BT poised for 10 millionth broadband connection

BT said today it would make its 10 millionth broadband connection this week, twice the number it had envisaged five years ago.

The British broadband market is one of the most competitive in the world, with 13 million people hooked up to one of the 200-plus service providers via BT’s network or a cable company.

In April 2002, BT said it planned to provide the infrastructure for five million broadband internet connections by the end of 2006.

Improvements in service availability and high levels of consumer demand have seen the company double that number.

Chief executive Ben Verwaayen said: “2007 is beginning with broadband firmly established at the heart of the UK economy, helping businesses to compete and enriching people’s lives.”

BT provides the broadband infrastructure and sells use of the lines through its wholesale and Openreach divisions.

The wholesale arm delivers broadband to 8.7 million people in the UK through 200 service providers including Pipex, Virgin and BT Retail.

Meanwhile, 1.3 million lines are provided through Openreach, which works with bigger broadband firms such as Carphone Warehouse and BSkyB.

At the moment, 10 million broadband connections are made on BT’s UK network compared with three million on cable providers such as NTL and Cable & Wireless.

BT said its share of the broadband market has “remained steady” at around 24%, with three million customers subscribing to its own-brand service.

It confirmed today that an offer for Sheffield-based broadband provider PlusNet was almost complete after it secured a large chunk of shareholder support.

In November, BT offered a package worth £67m (€99.5m) for PlusNet, which provides sophisticated broadband packages to around 200,000 people.

New-wave products such as broadband and IT services now account for 35% of BT’s revenues, compared with 30% last year, after the company grew sales in this area by 21% to £1.74bn (€2.6bn) in the three months to September 30.

It has faced tough pressure in the broadband market as rival firms offer cut-price deals and combined telephone, broadband and TV packages.

Mobile-phone retailer Carphone Warehouse said today it had completed the acquisition of the UK’s third-largest internet provider, AOL UK.

The £370m (€549.5m) deal, which was first announced in October, gives Carphone just under a fifth of the UK broadband market with an estimated two million customers.