BT Is Hiring 3,000 People This Year to Attack U.K.’s Broadband Problem

(Bloomberg) -- BT Group Plc is hiring 3,000 trainees across the U.K. to support its plans to roll out faster and more reliable broadband internet access, its infrastructure unit said in a statement on Monday.

Openreach, a subsidiary of the former phone monopoly, will use around half of the trainees to upgrade and maintain its national broadband network, the company said in a statement. The other half will work on its fiber broadband expansion program, and all new hires will be added in the next 12 months.

The U.K. is behind other countries in Europe in terms of access to fiber broadband, which the government says is faster, more reliable, and cheaper to operate than copper. The government said last year it aims to install a nationwide full fiber network by 2033.

“Demand for full fiber broadband is only going to increase,” U.K. Digital Minister Margot James said separately. "Through our modern Industrial Strategy we’ve worked hard to create an environment that will encourage commercial investment like this."

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