BT Sets Out Broadband Measures

LONDON--BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) Tuesday set out a raft of measures to bolster its broadband operations, amid renewed calls from rivals that the U.K. telecommunications incumbent should be separated from its infrastructure division.

Among the changes, BT said it aims for minimum broadband speed of five to ten megabits per second, with regulatory help. It also is extending its fiber-optic coverage and ten million premises to receive ultrafast broadband with speeds of between 300 and 500 mbps by the end of 2020.

It also set out improvements to customer service from Openreach.

Rivals Sky PLC (SKY.LN), Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) and TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC (TALK.LN) have said the changes are insufficient and call for the breakup of the company on competition and customer service grounds. BT's peers use Openreach to offer broadband services.

"What the British broadband market urgently needs is radical reform, not calculated maneuvering and caveats to protect BT's self-interest," said a Sky spokesman.

"It has taken an Ofcom review and the threat of serious regulatory intervention to win even these modest commitments," added a TalkTalk spokesman.

BT says the improvements to the network will fulfill the digital ambitions of the U.K.

BT is expecting to complete a multi-billion dollar deal for mobile operator EE to offer so-called quadruple play services of fixed telephony, mobile telephony, broadband and pay-television, shifting the makeup of the U.K.'s rapidly-changing telecoms market.

Communications regulator Ofcom is conducting a review on the functioning of the U.K.'s digital market, with findings given at the end of the year.

 
--Write to Simon Zekaria at [e-mail] 
 

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September 22, 2015 10:23 ET (14:23 GMT)

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