BT Openreach Boosts Engineers for UK Superfast Broadband Rollout

BTOpenreach claims to have boosted the total number of permanent full-time engineers involved with deploying its superfast broadband (FTTC / FTTP) ISP services in the UK to over 3,000 after it added an additional 150 recruits.

The chosen recruits will start their new jobs in May next month and become part of a “mobile engineering workforce that can be deployed anywhere in the UK“. The news follows last years deployment of an additional 500 ex-armed forces personnel to help deliver on its £2.5bn “fibre programme“.

Liv Garfield, CEO of BTOpenreach, said:

“We’re really pleased with the progress we are making in delivering our fibre deployment. Through system and process enhancements, we’re delighted to be delivering fibre even faster. We can only do this if we have the right number and calibre of engineers on the ground. It is also fantastic to be able to offer permanent jobs to people in the current economic climate.”

BT expects to have pushed its superfast broadband out to around 40% of UK homes (10 million premises) by the end of 2012, which will rise to 66% by the end of 2014. So far the service is able to reach almost 8 million homes and businesses.

This figure is expected to rise, possibly up to 90%, depending upon whether or not BT wins the lions share of public funding from the governments Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office (most expect this to happen as their rival, Fujitsu, has yet to win any contracts).