others
A PIA Coalition of five altnets representing over 5 million premises called for lower PIA pricing in the TAR 2026-31 consultation — they represent one of the most significant competitive pressures on Openreach’s pricing model

Openreach vs CityFibre: What’s the Difference?

CityFibre is the UK’s largest independent full fibre network builder — not an ISP, but a wholesale network operator that competes with Openreach for the ISP wholesale market. The key differences:

	Openreach	CityFibre
Owner	BT Group plc	Independent (IFM Investors)
Coverage	UK-wide (30m+ premises)	Selective UK cities (~9 million premises target)
Technology	Copper (legacy) + FTTP (new build)	Full fibre FTTP only
ISPs using it	BT, Sky, TalkTalk, EE, Vodafone, hundreds more	Vodafone, Zen, Giganet, others
Consumer contact	None — wholesale only	None — wholesale only
Regulation	Full SMP regulation by Ofcom	Lighter-touch, competitive market regulation

CityFibre targets towns and cities where it can build a full fibre network at sufficient density to make the economics work. Where CityFibre has built, ISPs like Vodafone offer CityFibre-based packages as an alternative to Openreach-based ones. In those areas, consumers can choose between an Openreach-based ISP and a CityFibre-based ISP — a genuine infrastructure competition.

Openreach’s Fibre Rollout: The FTTP Map and Targets

Openreach has been in the middle of the UK’s largest infrastructure upgrade in decades — replacing the legacy copper telephone network with a full fibre (FTTP — Fibre to the Premises) network that delivers broadband directly into homes and businesses via optical fibre rather than copper wire. Full fibre offers significantly faster speeds and is more reliable than the hybrid copper-fibre FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) connections that many UK homes currently use.

Openreach’s stated target has been to reach 25 million UK premises with FTTP by the end of 2026. As of early 2026, Openreach had built past approximately 16-17 million premises — a significant achievement, but behind the pace required to meet the 25 million target by year-end. The target has been subject to industry dispute, with analysts questioning whether the build rate was sufficient and the commercial economics of extending to lower-density rural areas making the final portion of the target the most challenging.

Openreach Fibre Map: How to Check Your Area

Openreach publishes an online full fibre availability checker at openreach.co.uk — entering a postcode shows whether FTTP is available, in build, or planned for your address. The checker displays one of several status types:

Available: FTTP is built and available to order from ISPs that offer Openreach FTTP products
Building soon: Openreach has committed to build in the area and is in the planning or early build phase
‘We’re building in this area now’: Active construction is underway — this is the message that generates significant searches. It typically means fibre engineers are working in your street or local area
No plans: Openreach has no current FTTP build commitment for the address

For the ‘we’re building in this area now’ question specifically: once Openreach shows this status, how long until full fibre is available depends on the complexity of the local build. In a straightforward urban street it can be a matter of weeks; in areas with complex infrastructure challenges it can take 12-18 months from active construction to availability for connection.

Openreach Exchange Exit Programme and Exchange Closures

Alongside the FTTP rollout, Openreach is also shutting down its legacy telephone exchanges as part of the broader migration from the old copper PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) to IP-based communications. This process — known as the Exchange Exit Programme or the PSTN switch-off — has been running through 2025 and 2026.

What this means in practice: telephone exchanges that have hosted the copper broadband and PSTN voice infrastructure for decades are being decommissioned as customers are migrated to full fibre or alternative IP-based voice services. The BT Group completed the full switch-off of the PSTN in January 2027, with the process running through 2025 and 2026. Customers in affected areas were migrated to digital voice (VoIP) services by their ISPs before their exchange was closed.

If your area has seen an ‘exchange closure 2025’ message or notification, this relates to this migration process. If you have a landline phone that previously ran over the copper network, it will have been (or needs to be) migrated to a digital voice adapter or an all-IP alternative. Most ISPs handle this migration automatically and contact customers in advance.

Openreach 1Gbps Symmetric FTTP

Openreach offers FTTP wholesale products at several speed tiers, including 1Gbps symmetric — a connection capable of 1 gigabit per second for both downloads and uploads simultaneously. ‘Symmetric’ is the key distinction here: most home broadband packages offer asymmetric speeds, where the download speed is significantly higher than the upload speed. A 1Gbps symmetric connection delivers the same 1Gbps in both directions.

Openreach’s 1Gbps symmetric FTTP product (part of its Ultrafast Full Fibre range) is available to ISPs that have upgraded their equipment to support it. Consumer availability depends on whether your ISP offers a 1Gbps package and whether your specific address has been enabled for that speed tier. It is worth checking with your ISP once full fibre has been built in your area, as the 1Gbps product may be available even if your ISP does not prominently advertise it.

Does Openreach Have Significant Market Power?

Yes — Ofcom has formally found Openreach to hold Significant Market Power (SMP) in physical infrastructure access, wholesale local access, and very high capacity network services. This determination was reconfirmed in the Telecoms Access Review 2026-31. SMP status means Openreach is subject to access obligations, price regulation, and non-discrimination requirements that do not apply to smaller operators — it must provide access to its infrastructure to all ISPs and altnets on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms.

This regulatory structure is why Openreach-based ISPs (Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone, EE, and many others) can exist and offer competitive services on the same physical network that BT Broadband uses. Without SMP regulation, BT could in theory favour its own retail arm over competitors — the regulatory framework prevents this.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Openreach do?

Openreach owns and maintains the UK’s largest fixed-line telecoms infrastructure — the cables, ducts, poles, and exchanges that connect most UK homes and businesses to the broadband network. It provides wholesale access to ISPs (BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and others) who then sell broadband packages to consumers. Openreach does not sell broadband directly.

Does Sky use Openreach?

Yes — Sky Broadband uses Openreach’s network for its ADSL, FTTC, and FTTP broadband products. When a Sky engineer visits your home, they are typically an Openreach engineer working on behalf of Sky.

Does Virgin Media use Openreach?

No — Virgin Media O2 has its own cable network covering approximately 17 million UK premises. Virgin Media broadband does not run on Openreach’s infrastructure.

What is PIA in the context of Openreach?

PIA (Physical Infrastructure Access) is the regulated product through which competing network builders (altnets) can access Openreach’s existing cable ducts and telegraph poles to run their own fibre cables. It is regulated by Ofcom and is critical to the UK’s alternative fibre rollout. The current regulatory period covers April 2026 to March 2031.

How do I check if Openreach is building full fibre in my area?

Check the postcode checker at openreach.co.uk. It shows whether full fibre is available, actively being built (‘we’re building in this area now’), planned, or not currently scheduled for your address.

Does Hyperoptic use Openreach?

No — Hyperoptic builds its own full fibre infrastructure, primarily serving apartment blocks and multi-dwelling units (MDUs). It does not use Openreach’s network.

Final Thoughts

Openreach sits at the centre of the UK’s broadband ecosystem in a way that most consumers are unaware of. The ISP you pay your monthly direct debit to may be BT, Sky, or TalkTalk — but the engineer who installed your broadband, the pole carrying the cable to your house, and the duct the fibre runs through are almost certainly Openreach’s. Understanding that distinction helps make sense of why broadband complaints sometimes fall between your ISP’s customer service team and Openreach’s engineering teams, and why regulatory decisions about Openreach’s infrastructure pricing matter far beyond the company itself — they affect the competitive landscape for every broadband provider in the UK.