BT to extend broadband reach to 75 per cent of UK by 2011

With 40 per cent of the UK homes and businesses already covered by broadband connections by British Telecom, the UK telecom giant is looking ahead with  plans to cover 75 per cent of the UK with the "next-generation" technology by 2011.

Using the ADSL2+ technology, where the speed is dependent on the distance customers are from the local exchange as well as the condition of the circuit from their homes and the exchange, BT has been able to cover 40 per cent of UK homes and businesses with speeds varying between 2 and 8 Mbps.

But BT now wants to extend its broadband reach to 75 per cent of the UK by 2011 with speeds up to 24 Mbps, which is more or less in line with the UK government Digital Britain plan of seeing all of the UK getting access to broadband services by 2012 with a minimum speed of 2 Mbps.

This week, Stephen Timms, the minister for Digital Britain, has proposed an annual £6 fee to be charged to every home phone line, irrespective whether the home has a broadband connection or not.

The government hopes to raise around £175 million to fund the next generation of super-fast broadband services.

In March, using the ADSL2+ technology, BT had identified six locations in the UK where demand for super-fast broadband was the highest, such as Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Greater Manchester to provide to half a million homes and businesses internet users with broadband speeds of up to 60 Mbps from early 2010. (See: British Telecom to give UK customers 60 Mbps broadband speed)