BT to invest £6bn in network upgrade

The telecoms giant also pledged to improve its customer service under the major investment plans as it sought to appease regulator Ofcom, which has threatened to force a split of its Openreach fixed-line network arm.

Details of BT’s multibillion-pound plan came as it announced a 15 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £3.03bn for the year to March 31 after seeing revenues rise by six per cent to £18.9bn.

Part of the three-year initiative will see BT focus on replacing its ageing copper wire that most homes rely on for internet access, with aims to roll out fibre optics to two million homes and businesses - mainly in new housing developments, high streets and business parks.

It comes after Ofcom recently stopped short of ordering a split of Openreach, but told BT it must cut prices charged for high-speed lines, install more business lines and improve business services.

BT said the £6bn investment marked the first phase of a plan to extend ultrafast broadband to a minimum of 10 million premises, with aims for it to reach 12 million by 2020.

It also announced a raft of customer service improvements across the group to reduce the standard time to fix line faults by 24 hours as well as pledging to handle 90 per cent of customer calls in the UK by March next year.

The group added that Openreach will hire another 1,000 engineers this year to help improve its service.

Gavin Patterson, group chief executive at BT, said: “The UK is a digital leader today and it is vital that it remains one in the future.”

He added that the group needed to “work hard” to meet increasing customer expectations. “That is why contact centre work is being returned to the UK and why Openreach is aiming to halve the number of missed appointments within a year,” he said.

Ofcom told BT earlier this year that it must open up its Openreach network to competitors in its first significant review of the telecoms sector for a decade.

It is also enforcing tougher rules on faults, repairs and installations for consumers, clearer information on service quality, and automatic compensation for consumers when services are disrupted.

BT shares rose three per cent after its full-year results, which showed a boost from demand for its broadband and TV services.

The group, whose takeover of mobile giant EE was cleared by regulators in January, saw sales rise eight per cent to £1.19bn across its BT Consumer business, which supplies broadband, telephone and TV services.

It said the number of customers for its TV service surged by 28 per cent to 1.5m over the year.

But Sky said BT’s plans to extend fibre optics direct to premises did not go far enough and renewed its call for an independent Openreach.

Key points of BT’s £6bn plan

Superfast broadband and 4G coverage will be extended to more than 95 per cent of the country by 2020.

Ultrafast broadband will reach at least 10 million homes and businesses within the next four years.

Fibre optics will be rolled out direct to around two million premises.

Mobile provider EE will extend 4G services from around 60 per cent of the country to 95 per cent by 2020.

New customer service promises will see BT reduce the standard time to fix line faults by 24 hours.

BT is hiring 900 extra contact centre staff and another 1,000 engineers for its Openreach network.