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BT Receives Luke-Warm Response to Fibre Optic Plans

It was recently announced that BT is planning to spend up to £1.5 billion improving the UK's broadband network by extending fibre optic cables to 10 million homes by 2012. This would allow broadband speeds of up to 100 megabits per second in certain areas, with the average being around 40 Mbps, a huge increase on the current broadband user average of 4.6mbps.

The plans have, however, been dismissed as still only making the UK a 'second tier' country in broadband speeds, when compared to the likes of Japan and South Korea, by TNS Technology in an open letter to the Financial Times. The proposed improvement in broadband speed, the letter claims, would still mean the UK was behind what Japan and South Korea have currently and only on a par with France's current broadband network. All three of those countries plan to improve their broadband before 2012 meaning the UK would just continue to 'play catch-up', the letter from TNS Managing Director Amy Cashman said.

South Korea is the current world leader in broadband provision, when all stats are considered, with 100% broadband availability and more than 4.5 million homes on a 100Mbps speed fibre optic broadband connection. BT has responded to the letter by stating that their plans would bring fibre optic broadband to a far higher percentage of the overall population than in other countries where it has been installed only in major cities.

04/08/2008
Author: CompareBroadbandUK staff writer

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