BT in drive to quicken broadband rollout

British Telecom is keen to expand the reach of its superfast broadband network to 90 percent of UK homes by tapping up to £830m ($1.3bn) of public funds.

Ian Livingston said the telecoms company's high-speed network could reach that number of homes by 2017 if it secured most of the funds the government was earmarking for superfast broadband in rural areas. BT is spending £2.5bn to build a high-speed network that is due to reach 16m homes, mostly in towns and cities, by 2015. The company is unwilling to go much further without public money. The government said last month that up to £830m could be taken from the BBC licence fee over the next seven years to help finance superfast broadband in rural areas.