Business Wire

EXFO Partners With Openreach for Ground-Breaking Full Fibre Initiative

Share

EXFO Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO, TSX: EXF), the communications industry’s test, monitoring and analytics experts, and Openreach, the United Kingdom’s largest digital infrastructure firm, today announced their collaboration on a major initiative to accelerate Full Fibre deployment, and enhance the quality of build and experience for customers across the UK.

The project is essential for delivering next-generation Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) networks, which provide the digital infrastructure required to work, learn and socialize. As part of its industry-leading Fibre First programme, Openreach has committed to delivering 20 million homes passed with FTTP by the mid-to late 2020s, assuming it has the right investment conditions. Openreach has also committed to building out this new digital infrastructure to 4.5 million premises by the end of March 2021.

Following a competitive tender process, Openreach has awarded EXFO a contract to supply optical test heads and test access switching for this initiative. With its cloud-based Nova Fiber solution, EXFO will equip Openreach to assure its build, thereby accelerating the programme and avoiding costly return visits to fix connection problems—additional “truck rolls” more than double operators testing costs.1 Following installation, Openreach will be able to remotely monitor its fibre infrastructure supporting the in-life operations of its Full Fibre service.

This announcement comes as Openreach hit a record build rate for its Full Fibre broadband programme. Openreach engineers are now delivering faster, more reliable connectivity to another 40,000 homes and businesses every week, or the equivalent of a home every 15 seconds.

Peter Bell, Director, Network Technology, Openreach: “We know that now more than ever that being connected matters. We’re convinced that our new Full Fibre network can play a crucial role in keeping the nation connected. This year, our build has been gathering pace and momentum, and we’re determined to match that rapid speed of deployment with the highest standards of build quality build and customer service.

EXFO will help us get there. As a long-term Openreach partner, EXFO was selected thanks to its proven ability to provide fast, automated qualification of fibre builds, and for its unique iOLM OTDR technology. We’re committed to working with the best-in-class to maintain our position as the UK’s leading Full Fibre builder and we’re excited to lead the way as we continue to deliver high-quality network connections to homes and businesses across the UK.”

Wim te Niet, Vice President, Sales – EMEA, EXFO: “Openreach is an early mover in adopting permanent fibre monitoring technology, which will eventually cover all households in the UK. Currently, the FTTH/B penetration rate in the UK stands at 18%2, and Openreach has an ambitious plan to build out Full Fibre to millions of households and businesses. We see a similar wave in other key European markets like Germany. I believe network operators across Europe will soon follow Openreach’s lead to ensure first-time-right installations, reduce turn-up failures, and substantially reduce truck rolls for service calls. As for markets with high FTTH/B penetration rates, telecom operators are finding they need sophisticated automated monitoring tools to ensure superior customer experience. EXFO’s innovative Nova Fiber solution gives them these abilities.”

About EXFO
EXFO (NASDAQ: EXFO) (TSX: EXF) develops smarter test, monitoring and analytics solutions for fixed and mobile network operators, webscale companies and equipment manufacturers in the global communications industry. Our customers count on us to deliver superior network performance, service reliability and subscriber insights. They count on our unique blend of equipment, software and services to accelerate digital transformations related to fibre, 4G/LTE and 5G deployments. They count on our expertise with automation, real-time troubleshooting and big data analytics, which are critical to their business performance. We’ve spent over 35 years earning this trust, and today 1,900 EXFO employees in over 25 countries work side by side with our customers in the lab, field, data center and beyond.

About Openreach
Openreach Limited is the UK’s digital network business. We’re 35,000 people, working in every community to connect homes, schools, shops, banks, hospitals, libraries, mobile phone masts, broadcasters, governments and businesses – large and small – to the world. Our mission is to build the best possible network, with the highest quality service, making sure that everyone in the UK can be connected. We work on behalf of more than 660 communications providers like SKY, TalkTalk, Vodafone, BT and Zen, and our broadband network is the biggest in the UK, passing more than 31.8m UK premises. Over the last decade we’ve invested more than £14 billion into our network and, at more than 185 million kilometres, it’s now long enough to wrap around the world 4,617 times. Today we’re building an even faster, more reliable and future-proof broadband network which will be the UK’s digital platform for decades to come. We’re making progress towards our FTTP target to reach 20m premises by mid-to late 2020s. We’ve also hired more than 3,000 trainee engineers this past financial year to help us build that network and deliver better service across the country. Openreach is a highly regulated, wholly owned, and independently governed unit of the BT Group. More than 90 per cent of our revenues come from services that are regulated by Ofcom and any company can access our products under equivalent prices, terms and conditions. For the year ended 31 March 2020, we reported revenue of £5bn.

For more information, visit  www.openreach.co.uk/.
Email: press@openreach.co.uk

Forward-Looking Statements - EXFO
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition. Words such as may, expect, believe, plan, anticipate, intend, could, estimate, continue, or similar expressions or the negative of such expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events and circumstances are considered forward-looking statements. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements due to various factors including, but not limited to, macroeconomic uncertainty, including trade wars and recessions; our ability to successfully integrate businesses that we acquire; capital spending and network deployment levels in the communications industry (including our ability to quickly adapt cost structures to anticipated levels of business and our ability to manage inventory levels with market demand); future economic, competitive, financial and market conditions; consolidation in the global communications test, monitoring and analytics solutions markets and increased competition among vendors; capacity to adapt our future product offering to future technological changes; limited visibility with regard to the timing and nature of customer orders; delay in revenue recognition due to longer sales cycles for complex systems involving customers’ acceptance; fluctuating exchange rates; concentration of sales; timely release and market acceptance of our new products and other upcoming products; our ability to successfully expand international operations and to conduct business internationally; and the retention of key technical and management personnel. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments and risks, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Other risk factors that may affect our future performance and operations are detailed in our Annual Report, on Form 20-F, and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities commissions. We believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information currently available to us, but we cannot assure you that the expectations will prove to have been correct. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this document. Unless required by law or applicable regulations, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any of them to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this document.


