BT Projects £2 Billion Gain From Copper Cable Sales

The telecommunications company BT expects to generate more than £2 billion over the next decade by selling old copper cabling. This revenue comes as the company transitions the United Kingdom's network to full-fibre broadband and capitalizes on high copper prices driven by renewable energy and AI data center growth.

Through its subsidiary Openreach, BT has secured forward sale agreements with EMR, the largest cable granulation company in the UK. These deals included a recent upfront payment of £99 million and an additional £105 million in 2024. Openreach anticipates recovering up to 200,000 tonnes of high-grade copper through the 2030s.

To protect these assets from rising theft, Openreach implemented anti-theft measures such as UV tracers and SelectaDNA synthetic DNA. These efforts contributed to a 30% decrease in cable theft during 2024.