BT is set for a windfall estimated at more than £2bn over the next decade from selling off redundant copper cabling as it replaces the UK's old telephone network with full-fibre broadband. The company is benefiting from a surge in copper prices, driven by soaring demand from AI datacentres, electronics manufacturing and the renewable energy sector, which recently pushed the metal to a record high price.

BT has a recycling deal with EMR, the UK's largest cable granulation firm, and has received £99m upfront for surplus stripped copper, following a £105m payment in 2024. The company recovered almost 10,000 tonnes of copper in the year to March, nearly three times the previous year's total, with Openreach ultimately expecting to recover up to 200,000 tonnes as it moves customers onto fibre through the 2030s. The soaring value of copper has also fuelled a rise in theft from telecoms infrastructure, with recent incidents in Cambridgeshire, the New Forest and Northern Ireland disrupting service to hundreds of homes and businesses.