BT loses broadband battle for rural homes

BT has been dealt a blow by the Government after its offer to connect 1.1 million rural homes to superfast broadband was rejected in favour of giving UK consumers and business owners a legal right to high-speed broadband by 2020.

Ministers decided that the benefits of BT’s proposed voluntary approach were not strong enough to outweigh formal regulation. “We know how important broadband is to homes and businesses and we want everyone to benefit from a fast and reliable connection,” Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said. BT eased 1.1p to 272p.

Consumers all over the UK will have the right to broadband with speeds of up to 10Mbps by 2020. BT, whose boss is Gavin Patterson, said it “respected the decision” and through its network business Openreach would “get on with the job of making decent broadband available to everyone in the UK”.

BT rivals Sky and TalkTalk had raised the possibility of legal action if Government accepted BT’s offer, because the £600 million cost would have been spread across the industry.