UK to become G20 digital leader under BT’s new £6bn investment plan

Telecoms giant BT is set to invest billions over the next three years in a new drive to roll its services out across the country and make the UK a digital leader of the G20 economies.

The firm has this morning (May 5) confirmed plans to spend £6bn across its Openreach and EE businesses, in the first phase of a wider plan to deliver 4G and ultrafast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2020.

During the three-year period, BT expects to deploy the broadband to between 10m and 12m businesses and homes. Further, the company plans to place a renewed focus on the rollout of its Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology, with the aim of bringing the service to 2m premises across high streets, business parks and new housing developments.

However, the majority of premises will receive the ultrafast broadband through G.fast – BT technology that enhances the speeds customers are able to receive over a mix of copper and fibre connections.

The chief executive of BT Group, Gavin Patterson, said: “The UK is a digital leader today and it is vital that it remains one in the future.

“That is why we are announcing a further £6bn of investment in our UK networks, subject to regulatory certainty.”

He added: “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.”

Speaking further, Mr Patterson said the G.fast technology will enable BT to deploy ultrafast broadband at a fast pace and to “as many homes as possible”.

The chief exec continued: “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.”