I have hunted high and low for the answer to this question but to no avail.
I live in a small village about 4 miles from the nearest town where the telephone exchange is. Naturally my broadband is terrible (1mbps if the wind is blowing in the right direction).
I have just found out the exchange will be set up with Infinity on the 1st of June. Does this mean the rural areas served by the exchange are likely to be fibre equipped too?
If not, what is the likelihood of small villages being equipped with fibre?
Also, is there a rollout plan for Virgin broadband fibre or similar available anywhere on the Internet?
It's down to the accountants I'm afraid. They will look at how much it costs to install a cabinet then how many people are likely to choose to upgrade. Then it's just cost v. return.
Here's one possible example based on my limited knowledge:
£100k to install the cabinet.
100 premises.
Assume 100% take-up (questionable).
Needs £1k profit from each connection in order to break even.
The problems with the above (where the uncertainty comes from) are:
1.I've no idea how much it actually costs to install a cabinet. Different locations probably cost different amounts.
2.Number of premises varies.
3.Take-up is unlikely to be 100%.
4.What period of time will BT wait for the return? A year, three years? A decade?
5.How much of the monthly subscription we pay is actually profit for BTor?
Additional factors:
1.Are there any other organisations that will contribute toward it?
2.Does BT value the 'kudos' of providing a service at a loss?
3.Does BT consider it worthwhile covering off an area to 'shut the door' on competitors such as cable?
So basically it's a complicated business decision. Very few businesses set up shop in rural areas for very good (if unfortunate) reasons. BT is not a charity and in fact as a PLC it has a legal 'duty of care' to its shareholders not to waste money. Not that it stops it doing that from time to time