UK Broadband Providers Shares Rise on Plans to Boost Connectivity

By Adria Calatayud

Shares in U.K. broadband providers rose Monday after the British government set out plans to boost full-fiber connectivity with the goal of having coverage across the whole country by 2033.

At 1004 GMT, shares in BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN), the retail broadband leader in the U.K., were up 1%, while shares in smaller competitors TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC (TALK.LN) and KCOM Group PLC (KCOM.LN) were up 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.

Newbuild homes will be required to have full-fiber broadband, while public investments will be made to provide coverage for rural areas, according to a government report released Monday.

The proposals aim to connect 15 million premises to full-fiber broadband by 2025 and achieve full coverage by 2033, as this infrastructure will be needed to support the rollout of 5G.

In the U.K., 4% of broadband connections are full fiber, compared with 89% in Portugal, 71% in Spain and 28% in France, the government said. Full-fiber connections are faster, more reliable, and more affordable to operate than copper-based networks, it said.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2018 06:34 ET (10:34 GMT)

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