img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44832000/jpg/_44832495__44781703_broad226[1].jpg" align="left" width="226" height="170" alt="cables" border="0" vspace="4" hspace="4"p class="first"bBT will find out on Tuesday if it can proceed with the roll-out of a high-speed, fibre-optic broadband network./bpThe firm wants to invest £1.5bn in the network, giving up to 20 million UK homes access to speeds up to 100 Megabits per second (Mbps).pBT has made clear it will only make the move if regulator Ofcom allows it to get a decent return on that investment.pOfcom boss Ed Richards has already indicated he is likely to pave the way for BT to build the network.pIf given the green light, the network will be completed by 2012.pIn an interview with the Financial Times last month, Mr Richards said: "Regulation will not be a barrier to this kind of investment."pThe network would see the installation of fibre-optic cables to street-side cabinets, offering speeds of between 40 and 60Mbps, with about 1 million homes having fibre to the home and speeds of 100Mbps.pbCurrent barriers/bpBT in the past has urged Ofcom to nurture a "supportive and enduring regulatory environment" which includes removing current barriers to investment and making sure that anyone who chooses to invest in fibre optics can earn a fair rate of return.pThe communications company hopes to lease access to its new network to third-party Internet Service Providers and be given pricing freedom in order to earn a financial return on its investment.pCurrently Virgin Media is the only other provider of a fibre-optic network to a large number of people in the UK. Its fibre-to-the-cabinet offers speeds of up to 50Mbps.pAndrew Ferguson, editor of ThinkBroadband.com, said on the site it would be "no major surprise if Ofcom approved BT pushing fibre further out from the exchanges".pHe said: "The options for Ofcom were limited since if it refused BT then the only next generation like network approaching national coverage would be Virgin Media who currently offer no form of wholesale access."pphrpThis article is from the a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk"BBC News website/a. #169; British Broadcasting Corporation/pdiv class="feedflare"
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