BT Hints 40Mbps Next-Gen Fibre Broadband Rollout

A full fledged deployment of superfast FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet technology) of speeds of more than 40Mbps to around ten million households in the UK by 2012 has been hinted by BT. The prominent UK ISP’s next generation broadband rollout that is expected to cover at least 40 percent of the UK homes, is estimated to cost GBP 1.5 billion. BT also contemplates over expanding this coverage over 90 percent of homes in the country, in a very short time thereafter.

It could be presumed that behind the beaming confidence of BT to hint at a huge project like the present one, should be the broadbandtax of 50p announced by the government to benefit the Digital Britain initiative. The broadband tax announced on the occasion of the final Digital Britain report by the communications minister of UK, Lord Stephen Carter, would cover all the fixed phone lines of the country.

However, many broadband experts in the world do not consider the plans of BT surprising; on the grounds of the Digital Britain report that had proposed that the revenue gleaned from the 50p a month broadband tax was to fund the next generation broadband access for 90 percent of the UK businesses, as well as households by 2017. Many experts are also of the impression that in the circumstances, BT should have been contemplating on a rollout well beyond 40 percent.

Nevertheless, a big problem facing the nation is that the 50p per month broadband tax proposed by the government will, in fact only serve half the purpose of bringing next generation broadband to 90 percent of the UK households and businesses, which according to estimates could warrant for another GBP 3 million. It was also very much unlikely that all the revenue from 50p tax goes solely to the BT coffers.