The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) has announced an official partnership with Openreach, the UK’s digital network business, to build on their existing ISPA membership

The agreement, which will run until 31December 2019, will see Openreach supporting three major ISPA events throughout the year, including the ISPA Conference in May, the ISPA Awards in July, and the Parliament and Internet Conference in November.

ISPA and Openreach have been working closely together since October 2017 – when Openreach first became a member of ISPA. ISPA and Openreach share the same ambition to deliver full broadband coverage nationwide, and ISPA’s members regularly collaborate with Openreach to promote competition, innovation and self-regulation throughout the industry.

Following this announcement, Katie Milligan, MD Customer Commercial and Propositions from Openreach said:

“Our communication’s provider customers are at the heart of everything we do and – following Oftcom’s Digital Communications Review in 2016 – we’ve been using our greater independence as a business to forge stronger, deeper partnerships across the entire industry.

“Working more closely with ISPA makes total sense for Openreach, given so many ISPA members rely on our network and share our ambition to deliver better, broader and faster communications services all over the UK. This is a really exciting time in the market with the recent explosion in investment and competition, so we’re keen to play a leading role in uniting the industry and delivering on the Government’s lofty ambitions for the UK’s digital future.”  

ISPA General Secretary Nick Lansman added:

We are delighted to sign this deal with Openreach, allowing us to collaborate more closely in future-proofing the UK’s digital infrastructure. This partnership will help shape and support our active and varied 2019 work programme.”