BT offers to spend up to £600 million on rural broadband in UK

BT has offered to spend up to £600 million to connect the final 1 million homes and businesses in rural areas of Britain to a broadband connection suitable for most needs.

The company said every home and business in the UK would have a broadband speed of at least 10 megabits per second (Mbps), fast enough to stream movies, video conference and browse the web. Properties will either be connected via the Openreach network through fibre-optic cables, the network of copper lines, or through the fixed wireless system, where connections use radio and, in some cases, satellite signals. BT said the cost of its plan would be between £450m and £600m and that 99 per cent of homes and businesses will be connected by 2020. BT made the offer after the government committed to a 10Mbps target under a Universal Service Obligation (USO). The government said it would now consider BT’s plan, while also conducting a consultation into whether it should introduce the USO in regulation.