Posted: 18th Jun, 2009 By: MarkJ
BT has hinted that its £1.5bn next generation fibre optic broadband rollout, which aims to deploy super fast 40Mbps+ Fibre to the Cabinet ( FTTC ) technology to as many as 10m UK homes (40%) by 2012, could be expanded to cover 90% of UK homes. Well, provided the
Digital Britain plans for a 50p tax on all fixed telephone lines (
here) were to work in its favour, naturally.
Ian Livingston, BT's Boss, told The Times:"We're keen to get fibre to as many homes as possible - and so the levy is a positive step towards increasing availability. The devil will be in the detail, but, if the plans are workable, then it could be feasible that we [would] deliver somewhere in the region of 90 per cent coverage."
However the Digital Britain report has already proposed that the revenue from a 50p (per month) "
levy" would go to a special
Next Generation Fund, which in turn would aim to reach 90% of UK homes and businesses with next generation broadband services by 2017. In that sense BT's statement really isn’t too surprising; an expanded rollout beyond 40% was perhaps inevitable.
Never the less we must question the feasibility of BT's idea, since estimates have suggested that it could cost upwards of an additional £3bn to bring next generation broadband lines within reach of the 90% target. The problem here is that a 50p levy would only raise just over half of what you'd need and it’s unlikely that all of it would find its way into BT’s coffers.