BSkyB and Talk Talk are launching a joint research and development project to better understand the technical and commercial aspects of the next stage of the BT Openreach fibre rollout.
The two companies plan to deploy a small-scale fibre-to-the-home network that would cover some 3,600 homes in North West London. In doing so the two companies hope to gain insight into potential service offerings, usage patterns and delivery costs.
Although it runs its own unbundled network, the former Easynet business, BSkyB has not given any previous indication that fibre might be on its roadmap, though this is not the first time it has participated in such a trial. In a statement Talk Talk said the costs of the project would be shared between the two companies and were “not material”.
BT has announced plans to invest up to £2.5 billion in fibre-based technologies, which it says could be made available to two-thirds of UK households by 2015, economic conditions permitting.
