BT to invest £6bn in fibre, 4G and customer service
Telecoms giant BT has pledged to invest "around" £6bn over the next three years to ramp up the UK's superfast broadband and 4G coverage.
The group, which revealed strong results this morning and the promise of double-digit dividends for the next couple of years, said the investment would lift the country's coverage beyond 95 per cent of the country by 2020.
Under the new plans, ultrafast broadband will be deployed "to a minimum" of 10 million homes and businesses with an ambition to reach 12 million in total.
There will be an increased focus on fibre to the premises (FTTP) technology, with BT hoping to to reach two million premises with the technology, mainly in new housing developments, high streets and business parks.
And BT has also pledged to improve customer service, through a series of new initiatives.
Group chief executive Gavin 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. Infrastructure competition is good for the UK and so is the current Openreach model whereby others can piggyback on our investment should they want to.
"G.fast is an important technology that will enable us to deploy ultrafast broadband at pace and to as many homes as possible. Customers want their broadband to be affordable as well as fast and we will be able to do that using G.fast. FTTP will also play a bigger role going forward and I believe it is particularly well suited to those businesses who may need speeds of up to 1Gbps. My ambition is to roll it out to two million premises and our trials give me confidence we will.
"Customer expectations are increasing all the time and we need to work hard to meet those new demands. That is why contact centre work is being returned to the UK and why Openreach is aiming to halve the number of missed appointments within a year. Customers want higher standards of service and we are determined to provide them with just that."
But not everyone was impressed.
Andrew Griffith, group chief operating officer and chief financial officer at arch rival Sky, said: "Today's statement shows that BT continues to see copper as the basis of its network for 21st century Britain.
"Despite BT's claims, it is clearer than ever that their plans for fibre to the premise (FTTP) broadband will bypass almost every existing UK home.
"This limited ambition has been dragged out of BT by the threat of regulatory action, demonstrating once again why an independent Openreach, free to raise its own long-term capital, is the best way for the UK to get the fibre network it needs."