BT chief warns Openreach fibre push will ‘end in tears’ for rivals

BT’s chief executive said the telecommunications group had turned its broadband network into an “unstoppable machine” that will ultimately “end in tears” for many of its fiber competitors. “There is only going to be one national network,” Philip Jansen said. “Why do you need to have multiple providers?” The former monopoly said that its networking division Openreach had laid fibre to 9.6 million premises, with 29 percent of people in those areas opting to move over to its fibre offering. The company’s share price rose around 6 percent in afternoon trading, taking its gains since the start of 2023 to 14 percent. Competitors to Openreach, backed by billions in private capital, are racing to lay full fibre across the UK before the incumbent gets there. They include Virgin Media O2 and more than 100 alternative networks known as “altnets”.