Plans to beat government goal of extending fiber to 96% of population
While 90% of UK residents already have access to fiber-based broadband Internet service, BT CEO Gavin Patterson this week laid out plans to continue pushing for what he called “Britain’s digital future.”
Speaking at BT’s Delivering Britain’s Digital Future conference in London, Patterson laid out plans to improve speeds in rural areas; improve speeds overall as supported by new infrastructure rollouts; and improve customer service.
“For the past five years,” he said, “the UK has been the largest digital economy in the G20, by percentage of [gross domestic product]. We think the UK has an even brighter future ahead if we make the right decisions today.We want to forge an ultrafast future for Britain and stand ready to help government deliver the broadband speeds necessary for every property to enjoy modern day internet services, such as high definition TV streaming and cloud computing. To achieve this, we need a collaborative effort across industry and government.”
Speaking to improving fiber access and overall speeds, Patterson said the company wants to go “further and faster” in not only meeting, but exceeding, the government mandate to extend fiber to 95% of the population.
He also announced plans to supply fiber broadband for all new housing developments, either through BT’s own efforts or in cooperation with developers.
In terms of improving existing speeds, Patterson said BT would extend service in the 300 Mbps to 500 Mbps range to some 10 million homes by the end of 2020 and the majority of homes within a decade. He also touted a 1 Gbps service option.
In addition to fiber, BT is also utilizing G.fast technology for last mile deployments.
Earlier in the year, Virgin Media debuted Project Lightning, with the goal to spend more than $4.6 billion to bring 152 Mbps broadband to 4 million homes and business. At the time of the February announcement, Virgin Media’s CEO name-checked BT.
“In virtually all of the areas we have identified for expansion,” CEO Tom Mockridge said, “BT is the only option available right now. Its aging copper telephony wires are not capable of the ultrafast connectivity that Virgin Media delivers.”
He continued: “Soon we will offer unbeatable services to even more homes and businesses across the country.”
