BT on track for estimated £2bn windfall from selling old copper amid AI boom
Guardian AU Business
•Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:06:29 GMT
📰 What Happened
BT is on track for an estimated £2bn-plus windfall over the next decade from selling recycled copper cabling stripped out in its full-fibre broadband rollout. Openreach has received £99m upfront in a second forward-sale agreement with recycler EMR - after £105m in 2024 - covering about 20,000 tonnes of copper over four years, with more possible on the spot market.
🔍 The Backstory
Copper hit its highest-ever closing price of $14,294 a metric tonne on Friday, near its record intraday high, propelled by AI datacentre demand, electronics and renewables. BT is replacing the UK's copper network with full-fibre to 30m homes by the end of the decade.
🎯 Why It Matters
The windfall helps fund Britain's fibre rollout and offsets network upgrade costs at a time of heavy capital spending for BT. It also illustrates how the AI boom is feeding demand for the metals of electrification.
BT is on track for an estimated £2bn-plus windfall over the next decade from selling recycled copper cabling stripped out in its full-fibre broadband rollout. Openreach has received £99m upfront in a second forward-sale agreement with recycler EMR - after £105m in 2024 - covering about 20,000 tonnes of copper over four years, with more possible on the spot market.
Copper hit its highest-ever closing price of $14,294 a metric tonne on Friday, near its record intraday high, propelled by AI datacentre demand, electronics and renewables. BT is replacing the UK's copper network with full-fibre to 30m homes by the end of the decade.
The windfall helps fund Britain's fibre rollout and offsets network upgrade costs at a time of heavy capital spending for BT. It also illustrates how the AI boom is feeding demand for the metals of electrification.