UK aims to 'supercharge' broadband with BT regulation changes

Britain's telecoms regulator said it would "supercharge" investment in fibre broadband networks with major proposals to change regulation of the national Openreach network owned by BT. The new regime, which spans 2021-2026, will see different regulation for urban and rural areas which Ofcom said would help ensure nobody gets left behind.

Ofcom said it would also ease regulation on Openreach's ageing copper network in areas where full fibre is rolled out so BT does not have the cost of running two networks and to encourage customers to switch to faster services under the proposals.