Dunfermline: Openreach's £5.4m network reaching 18,000 city premises

Openreach is building a new ultrafast, ultra-reliable full fibre network in the area which covers more than 60 per cent of homes and businesses in the city.

However, thousands of residents have yet to upgrade, with less than 27 per cent of households adopting the service where it’s available, lagging behind the UK average of 30 per cent.

The new technology is up to 16 times faster than the average UK broadband connection and around five times more reliable than the old copper-based network it’s replacing.

Robert Thorburn, Openreach’s Partnership Director for Scotland, said: “Research shows that this new network will give businesses an edge and provide families and home-workers with future-proof connectivity.

“We’re determined to deliver a great service which helps Dunfermline thrive and supports people to work from home easily, keep in touch with their loved ones and build connections and opportunities.

“However, thousands of people in the city could be missing out on the benefits of full fibre.

“Ultrafast broadband can have a huge impact on people’s lives and it’s great for the economy, but upgrades aren’t automatic. People need to place an order with their chosen providers to get connected and we’ll do the rest.

"Our network offers the widest choice of providers such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen – which means people have lots of choice and can get a great deal.

“Even if you already have a decent enough service, it’s worth checking if you can upgrade, because full fibre is the future, and it provides the best broadband experience at great value for money.

"There’ll be no more worrying that your video call might freeze, or your files are failing to upload when everyone’s at home competing for bandwidth at the same time.” Openreach plans to reach 25 million UK homes and businesses by the end of 2026. To find out more and register for updates, visit openreach.co.uk/ultrafastfullfibre.