BT to roll out fibre broadband to 41 market towns

BT has released a list of 41 market towns that will benefit from the next phase of its fibre deployment, giving about 300,000 businesses and consumers  access to broadband speeds of up to 40Mbit/s.

BT is set to invest up to £2.5bn in delivering fibre broadband to two-thirds of UK homes and businesses, and the market towns announced today can expect to receive the service by spring 2012.

Steve Robertson, CEO of Openreach, BT's local network business, said: "We want to extend the fibre footprint and the benefits the technology brings to more rural areas."

By focusing its cabinet deployment on the most populated areas of more rural exchanges, BT claims to be providing access to as many users as possible within the economic constraints it is under.

Although BT estimates that a large number of premises in the towns will benefit from the service, it  admits that some will not be able to receive the services initially for a combination of technical and economic reasons.

BT said it hopes that through discussions with local council representatives an agreement can be reached to incorporate excluded premises.

"The inclusion of 41 market towns in our rollout plan firmly demonstrates our commitment to finding solutions for local communities. However, in many cases, this will require a collective effort. An infrastructure project on this scale can only be done in partnership. We're keen to talk to public and private sector organisations about how this can be achieved," added Robertson.