Broadband heads towards 5 million users in the UK

4 April 2005 23:27 GMT / By Stuart Miles

BT is due to announce its 5 millionth wholesale broadband connection this week as it reaches a crucial milestone nearly a year ahead of schedule.

BT states that more than 95 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK are now connected to broadband-enabled exchanges, with the figure set to reach almost 100 per cent by the summer.

"The momentum of broadband is continuing to build," said Ben Verwaayen, BT chief executive, in a statement. "The latest million connections have come in just four months, and BT is connecting a customer every ten seconds"

BT's retail arm, BT Openworld only accounts for 35 per cent of the total figure which has been accrued mainly from service providers across the UK.

In the last four months BT said it had connected up one million people to broadband.

But its not just BT that is paving the way for a connected Britain. Cable firms Telewest and NTL are thought to have connected at least two million people in the UK.

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Software, Networking, Broadband, BT