BT slams rivals’ ‘Fix Britain’s Internet’ campaign as misleading

Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT, has written to his counterparts at rival broadband providers Sky, Vodafone and TalkTalk to complain that their ‘Fix Britain’s Internet’ campaign is misleading consumers and “talking down” Britain. Patterson’s personal intervention comes amid a fractious debate about the state of Britain’s broadband that has seen BT’s rivals and MPs call for the break-up of BT and its Openreach division.

Patterson has written to Baroness Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk; Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of Sky; and Vittorio Colao, chief executive of Vodafone Group to express his alarm at the tone of the debate. The letter argues that the Fix Britain’s Internet campaign “paints an unfairly diminished view of connectivity across the UK and makes a number of misleading statements”.