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Latest BT proposals to have 'major impact on the future success of the North East'

BT Chief Executive Gavin Patterson has unveiled proposals which will give a major boost to broadband speeds in the North East.

Speaking at BT’s Delivering Britain’s Digital Future conference in London, Patterson announced pledges designed to go further and tackle slow speeds in hard-to-reach parts of the country.

Patterson said: “For the past five years, the UK has been the largest digital economy in the G20, by percentage of GDP. 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.”

Simon Roberson, regional partnership director for BT in the North East, said: “These proposals will have a major impact on the future success and prosperity of the North East. BT is already leading the way with nearly 900,000 households and businesses in the region having access to high-speed fibre broadband - and that number continues to grow each week.

“Now we are preparing to push ahead with the ultrafast broadband revolution and ensure that even people in the most challenging locations can get broadband capable of delivering sophisticated services, such as high definition video. In an increasingly competitive world, this further major investment will be another vital boost for our region. Nobody is doing more than BT to ensure that the North East has world class broadband communications.”

Ninety per cent of UK premises can already access fibre broadband, putting the UK top of the EU’s largest countries, according to regulator Ofcom.

New Report from KPMG values impact of BT programme at £20 - £30 Billion

At the conference, a new report was also unveiled by consultants KPMG, valuing the impact of BT’s future commitments as worth £20 - £30 billion to the UK economy over the next decade.

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