Broadband News

BT has 5 million broadband customers

Monday 21 December 2009

By Seamour Rathore seamour@consumerchoices.co.uk

A chip shop worker has become BT’s 5 millionth broadband customer, making BT the UK's biggest broadband provider.

BT Broadband (www.BT.com) is now the biggest broadband provider in the UK after it signed-up Glaswegian chip shop worker Elizabeth Patterson as its “five-million woman”.

BT says the rise of broadband is growing rapidly - it signed up its final one million in little over two years.

John Petter, managing director of BTs consumer division, said he was pleased with the strong BT take-up when there are 14 million non-fibre optic broadband customers in the UK.

He said: "We believe bringing the content of things like iPlayer and ITVPlayer to the TV set via broadband is going to have transformational effect when we launch Project Canvas with our partners next year.”

BT has also said it will make fibre broadband available to 12 million homes by summer 2012, several months ahead of schedule.

Ian Livingston, BT chief executive, said: “We need our politicians to decide how much of a priority fibre broadband is. BT is the only company currently planning to invest large sums in this area but we can only go so far with our shareholders’ money.”

Michael Phillips, product director at Broadbandchoices.co.uk, said: “It’s a good day for BT, which has had rivals like cable broadband provider Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) , and TalkTalk (www.Talktalk.co.uk) , which acquired Tiscali earlier this year, snapping at its heels.

“It’s taken this opportunity to push the debate on financial public sector support for Digital Britain and it will be interesting to see how the powers-that-be respond.”

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