BT on track for estimated £2bn windfall from selling old copper amid AI boom
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.
- BT expects over £2bn from recycling old copper cabling
- Copper prices hit record highs amid AI-driven demand
- Rising copper value has also spurred cable theft incidents
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BT operates the UK’s telephone and broadband network, much of which was built with copper cabling. Its network arm, Openreach, is replacing older connections with fibre, which carries data using light and can support faster broadband.
As the old cables are taken out of service, their copper can be recovered and sold. The amount BT may recover depends on how quickly the network is replaced and the value of copper, whose uses include electronics, power systems and equipment for data centres.
The change also has wider effects: copper is a valuable material, and cables left in telecoms infrastructure can be targeted by thieves. Cutting those cables can interrupt phone and broadband services for homes and businesses.
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