Broadband 'vital for millions'

Broadband access has "ceased to be a luxury" for people and is now seen as "vital" - which should help protect the telecoms sector during the economic downturn to come, according to the chief executive of BT.

Ian Livingston explained to the Financial Times that broadband is used by "millions of people" to contact one another, buy products and have fun.

Additionally, in the workplace the technology has become "a critical component of productivity", while it is extremely useful for firms to save on cash as they can use video conferencing rather than travelling.

However, he added that "[the telecoms] sector has some defensive qualities, but is not immune from recession".

In terms of the future, he said: "Government and regulators need to make sure that their actions are encouraging investment."

Mr Livingston also mentioned the fact that BT is "prepared" to spend £1.5 billion on fibre-optic broadband access for half the UK's households by 2010.

However, this is slightly at odds with a report released by analysis firm Point Topic at the end of last year, which predicted that just four million homes and businesses will use the technology by 2013.