Vodafone to lay ultra-fast broadband cables

UP TO five million homes and businesses could get ultra-fast broadband by 2025 after Vodafone launched an assault on BT’s dominance of the cable network.

The mobile phone firm plans for a dozen cities across the UK to have fully fibre-optic connections at gigabit speeds – about 27 times faster than standard broadband.

The telecoms market has been engulfed in a spat over the role of BT’s Openreach arm, which has been responsible for the wires laid in streets. Rivals condemn Openreach for continuing to use copper, leaving many homes with inferior connections. Vodafone claims its venture with network provider City Fibre will give its customers access to a better product at lower cost, with the first connections due next year.

On bonfire night, frustrated villagers in Templeton, Devon, burned a giant effigy of a BT Openreach van in protest after suffering years of slow broadband speeds.

Nick Jeffery, chief executive of Vodafone UK, said: ‘The UK has fallen far behind the rest of the world, trapped by the limited choice available on legacy networks.’

Openreach insisted last night that it welcomed the competition.