BT scraps hunt for Openreach partner as fibre rollout costs fall

Company says cost of adding homes to new network has dropped 15%, and we can fund it ourselves'

BT has scrapped plans to find a joint venture partner to help fund the rollout of its next-generation broadband network to an extra 5 million homes, before a potential takeover move by the billionaire investor Patrick Drahi next month.

The company said it had abandoned plans to find a partner for its subsidiary Openreach because the cost of rolling out the new network had dropped significantly, and takeup by homes and business had proved better than expected.