Originally Posted by bottleofbest:
“BT bought the network off the government for a considerable figure, but the also inherited a load of regulations to go along with it such as they have to wholesale to other companies who can just start up from nowhere.
They also have to pay to maintain that network.
They didn't claim poverty at all; the government created the scheme and let companies tender for it. Both Fujitsu and BT tendered for the contract and Fujitsu pulled out. Leaving only bt willing to roll it out and then bank roll the rest themselves.
BT have surpassed Vms fibre reach now but have nowhere near the same level of take up and it is really hard to sell fibre to a majority customer base made of the older generation.
If it wasn't for BT this country would be left in the dark ages in terms of internet speed!”
“BT bought the network off the government for a considerable figure, but the also inherited a load of regulations to go along with it such as they have to wholesale to other companies who can just start up from nowhere.
They also have to pay to maintain that network.
They didn't claim poverty at all; the government created the scheme and let companies tender for it. Both Fujitsu and BT tendered for the contract and Fujitsu pulled out. Leaving only bt willing to roll it out and then bank roll the rest themselves.
BT have surpassed Vms fibre reach now but have nowhere near the same level of take up and it is really hard to sell fibre to a majority customer base made of the older generation.
If it wasn't for BT this country would be left in the dark ages in terms of internet speed!”
Surely all that happened was that BT was privatised - ie the ownership of BT changed from the Government to private shareholders.
Whatever assets BT had immediately before privatisation it still had immediately after privatisation. BT didn't pay the Government for any individual assets. The (new) private shareholders just paid the Government to buy the shares.
Now one could debate whether the Government sold the shares too cheaply but that's another matter.
Notwithstanding the above, some people say "but the network was built with public money" and of course that's true to the extent that the Government funded BT when it was owned by the Government.
But I do have one question re this matter. BT was privatised in 1984. That is now 29 years ago. So to what extent does the "network" now being used by BT still comprise of assets constructed before 1984?
I don't pretend to know anything about telecoms infrastructure but surely a very large proportion of the "network" has been either newly built or rebuilt since 1984.
NB. By "network" I mean literally everything - ie all the fixed assets involved - ie telephone exchanges, cables, poles and all related equipment.
So can anyone put a figure on what % of the "network" was built pre 1984 and what % was built post 1984?



