MicroBORE: Under Kerb
Lateral Drilling for Fibre
Developed in collaboration with BT, MicroBORE offers advanced, hands-free lateral drilling for the installation of electrical and fibre connections to properties, with no need for extensive excavation or trenching. Openreach invested £15 billion in expanding the fibre network to cover 25 million homes, and MicroBORE aims to help them achieve that.
Project Overview
MicroBORE has been designed bespoke for BT Openreach teams to install property side fibre connections from the kerbside without need to excavate the path to the property. Traditional installation of property side connections requires excavation from the kerb duct to the property, but MicroBORE eliminates that need by boring under the kerb into the property. This means installation of property side access is faster, cheaper, less labour intensive, and doesn’t require extensive re-instatement.
How does MicroBORE work?
Due to IP concerns we can’t share exactly how the system works, but the general concept consists of a boring lance which is deployed into the wall of the kerb duct, which drills down and under the haunching to allow for trenchless installation. The system is controlled via a mobile phone app, which allows operators to minimise the size of the equipment for easy transportation and deployment.
What stage is the Project in?
As of June 2026, MicroBORE is in TRL 8, with extensive pilot trials in progress with BT Openreach fibre installation teams. The system is actively being used in the field with the design team supporting training, implementation and troubleshooting where necessary. The team are currently scoping the roadblocks for full production of the platform, and are creating a production plan.
How can MicroBORE be used for other applications?
TORS offers a wide range of benefits to GDNs if implemented. The most surface level of these is the massive cost and time saving on traditional service and main replacement methods, however there are a wide range of other benefits. These include reducing interruption to customer’s service, capability for 24hr working due to quiet operation, and massive reductions in traffic disruption.
Looking to partner on an engineering project?
Get in touch today