BT has confirmed it will roll out superfast fibre broadband to 66 percent of the UK by 2015.
Chief executive Ian Livingstone revealed the telecom giant's plan, which was predicted by the Financial Times earlier this week, at the same time as announcing its results for Q4.
Livingstone said BT would invest a further £1bn into the roll-out of the next-generation fibre network.
"We see the potential to roll out fibre to around two-thirds of the UK by 2015. This will take our total fibre investment to £2.5bn which will be managed within our current levels of capital expenditure," said Livingstone.
BT said its revenue for the year was £20.9bn, two percent down on the previous year but ahead of expectations. The ISP predicted its revenue for the 2010/2011 financial year would be in the region of £20bn again.
Originally BT had planned to offer the next-generation service to 40 percent of households, around 10 million homes, once the initial roll-out was complete. This was scheduled for 2013.
However in December last year, BT revealed it was ahead of schedule on the roll-out and was bringing the completion date forward to summer 2012.
"We have made good progress this year and have now set clear objectives for the next three years. We have improved customer service, are transforming the cost base and have more than doubled free cash flow, but there is still a lot more to do," Livingstone added.
Livingstone also revealed the ISP will enhance its TV offering, although it did not release further details.
See also: BT and Sky least likely to open up on broadband speeds
Comments
Chris Prosser said: I live in Pembrokeshire where the broadband speed is 1 mb if youre lucky I think BT should be concentrating on Uk coverage as opposed to overall speed
Cyteck said: From past experience BT will target the larger urban areas amp larger phone exchanges for fiber connectivity first So people in smaller towns amp villages and more rural locations wont get such a service for quite a long time would be my guess We will see a mix of ADSL2 so called up to 20megs and VDSL ulta high speed broadband 40megs One of BTs aims is to challenge the cable TV market which is dominated by Virgin Media and this is another motive for laying down fiber
Colin Richards said: I hope they give priority to poor broadband reception areas I guess that wont happen