30 October 2008
As many as four million British homes and businesses will be using high-speed fibre broadband by 2013, according to the research firm Point Topic. It calculates that through BT's fibre broadband plans and the entrance of other providers into the market, penetration of high speed services will increase substantially over the next five years. Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic, said: "This is probably the first moment when it has been possible to make a plausible forecast for fibre in the UK, based on some real plans and activity." BT has pledged to bring superfast broadband to ten million homes by 2012, but Point Topic claims it is likely to take much longer to reach this target. However, in five years' time, four million users will be switched on to high-speed connections, it forecasts. The chief executive of BT said recently that competition is needed in the market for superfast broadband to ensure that companies investing in the area are able to make a "reasonable return".