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The deployment of full-fibre broadband could boost the UK economy by billions, research has suggested.

In research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), commissioned by Openreach, the UK could see a boost to productivity of almost £60bn by 2025.

In the ‘Full fibre broadband: A platform for growth’ report published today, it said connecting the UK to fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband could enable smarter ways of working, better public services and greater opportunities for UK businesses.

The report said a reliable fibre connection could bring 500,000 people into the workforce, allowing more that 400,000 people to work from home and 270,000 people could be freed to move out of cities in rural areas.

This could save 300m commuting trips a year and help “stimulate regional and rural economic growth”, the report said.

(Image: Erin Black/Plymouth Live)

The research said London would stand to benefit most from the rollout, with a productivity boost of £13.86bn, followed by North West at £5.5bn and the East at £5.38bn.

The reports comes as Openreach publish proposals to enable the government and industry to accelarate the rollout, claiming red tape and “punitive business” are slowing down the rollout.

Openreach has called for an exemption from business rates to stimulate more investment, lower costs and reducing barriers to deployment and for the regulator to “set the right conditions to unlock the commercial case for companies to build”.

Openreach - how much full fibre broadband could be worth Centre for Economics & Business Research/Openreach

Mike Spicer, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said it “strongly supports” initiatives to speed up rolling our full-fibre across the UK.

“Businesses across the UK tell us there is so much more they could do if residential internet connections were improved - from supporting flexible and agile working to providing new services to consumers.”

Openreach said building the network is the second largest infrastructure project in the UK. The National Infrastructure Commission has estimated the cost at £33.4bn, with the majority coming from private investment.

Clive Selley, Openreach CEO, said: “Full fibre is a vehicle to turbocharge our economy post-Brexit, with the power to renew towns and communities across the UK. We’re proud to be leading the way with over 1.8 million homes and businesses already having access to our full fibre network.

“We’re currently building full fibre to around 22,000 premises a week– which is one every 28 seconds. But we want to go even faster and further to 15m premises and beyond if we can get the right conditions to invest.”

He continued: “Through our Fibre First programme, Openreach is now building to 103 locations across the UK and we’re on track to build to four million premises by March 2021. With the right policies and regulation, we can build a better, more reliable broadband network faster than any other country in the world and unlock the benefits for the whole UK.

“If that doesn’t happen, then many people will be locked out of a more connected future and the UK could lose its status as a global digital leader.”