BDUK accused of favouring BT

BT is likely to win the vast majority of projects relating to the government's national broadband development scheme, a report from the House of Lords has suggested.

The publication indicated many smaller companies are unlikely to have the resources to compete with BT when bidding for a part of the £530 million funding the government is providing through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) to boost broadband access across the UK, PC Pro reports.

Speaking to the magazine, the executive of one company described BDUK's framework as "tailor-made for BT" and "utterly asymmetrical and useless for anyone else".

Division of funding between 50 local projects was highlighted by the Lords report as one reason why small firms are unable to compete, as the setup means only big businesses will be able to subsidise work in less-populated communities with income generated from schemes in dense urban areas.

"Networks within a local authority area may not be of sufficient scale to be sustainable without the assumption that the provider building the network already has scale across the country," the report concluded.

The Lords also criticised the setup of the scheme, arguing it could leave households and businesses in some areas behind in terms of gaining broadband access.