Shareholders will be reassured by group’s decision to roll out full-fibre broadband alone
Hurrah, BT has seen the light. It has dropped the idea of forming a complicated joint venture to help fund the rollout of full-fibre broadband. That tentative proposal always smacked of a management obsessing about the short-term share price and fretting too much about possible takeover bids. Better to keep things simple by digging for Britain and getting the kit in ducts as quickly as possible.
The change of heart seems to have been prompted by the discovery that, when it concentrates on the job in hand, BT can take a chunk out of costs and thus finance the rollout to 25m premises by 2026 under its own steam. Average build costs have been cut by £50 to £250-£300 per premises, which is a serious saving. The capital expenditure splurge, which had been making investors nervous, will now peak at £4.8bn in 2023, rather than £5bn.