BT Retail's head honcho, Ian Livingstone, has today added his comments to the current debate over next-generation broadband services.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Livingstone appeared to hint at a greater acceptance of next-generation broadband and stated:


It's understood that Livingstone will begin discussing the problem with government and regulators during the coming November or December broadband summit (related news). His comments echo that of BT Openreach's boss, Steve Robertson, from last weeks news (here).

However there should be no underestimating the problems and challenges ahead because anything BT produces must ultimately be supplied to rival ISP's too. There is also a significant cost factor associated with such a major new network, no matter which way you choose to do it.

No doubt the government would prefer to keep a back seat when it comes to public funding, much as they did with ADSL, unfortunately that may not be so easy this time.