BT unveils 156 extra superfast locations

Fibre

BT has announced a further 156 locations set to benefit from superfast broadband, bringing services to another 1.5 million consumer and business premises.

Most of the new exchanges will be up and running this year, although some will not be fibre broadband-enabled until the end of 2012.

Included in the additional locations are the 10 exchange areas which won BT Retail's recent Race to Infinity competition, during which people were invited to vote for their community.

Rural areas such as Caxton in Cambridgeshire and Marton, Warwickshire will soon be able to access next-generation services.

"We'll continue to work closely with industry and local and devolved authorities around the country in deciding where to deploy the technology next," said David Campbell, managing director of next generation access for Openreach.

Around four million premises can now order a fibre-based broadband service from their chosen supplier thanks to the BT rollout.

The news may do something to either temper or fuel the war of words between various ISPs and BT.

A group of providers, including Virgin Media and TalkTalk, sent a letter to the UK Government to complain about how much BT is asking them to pay for access to next-gen poles and ducts.

BT hit back, saying its prices for duct access compared "very well with European averages," whilst claiming its plans for pole access have been held up due to other ISPs delaying trials.

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.