BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) chief executive Philip Jansen has called on the government to make tax breaks for infrastructure permanent and shift the investment environment in Britain from “good” to “great”.
In an open letter to the government, Jansen said the introduction of the ‘super deduction’ in 2021 had enabled BT to accelerate the roll-out of superfast broadband to 25 million homes from 20 million.
“As economic conditions hardened over the winter of 2022-23, and the super deduction came to an end, those targets were under real pressure,” he added.
“That’s why the replacement of the super deduction with a new policy of full expensing was also critical: it allowed us to accelerate our capital investment by some £300m per year, to stick to the 25m target and to simultaneously increase the pace at which we were connecting new customers to the new fibre network.”
Jansen, who is standing down from BT shortly, added however that the new policy expires in two and half years so “a real gamechanger would be put these tax incentives on a permanent basis”.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is said to be considering this option in next week’s Autumn Statement, but Jansen said that with billions of pounds of investment at stake can the UK “afford not to”.
“This one measure could have a transformative effect in getting Britain building: not only digital infrastructure but much else besides,” he said.
Telia boss Alison Kirby will take over as BT chief executive from next January.