Chancellor welcomes BT’s investment into the UK’s best networks

Full fibre broadband and 5G+ mobile now reach two thirds of homes & businesses

1. BT Group’s full fibre broadband network now reaches two thirds of the UK’s homes and businesses and its 5G+ mobile network reaches 69% of the population.
   
   
2. The company has shared plans to extend full fibre to 30 million homes and businesses and bring 5G+ to 99% of the population.
   
   
3. BT is currently one of the biggest investors into UK infrastructure and will have invested more than £40bn into the country between 2020 and 2030.
   
   
4. This investment forms part of BT’s existing capital expenditure plans and its financial guidance for the current year, next year and the end of the decade remains unchanged.

The Chancellor today welcomed BT Group’s plans to continue to upgrade the UK’s digital infrastructure – as the company celebrated its full fibre broadband and superfast 5G+ networks reaching two thirds of homes and businesses across the country.

Delivered through its infrastructure arm, Openreach, BT Group’s record-breaking full fibre build is the fastest in Europe, now reaching 22 million premises. To mark this milestone, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP visited an Openreach training centre in Crawley, meeting some of the engineers and apprentices who make the build happen.

Full fibre is the UK’s most reliable broadband technology. BT Group plans to bring full fibre to 30 million UK homes and businesses, beyond the existing target to reach 25 million premises by the end of this year. This includes hard-to-reach rural areas, and runs alongside Government’s Project Gigabit initiative, which expects 99% of premises to have access to a gigabit-capable connection by 2032.

BT Group will also expand the UK’s best mobile network, EE, to bring 5G+ coverage to 99% of the population by Spring 2030 (up from 69% today). EE has been consistently rated the UK’s best mobile network 25 times in a row by the impartial network data experts at RootMetrics.

Combined, these plans are worth £5bn in investment. They will extend full fibre broadband and superfast 5G+ mobile to millions more people and businesses across the country, enabling better connections, faster streaming, more reliable remote working, improved online public services, and fuelling growth, productivity, jobs and skills.

BT is currently one of the biggest investors into UK infrastructure and will have invested more than £40 billion into the country between 2020 and 2030. This next stage of investment is enabled by the greater fiscal and regulatory certainty provided over the past year – including the 2025 Budget and this week’s Mobile Market Review and Statement of Strategic Priorities. The plans assume a regulatory framework that supports fair competition and investment in Ofcom’s forthcoming Telecoms Access Review, expected in March 2026.

Allison Kirkby, BT Group Chief Executive, said: “No one is going further or faster than BT to build the UK’s best networks. Millions of people and businesses rely on us every day to work, learn, stream and stay in touch. We’re investing so our customers and the country can continue to do brilliant things on our networks.

“This investment only happens when the environment is stable and supportive. We welcomed last year’s Budget and this week’s updates to the UK’s telecoms strategy. We’re urging Government and Ofcom to stay bold and keep supporting investment. The more people, businesses and society connect, the more our networks fuel skills and growth.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “This investment by BT will boost connectivity, productivity and growth across the UK. It supports our plan to continue to build a stronger and more secure economy, cutting the cost of living, cutting the national debt and creating the conditions for growth and investment in every part of the country.”

• Sustained growth in adjusted group revenue and adjusted UK service revenue from FY27 and EBITDA growth ahead of revenue, enhanced by cost transformation;
• Annual capital expenditure excluding spectrum reducing by more than £1bn from FY26 level;
• Normalised free cash flow of c. £2.0bn in FY27 and c. £3.0bn by the end of the decade.
  
  

BT Group is the UK’s leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications and related secure digital products, solutions and services.

BT Group consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer serves individuals and families in the UK; Business covers companies and public services in the UK; International serves multinational organisations headquartered outside the UK and overseas public sector customers; Openreach is an independently governed, wholly owned subsidiary wholesaling fixed access infrastructure services to its customers – over 700 communications providers across the UK.

British Telecommunications plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/about