UK incumbent BT will on Monday unveil plans to match a £830m government grant for superfast broadband. This will allow it to expand its infrastructure to cover 90% of homes in the country by 2017.
On the same day, the government is expected to detail…
UK incumbent BT will on Monday unveil plans to match a £830m government grant for superfast broadband. This will allow it to expand its infrastructure to cover 90% of homes in the country by 2017.
On the same day, the government is expected to detail further plans on how and when the subsidiary will be subject for bids.
A spokesman for BT told TelecomFinance that the telco is gunning for the full amount, but acknowledged that it would be in competition with companies such as local cableco Virgin Media.
A spokesman for local cableco Virgin Media confirmed to TelecomFinance that it too would be involved in any subsidy competition.
Speaking at the FT Telecoms Conference last month, BT CEO Ian Livingston said: “Infrastructure should be available for all to share, with everyone competing for customers… Governments shouldn’t be putting public money into the network, except in rural communities – and even for this service provision, operators should be competing.”
BT has set aside £2.5bn to roll out its superfast network across 16 million homes – mostly in urban areas – by 2015.
