It is expected an additional one million homes and businesses will have access to the deployment, as part of BT’s long-term plan to make broadband available to two-thirds of UK homes and businesses by 2015. Its latest upgrades are expected to be completed by autumn 2012.
“We believe that the government’s support makes it possible to get fibre to 90% of homes so we will be engaging with Broadband Delivery UK and local councils to offer our help and expertise,” said Mike Galvin, Openreach managing director for Next Generation Access. “There is no substitute for experience when it comes to fibre deployment and we have more experience than anyone.”
BT’s platform, in which the company has pledged to invest $2.5 billion, offers service providers an open access wholesale model in a bid to support a competitive market. “We are committed to offering open and equivalent access,” added Galvin. “Local monopolies benefit no-one and no public funds should go to supporting them.”
By 2012, the company plans to double FTTC download speeds of 40Mbps, and eventually increase this to 100Mbps technology.
