BT denies fibre rollout roadblock

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 7 Aug 2009 at 10:38

BT has denied that its fibre rollout has hit a roadblock after complaints from residents in London's Muswell Hill.

BT has begun pilot tests of its fibre-to-the-cabinet technology in London and Cardiff, however, a report in The Times this morning claimed the rollout in Muswell Hill had been halted after complaints from residents that the cabinets were blocking pavements for pedestrians.

BT claimed the scale of the problem had been exaggerated: "The pilot has not 'halted' as claimed in this article. The majority of cabinets have been successfully installed in Muswell Hill and customers are already enjoying super fast broadband," says BT in a statement.

"There is an issue with a small number of cabinets in a conservation area and Openreach are in dialogue with the council on a solution," the statement concludes.

BT would not say how long it expects the rollout to be delayed, or whether it had received complaints from residents in Wales.

The telecoms company expects to reach 10 million premises with its fibre network by 2012, with a guaranteed minimum speed of 15Mbits/sec.