A new “ultrafast” broadband network is set to be built in south Romford.

Openreach said last week it was investing £17.5m to extend its service to the area, as well as North Finchley.

The company has so far connected more than one million London homes to the full-fibre broadband network, which is capable of carrying speeds up to 1Gbps – more than ten times faster than the UK’s current average.

Romford Recorder: An Openreach engineerAn Openreach engineer (Image: Openreach)

A spokesperson for the Good Things Foundation, a digital equality charity, said the new network was “excellent news” but stressed the digital divide “goes beyond connectivity and infrastructure”.

They said: “We need digital inclusion at the heart of the UK government's Covid-19 recovery, including investing in digital skills so everyone can use the internet for life, work and community support so everyone has somewhere local to go for internet help, and internet that is affordable for all."

Openreach has not announced a timescale for the Romford expansion, but says it aims to connect a total of 25 million premises across the UK with full-fibre by the end of December 2026.