Openreach partners with Affinity Water and Lightsonic for fiber-optic leak detection trials

The partnership between Openreach, Affinity Water, and Lightsonic initiates a novel application for existing telecom infrastructure in the UK. Openreach, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group, is leveraging its extensive fiber network for real-time water leak detection, moving beyond its traditional role in digital connectivity. This trial, announced on 2026-03-12, sees Lightsonic's Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology integrated into Openreach's infrastructure. The commercial logic centers on utilizing an established asset for a new, critical utility function, offering Openreach a potential diversification of its network's value proposition. Affinity Water, managing 17,000 km of water mains across southeast England, stands to gain significant operational efficiencies from proactive leak identification. While the partnership's value remains undisclosed, the structure focuses on a trial phase, indicating a proof-of-concept approach for this cross-sector infrastructure utilization in the UK. Each UK-based participant derives distinct strategic advantages from this partnership. Openreach, as the primary builder and maintainer of the UK's digital network infrastructure for BT Group, explores new revenue streams by extending its fiber network's utility beyond telecom. For Affinity Water, the largest water-only supplier in the UK serving 3.8 million people, this trial directly addresses the operational challenge of managing its 17,000 km of water mains, potentially reducing water loss in London and the Thames Valley. Lightsonic, an inferred technology company specializing in advanced digital and sensor-based solutions for infrastructure, gains a critical proving ground for its DAS technology within a live, large-scale UK utility environment. This partnership could establish a precedent for cross-utility infrastructure sharing within the UK, potentially influencing future investment in smart infrastructure solutions across different sectors.