News
The UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, has challenged the country’s broadband network owners to pass every home and business in the country with full fibre network services by 2025
The UK’s incumbent fixed line broadband provider, Openreach, is in talks with the government to formalise an official timetable for the switch off of its copper-based network, according to reports in the press.
Sky News reported that Openreach and the UK’s alternative network providers were locked in secret discussions with ministers from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to agree a date.
BT’s new chief executive, Philip Jansen, is believed to be keen on a final switch-off date for the country’s copper networks of 2027. The initiative will cost around £30 billion and Jansen is believed to prefer a tiered approach, whereby the UK is divided into six zones with each zone being switched off as its fibre penetration levels reach 100 per cent.
UK culture secretary, Nicky Morgan, is set to meet with the head of Openreach, Clive Selley, along with senior execs from the UK’s altnet providers later this week.
"This Government wants to deliver world-class, gigabit-capable digital infrastructure across the country and will announce further details on how we will achieve this as soon as possible.
"We are investing over £650m in full fibre broadband until the end of 2021 and are committed to creating the right opportunities for investment as we speed up the roll-out of this technology," a DCMS spokesperson told reporters from Sky news.
Also in the news:
