Prysmian Group Extends Openreach Full Fibre Partnership
Prysmian Group has extended its long-term partnership with Openreach, signing a new three-year contract to support the U.K.’s nationwide Full Fibre broadband rollout. This renewed Prysmian Openreach Full Fibre partnership further strengthens Prysmian’s role in delivering high-speed connectivity across the country.
Backing the U.K.’s Gigabit Broadband Targets
Under the new agreement, Prysmian will supply advanced optical cables, engineering expertise, and installation solutions to support Openreach’s updated Full Fibre build plan. This work helps the U.K. government move toward its goal of providing gigabit-capable broadband to 85% of premises by 2025.
In addition, BT Group, Openreach’s parent company, has expanded its investment. As a result, Openreach now plans to build Full Fibre to 25 million premises, including more than six million in the hardest-to-serve areas.
Learn more at Prysmian Group (https://www.prysmiangroup.com/) and Openreach (https://www.openreach.com/).
A 50-Year Collaboration in U.K. Digital Networks
According to Marcello Del Brenna, CEO of Prysmian Group UK, Prysmian has partnered with Openreach for over half a century. He explained that the latest contract reflects the positive impact this collaboration has had on the U.K.’s digital network infrastructure.
Prysmian also continues to invest in telecom innovation so its partners can deploy cutting-edge fiber solutions. Moreover, the company advances its sustainability efforts by eliminating paper inserts from its products and shifting to digital information, which helps reduce waste.
Full Fibre’s Role in Levelling Up the U.K.
Matthew Hemmings, Openreach Managing Director for Fibre and Network Delivery, noted that building a new fibre broadband network across the U.K. remains a large and complex engineering project. Even so, he stressed that Full Fibre will help “level up” the country by boosting economic growth, improving international competitiveness, supporting jobs, and delivering environmental benefits through more home working and fewer commutes.
Karona Double Overblow Trials Boost Capacity
As part of the renewed Prysmian Openreach Full Fibre partnership, Openreach recently trialed Prysmian’s double overblow installation method, part of its Karona technology. This technique allows engineers to install high-density optical fibre cable into existing sub‑ducts that already contain legacy cable, increasing capacity without extensive civil works.
In Stonehaven, Scotland, engineers used a Sirocco HD 144f cable with a 5.0 mm diameter and overblew 600 meters in less than four hours, increasing route capacity to 432 fibers. They then repeated the technique in Bury St Edmunds, where they overblew 730 meters in under four hours, again significantly boosting capacity while limiting disruption.
