BT issues major update over full-fibre broadband rollout to 25 million homes

The telecoms company has struck a deal with a recycling company and received the sum after entering into a forward agreement to sell copper granules, the Guardian newspaper reports.

BT has pocketed £105m in its first ever recycling deal for surplus copper cables. The telecoms company has struck a deal with a recycling company and received the sum after entering into a forward agreement to sell copper granules, the Guardian newspaper reports.

BT is replacing the old network in a £15bn rollout of high-speed full-fibre broadband to 25m homes. Openreach said: “As we look to recover and reuse scarce resources like copper in line with our commitment to sustainability, we estimate that as we replace old copper networks with fibre, we’ll be able to recover up to 200,000 tonnes of copper through the 2030s – in line with customer migrations.”

Copper is essential to all energy transition plans but substitution and recycling will not be enough to meet the demands of electric vehicles, new power infrastructure, and renewable energy generation.

READ MORE Drivers have £33-a-day charge axed in huge victory for motorists

Clive Selley, Openreach CEO, said: "Investment in full fibre needs to continue for the rest of the decade as the build extends to the more challenging and costly parts of the UK and the industry connects customers to the new networks. And for our part, we’re confident that we can reach 30 million premises by the end of 2030, assuming the right regulatory and investment environment exists.

"In that context, it’s vital that Ofcom protects the certainty and stability the WFTMR delivered. As a country, and now more than ever, we need to promote and maintain incentives to invest to help super charge UK economic growth. That includes the opportunity to realise the kind of returns that make massive infrastructure investments viable."

BT is building its new full fibre network across the UK, from rural villages to city centres, with 13.8m premises covered, equivalent to over 40% of UK homes and businesses already able to access ultrafast, ultra-reliable broadband. "We’re reaching more properties every day – including one million just in the final quarter.40%Our fibre geographic coverage in each," it says.