BT and Sky hail broadband gains
BT and Sky have both announced increases in the number of broadband customers they have.
In its results for the nine months to the end of March 2015, Sky said it added 100,000 new broadband customers, a 43 per cent increase.
BT revealed that its consumer revenue was up seven per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, with the company hailing its strong growth in the broadband and TV customer bases.
However, BT saw a fall in BT Business revenue over the course of the year, which the firm said was down to lower call and line volumes, caused by "the migration of customers to broadband and IP services".
BT also hailed its investment in broadband infrastructure as a "success story" for the UK.
More than 22 million premises have been connected to the company's superfast fibre broadband network, covering over three-quarters of the UK.
BT said: "Our rollout is nearly two years ahead of our original schedule and, following competitive tenders for additional funding, we continue to work with the government to help take fibre to 95 per cent of the UK."
John Whittingdale MP has become the man in charge of improvements to the UK's broadband infrastructure after he was named the new Minister for Culture, Media and Sport in Prime Minister David Cameron's first Cabinet reshuffle since securing a Conservative majority in last week's general election.
Sky explained that its results were affected by its UK broadband direct network costs increasing by four per cent over the nine months to the end of March.
The company pointed out this figure is "below the rate of home communications revenue growth as we benefited from continued scale efficiencies across our network".
Jeremy Darroch, group chief executive, said: "We took share in broadband and grew strongly in TV as our dual-brand strategy with NOW TV and Sky continues to deliver."
Businesses looking to move services into the cloud should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.
