BT puts rural broadband expansion in place

As it expands its broadband reach throughout its service territories, BT Openreach is now turning its attention to its rural markets. To help fill in what the service provider calls broadband "not spots," BT Openreach will apply its "Broadband Enabling Technology" (BET), which it says amplifies signals on the copper pairs, in eight additional rural telephone exchanges beginning at the end of this month.

During the trials it conducted in Inverness and Dingwall, Scotland, BT Openreach said BET enabled it to deliver 1-2 Mbps downstream speeds over two bonded copper pairs to homes that were located 12 km from the CO. However, BT Openreach can't do it alone. To deploy the enhanced broadband technology, which it says will cost $4,919 per line, Openreach wants local state and local government entities to provide financial assistance.

"We're keen to work with local and regional authorities and other bodies with funding to discuss how the technology can be rolled out to their areas," said service deliver managing director John Small.

For more:
- The Register has this article

Related articles
BT Wholesale debuts new broadband wholesale service
BT unveils aggressive Fiber-to-the-X timeline