BT Pledges To Invest In UK’s Digital Infrastructure
May 17th
Telecommunications provider BT has announced that it intends to continue furthering investment in the digital infrastructure here in the UK, with chief executive Gavin Patterson saying Openreach is now working with industry stakeholders and customers to promote a fibre-to-the-premises rollout on a large scale around the country.
Mr Patterson explained that the company has made waves in numerous areas over the last year, including the integration of EE which he says is going well, while progress has been made with regards to improving customer service across the group.
EE CEO Marc Allera has just come out and said that BT will merge the company into its wider business over the next four years. EE was purchased for £12.5 billion in 2016, but has so far retained its own senior executives and branding, operating as a subsidiary of BT for the time being. Some interaction between the two companies has been seen, however, such as BT Sport being available to EE customers for free.
“We aspire to be the UK’s digital champion. To achieve this, we’re ready to invest in the UK’s digital infrastructure, in continued improvements in our customer service, and in new technologies to further enhance customer experience,” he went on to say.
The CEO’s comments came in response to the company’s latest quarterly results for the fourth quarter and year to March 31st 2017. It was revealed that investing for growth with fibre broadband has now passed over 26.5 million premises. In mobile, 4G coverage now covers 80 per cent of the landmass in the UK!