BT vows to connect 10 mn homes with faster broadband

Britain's BT today unveiled a three-year investment programme under which 10 million homes and businesses will receive faster broadband, with two million in line for fibre-optic connections.

BT will put £6 billion into the project to upgrade both its broadband and mobile network, building on a pledge by EE, the mobile operator which it took over early this year, to cover the entire country with 4G mobile services.

By 2020, ultrafast broadband will be deployed to a minimum of ten million homes and businesses, with an ambition to reach 12 million, BT said. Two million of these households will be given fibre-optic connections, while 4G mobile services will cover 95 per cent of the country.

Gavin Patterson, BT's chief executive, will unveil the ambitious project before shareholders today alongside its annual results.

The telecoms giant's profits rose 15 per cent to £3.03 billion in the year to 31 March, in its first set of results after the takeover of EE. Strong demand for its broadband and television packages helped lift revenues by 22 per cent to £18.91 billion.

Patterson said it had been a ''landmark year for BT'' which consummated the takeover of EE for £10.25 billion in January. He said the integration was ''going well'' following an overhaul of the company's management structure in the wake of the merger.

Tussle over Openreach
The BT boss warned that any investment plans are ''subject to regulatory certainty'' amid an ongoing battle by the company to maintain control of its broadband network division, Openreach.

The telecoms watchdog Ofcom is formulating an alternative model for Openreach that will see BT give up financial control of the network arm, with a decision due in the autumn. Openreach increased sales to £5.01 billion in the 12 months to 31 March, a 2 per cent increase on the year before.

Patterson defended the current Openreach model, saying that rivals could ''piggyback'' on the network should they want to, amid criticism that other companies have not been able to use Openreach's vast network of ducts and telegraph poles.

Openreach has also been criticised for underinvestment in its infrastructure and making excessive profits that boost the dominance of Britain's former state monopoly.

Patterson said, ''Networks require money and a lot of it. Virgin and BT have both pledged to invest and we will now see if others follow our lead.''

Switch to fibre
But in a shift in Openreach's strategy, BT has pledged to invest more in fibre cables and promised to connect hundreds of thousands of businesses with super-fast broadband services.

BT has previously resisted attempts to invest more in fibre-optic cables, instead favouring a technology known as ''G.Fast'' that adapts existing copper wires.

Rival companies have been quick to criticise this commitment to G.Fast technology as one of ''limited ambition''. Andrew Griffith, Sky's finance boss, pointed out that this latest project will bring fibre connections to just two million of the up to 12 million premises being targeted for ultrafast broadband.

He said, ''Despite BT's claims, the company continues to see copper as the basis of its network for 21st century Britain.''

Meanwhile, Openreach pledged to halve the number of repair appointments it misses, after BT revealed to a group of MPs last March that the network division misses 1,000 appointments every week.