1 Omnia operator survey: test and measurement efficiency (2020)
2 Data taken from recent Ofcom Connected Nations report 2020

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Contact information

For information:
CCgroup, for EXFO:
Wilf Collins
+44 7719 989 444
Chloe Pope
+44 7741 242 227
exfo@ccgrouppr.com

Vance Oliver
Director, Investor Relations
(418) 683-0913, ext. 23733
vance.oliver@exfo.com

About Business Wire

For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

IO Interactive Announces Olivier Perbet as Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer2.7.2025 16:00:00 EEST | Press release

IO Interactive, the award-winning developer and publisher behind the globally-acclaimed HITMAN franchise, is proud to announce the promotion of Olivier Perbet to Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer (CMRO). In this expanded role, Olivier will now oversee both marketing and revenue operations across the studio’s portfolio, including Digital and Physical Sales, Business Development, and go-to-market strategy, as IOI enters an exciting new chapter of growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250702593970/en/ © IO Interactive A/S Olivier joined IO Interactive as Chief Marketing Officer in 2023, bringing with him over 20 years of experience across gaming, consumer electronics, and entertainment. Since then, he has played a key role in scaling IOI’s global publishing capabilities, supporting the set-up of IOI Partners and delivering standout campaigns. Under Olivier’s leadership, IOI recently celebrated major milestone

Seoul Semiconductor’s World’s No.1 Technology Targets EV and Autonomous Vehicle Markets2.7.2025 16:00:00 EEST | Press release

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ: 046890), the world’s No. 1 company in LED backlight, announced on July 2nd that its proprietary No-wire technology, WICOP, has been supplied to the automotive market in the form of Mini LED displays since May. As the world’s first No-wire LED technology, WICOP has already proven its performance across various applications—including smartphones, TVs, lighting, and automotive headlamps. Recognized for its superior brightness and durability even in extreme automotive environments, WICOP has now officially entered the automotive display market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250702244031/en/ [Figure] Comparison of 1st-Generation LED and 2nd-Generation ‘WICOP’ Structure (Image: Seoul Semiconductor) The No-wire WICOP technology applied to Mini LED enables ultra-slim display designs, making it ideal for full array local dimming. This allows for deeper contrast and higher bright

Barilla Launches 7th Edition of Good Food Makers to Shape the Future of Food2.7.2025 15:20:00 EEST | Press release

Barilla officially opens applications for Good Food Makers 2025, its open innovation program dedicated to startups and innovative companies focused on creating a more sustainable and connected food system. Now in its seventh edition, the program welcomes a new format — Good Food Makers – ECOSYSTEM — developed in collaboration with Almacube, the innovation hub of the University of Bologna and Confindustria Emilia. This year’s goal is to build a true innovation ecosystem by involving Barilla’s value chain partners and accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies. Three selected startups will join a four-week co-development journey with Barilla professionals and partner companies, working side-by-side to create impactful solutions across the entire food chain — from field to fork. Applications are open until the end of July, with the program running from September to January 2026, concluding with the Innovation Day. “Good Food Makers reflects our commitment to open innovation that g

SE Labs Award Reinforces NetApp Status as the Most Secure Storage on the Planet2.7.2025 15:00:00 EEST | Press release

NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the intelligent data infrastructure company, today announced that it was recognized as a standout performer in cybersecurity in the SE LABS ® Awards 2025. NetApp won the 2025 SE Labs Award for Enterprise Data Protection, validating NetApp’s status as the most secure storage on the planet. This recognition as a winner of a 2025 SE Labs Award is a result of NetApp’s exceptional innovation in cyber resiliency to deliver NetApp ONTAP® Autonomous Ransomware Protection with Artificial Intelligence (ARP/AI), which was tested and validated by SE Labs. NetApp ARP/AI demonstrated 99 percent detection of tested, advanced full-file encryption ransomware attacks with zero false positives, indicating a strong ability to operate in a business context without contributing to alert fatigue. “Great security doesn’t just happen—it’s built, tested and proven,” says Simon Edwards, Founder and CEO of SE Labs. “Behind every high performing security product is a team committed to excel

CroíValve Announces Funding from Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator2.7.2025 15:00:00 EEST | Press release

CroíValve, a pioneering medical device company innovating a better way to help more patients suffering from Tricuspid Regurgitation (TR), was awarded funding from Horizon Europe’s European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Programme. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250702306192/en/ DUO™ Transcatheter Tricuspid System Part of the EU’s Horizon Europe 2021-2027 Research and Innovation Programme, the EIC Accelerator Programme provides transformational funding to high-potential, high-risk start-ups, scale-ups and subject matter experts. This award includes grant funding of €2.5 million, combined with an equity investment of €10 million in CroiValve’s next financing. The latest competition included 959 applications, with only 40 awards across 16 countries. Almost one third of the selected companies are led by a woman and CroiValve are incredibly proud to be one of this group. “Securing European Innovation Council

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye