If scaling back largely non-existent plans was possible...
Last December, UK telco British Telecom called running fiber to the home "
premature," instead opting to milk copper for a little longer (like a few
baby bells we know here in the States). Then last July, the telco stated that barring "regulatory certainty" (industry code for government doing exactly what the phone company tells them to) they'd be spending $3 billion to offer a combination of both fiber to the node (FTTN) and fiber to the home (FTTH) technology at speeds up to 100Mbps. As is usually the case, the
press release was a little less sexy when you looked closely:
We will deliver both though the exact split will be driven by the interest shown by government and regional and local authorities. FTTP deployment will be focused primarily on new build sites such as Ebbsfleet and the Olympic Village whilst FTTN will be more prevalent elsewhere. Recent tests show the majority of ADSL2+ customers should enjoy speeds of around 10Mb or above with many getting substantially higher speeds. The technology is also improving all the time.
Investors and analyst are almost always
nervous nancies about investing significant amounts back into the network, as they lack patience and want immediate returns. Now with a recession looming, BT investors are getting cold(er) feet about the already fairly unambitious plan, and apparently have urged British Telecom CEO Ian Livingston to hoard the company's cash for a rainy day. From the UK's
Guardian:
"I have to tell you there are some shareholders who say 'you know something, don't (invest in more fiber), don't do a whole lot of other things. That leaves you with a lot more cash and cash today is worth a lot more than cash in a few years' time'," said Livingston.
The
Register notes that the future of communications in the UK "means nothing to BT shareholders if it means that they might get reduced dividends." Investors, of course, have the luxury of fighting upgrade plans now, then abandoning ship later -- when competitors are eating an ISP's lunch because they figured they could cheap out on future proofing your network in the age of DOCSIS 3.0 and HD video. Good luck with that, British Telecom.
