90% of UK to have 100Mbps broadband in 5-6 years

BT chief executive Ian Livingston has outlined the company’s vision for Broadband Britain to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the cabinet.

Livingston explained how the UK is set to strengthen its position as one of Europe’s leading broadband nations thanks to BT’s investment and the funds that the Government is making available via Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

The BT chief executive told the cabinet how the UK’s communications infrastructure could be transformed. Within the next five or six years, fibre based services could be available to more than 90% of UK premises with the majority able to access broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps or above.

Livingston also reassured the cabinet that this fibre investment would benefit areas that do not currently enjoy fast speeds. This is because the number of homes unable to achieve more than 2Mbps is set to plummet from 12% of homes to less than 2%. He also updated the cabinet on how BT is trialling new technologies such as TV White Space and LTE to improve this still further.

Ian Livingston, BT chief executive said “Super-fast broadband can be a catalyst for economic growth. We have recently recruited a further 800 engineers to help deploy it but it is what it can do for business that is so impressive. The Government has been a great supporter in recognising that this type of infrastructure investment can drive the UK’s long term growth.”