BT is always banging on about how it made good on its commitment to enable rural and remote exchanges for broadband, thereby allowing people in non-urban areas to benefit from new communications technologies.

So it interesting to note that although BT might claim it did all of this good work by itself in some instances it got paid out of public money to do so.

I suppose it might also worth noting that some of this money was secured through competitive tender - although not sure who competes with BT to upgrade and enable BT exchanges. Any insight out there?

Anyway, see Parliamentary Question and Answer (from DTI Minister Alun Michael) below and make your own mind up -

House of Commons Hansard
Written Answers
24 November

Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total amount of financial subsidies and grants received by BT has been since 1997 for the purpose of extending broadband availability in the UK.

Alun Michael: Since 1997 BT has received the following financial sums to enable exchanges to extend broadband availability in the UK:

East of England Development Agency paid BT approximately £500,000, to enable most of their remaining exchanges in BED A areas. This was awarded through the Broadband Aggregation programme.

Following a competitive tender South West Regional Development Agency awarded BT approximately £3,900,000 to enable some exchanges in the Cornwall area.

Following a competitive tender, BT in Wales was awarded £3,600,000 of European Structural Funding to upgrade over 40 BT telephone exchanges from UXD5, making ISDB2 services available to 99 per cent of BT lines. The investment was also used to enable Digital Subscriber Lines, ahead of the commercial roll-out programme for the UK, in BT exchanges in market towns across Wales. It is estimated that the total project value was around £6 million.

Following a full EU Procurement Process to extend broadband availability in the North East region, BT was paid £1,830,345. This sum is subject to a downward adjustment, in accordance with a reverse contribution scheme, which operates to repay money to the Agency if broadband take up in the region exceeds a prescribed level.

£364,000 was awarded to Vale Royal Local Authority acting on behalf of the Cheshire Digital Development Agency who, following a competitive tender through the North West Regional Aggregation Body, awarded BT a contract to enable of a series of remote rural exchanges in Cheshire.

In Cumbria, Your Communications was awarded a large infrastructure project (Project Access) contract for approximately £17 million following a negotiated, state aid approved OJEU competitive tender. Your Communications sub contracted part of the contract with a value of around £1,000,000 to BT for the early enablement of all the exchanges in Cumbria and specifically for the enablement of 14 exchanges in the remotest areas of the sub region.

In Scotland £16,500,000 million was awarded to BT following competitive tender. The roll-out has not yet been completed so not all the money has been paid as yet. The European Commission was notified under State Aid rules.

East Midlands Development Agency has worked with BT on a number of sub-regional strategic partnerships, to extend broadband availability. As part of the contractual arrangements confidentiality agreements were signed by the sub- regional partnerships to protect information as commercial in confidence. Accordingly, this information is not be available for disclosure.