UK ISP BT has revealed that its retail service has, on 9th December, finally passed the 5 Million broadband customers mark. The operator also added that its £1.5bn rollout of next generation fibre optic broadband services ( FTTC , FTTP ) is several months "ahead of schedule" and now on course to complete and reach 40% (10 Million) UK homes by March 2012.

It's certainly a far cry from the 135,000 ADSL broadband connections that existed all the way back in 2002, though these days the majority of the country's 14m or so ADSL broadband customers prefer to use cheaper unbundled solutions to BT Retails' own options. Lest we not also forget the 4m+ Cable Modem broadband users from providers like Virgin Media UK.


The customer who signed up to be the five-million woman was chip shop worker Elizabeth Patterson of East Kilbride, Glasgow. She has won a luxury trip to Vancouver to watch the Winter Olympics, including the closing ceremony. BT is the official communications partner for the London 2012 Olympics.

Elsewhere BT has again warned that extending its rollout of new fibre optic based broadband services beyond the 40% mark would require some degree of government intervention / subsidy. Naturally BT would like a big slice of the planned 50p per month tax on all fixed phone lines, although the forthcoming general election could result in a Conservative government that would scrap its implementation in favour of a lower tax on fibre.