British Telecom has announced its intention to invest £1.5bn in super-fast broadband, an investment that could bring fibre connections to 10m homes by 2012.
BT said that by providing fibre to the home it could make a number of new services available, and improve the speed of connections. However, the investment is dependent on a couple of factors, most notably regulation and business certainty, according to the firm, which wants to discuss its intentions with Ofcom, the telecoms regulatory body.

BT chief executive Ian Livingston said, “Broadband has boosted the UK economy and is now an essential part of our customers’ lives. We now want to make a step-change in broadband provision which will offer faster speeds than ever before… This is a bold step by BT and we need others to be just as bold. We are keen to partner with people who share our vision for the next phase of the broadband revolution. We want to work with local and regional bodies to decide where and when we should focus the deployment. Our aim is that urban and rural areas alike will benefit from our investment”.

The telco believes that it needs a 'supportive and enduring regulatory environment" in order to proceed, adding that any other participating firms should be sure of a return on their investment.