FTTP passes 85% of UK premises as overlap grows faster than first-time coverage

Full-fibre broadband reached 85.5% of UK premises by 30 September 2026, up one percentage point on the quarter, according to Point Topic's latest availability dataset covering 1.76 million postcodes and 33.9 million premises.

The figure confirms the UK is entering the final, slower phase of its FTTP build. Point Topic's data, tracking coverage to the end of Q3 2026, shows that of the 1.2 million premises that gained access to an FTTP network they did not have before in the quarter, roughly 70% were already served by at least one other full-fibre network. Only the remaining 30% represented first-time FTTP coverage. Overbuild, not expansion, now drives most incremental passes — a signal that matters for altnet business cases and for the pace of Openreach's commercial stop-sell programme.

What is Openreach building now?

Openreach's FTTP footprint stood at 23.5 million premises, up 3% quarter-on-quarter. That is a slightly faster pace than the 2.8% recorded in Q2 2026, but well below the 6.3% growth of Q1 2026. Its legacy copper and FTTC networks covered 9.8 million premises, down 6.6% on the quarter as retirement of the old network continues.

The altnet challenge to Openreach keeps widening in footprint terms. All FTTP altnets combined now pass 50% of UK premises, up 0.8 percentage points on Q2 2026, with the number of premises passed rising 1.6%. CityFibre remains the largest altnet at 4.27 million premises, ahead of Netomnia You Fibre at 3.35 million and nexfibre at 2.63 million. Growth was strongest among smaller networks.

How much competition per street?

Competition metrics continued their steady climb. Some 16.2 million premises — 47.9% of the UK total — had access to two or more FTTP networks, up from 46.4% in Q2. A further 4.5 million premises, 13.1% of the total, could choose from three or more networks, up from 12.4%.

For operators, that overlap is the defining commercial fact of the current market. Where two or more networks compete, retail pricing pressure intensifies and take-rate assumptions weaken, which is why consolidation among smaller altnets has accelerated across the sector. For consumers in overlapped areas, choice is effectively unlimited; for those still outside any FTTP footprint, the wait lengthens as builders concentrate on defendable territory.

Where are the regional gaps?

Northern Ireland remains the best-covered UK nation at 97.4% any-network FTTP coverage, ahead of Wales at 89.1%, England at 85.6% and Scotland at 78.8%. Scotland's near-eight-point lag behind England illustrates where the remaining commercial and publicly funded builds must land if the government's gigabit targets are to be met.

Local-authority-level growth in Q3 was concentrated in less densely served areas. Westmorland and Furness added the most any-network FTTP premises of any local authority, 7,474, taking coverage to 89.6%. North Yorkshire followed with 7,062 additions to reach 86.9%, and Redcar and Cleveland added 6,747 to reach 68.9%.

With 14.5% of premises still without full fibre and roughly a third of new passes going to first-time coverage, the dataset points to a 2027 market in which the marginal build becomes harder, more subsidy-dependent and increasingly contested network-for-network.