Check if fibre broadband is available to your home or business
Step 1 - Use Ofcom's broadband availability checker
To check if you can order fibre broadband now or if you are due to be connected to fibre broadband soon, please visit the Ofcom website to use their broadband availability checker.
Step 2 - Choosing a supplier to upgrade to fibre broadband
If fibre broadband is available in your area, you won’t automatically benefit from the faster speeds – you will need to contact an internet service provider (ISP) to upgrade. We would advise that you shop around to find the best deal for you – comparison websites can be a useful tool for this step.
For advice on finding the right deal for you, go to Ofcom's website.
The Ofcom website also offers advice about social tariffs, which are cheaper broadband and phone packages for people claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits.
Step 3 - Installing the service
Once you have ordered a Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) broadband service it is likely that an engineer will need to be sent to make the final connection. Your chosen ISP will arrange this with you.
If you have ordered a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband service, once you've placed an order, an engineer will need to visit your property to get you set up.
To understand how customers are connected to FTTP, please watch this video from Openreach.
What if fibre broadband isn't available in my area?
If you are not yet able to order fibre broadband for your home or business, please contact Openreach via their online form to find out more.
There are some other options for getting better broadband:
Community schemes
Openreach’s Fibre Community Partnership scheme can bring forward the roll out of fibre broadband to homes and businesses by building a customised solution to meet your community’s needs. Where possible Openreach brings together funding from local authorities, the Government's Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and other grants to help make things affordable - Openreach contribute toward the cost in line with their commercial model too.
Registering for a Fibre Community Partnership does not represent any commitment from the community at this stage, however it enables you to find out more about potential solutions and costs to deliver better broadband to your area.
Find out more about Fibre Community Partnerships at Openreach’s website
Universal Service Obligation - Broadband
The Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband is a UK-wide measure to deliver broadband to premises that do not have access to a service of at least 10Mbps and an affordable connection. Ofcom has defined an 'affordable' connection as one that costs less than £46.10 per month.
BT has been designated as the Universal Service Provider responsible for fulfilling requests from eligible consumers. BT will contact everyone they think might be eligible. Alternatively, to check if you are eligible, you can visit the BT website and enter your postcode.
Openreach Fibre First Build Programmes
Openreach is extending FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) connections to more properties across the country through their Fibre First Towns, Cities and Boroughs and Market Towns and Villages Build Programmes.
To find out more, please visit the Openreach website.
