BT plans to invest £1.5bn to deliver high-speed
fibre broadband to 10 million homes by 2012.
The new network will give users access speeds of up to 100mbps.
Most current users of BT broadband services over standard copper
wiring get no more than a maximum 8mbps.
BT is helping to finance the investment through the suspension
of its share buy-back programme.
BT is already spending around £10bn on its IP-based
21st Century Network, to
deliver a greater variety of services to consumers and
businesses.
BT chief executive Ian Livingston said, "Broadband has boosted
the UK economy and is now an essential part of our customers'
lives. We now want to make a step-change in broadband provision
which will offer faster speeds than ever before. This marks the
beginning of a new chapter in Britain's broadband story."
He added, "This is a bold step by BT and we need others to be
just as bold. We are keen to partner with people who share our
vision for the next phase of the broadband revolution. We want to
work with local and regional bodies to decide where and when we
should focus the deployment. Our aim is that urban and rural areas
alike will benefit from our investment."
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