“I think a major move back into building sports rights and the pay-TV business is a long shot,” says Matthew Howett, an analyst at Assembly Research. “With potential movement in the future ownership structure of parts of BT it would be an unwanted distraction to move the focus from core connectivity back to content.”
In some remote locations, coverage will be "on demand" delivered by satellites.
"Affordability could remain a challenge with higher monthly rentals and considerable upfront costs. Subsidies could help bring those costs down," analyst Matthew Howett, founder of Assembly Research, told the BBC.
But Mr Howett said the expansion would help EE to position itself ahead of rivals - such as Virgin Media and O2 - among customers who value connectivity, whether rural or not.
"The importance of the network is only going to grow, particularly as more of the things we own and use become connected, and it's not just about the phone in our pockets.
"Whoever has the most advanced, widespread, secure and reliable network, is going to emerge the winner," he said.
“Satellite has long been touted as a solution to bringing broadband to the hardest to reach parts of the country, but has often failed to live up to expectations given costs and problems with latency,” said Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly Research, who added that the lower orbit of Oneweb and Starlink’s satellites “should go some way to reducing problems of latency”.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see partnerships emerge with others such as Starlink given BT and others will be looking for innovative ways to reach those remaining premises as part of their wider upgrade of the nation’s infrastructure.”
Matt Howett, founder of Assembly Research, says: “To me it looks like they can see the potential upside from the enhanced fibre roll-out that has yet to be fully reflected in the current share price.
“I'd say the lack of a seat on the board is a fairly good indicator for now that Drahi isn't looking to embark on a change of direction.”
Matt Howett, from analysts Assembly Research, added: "Recognising the need to be connected, and the financial hardship customers faced, many operators have taken steps to ensure access to vital services.
"We've really seen the sector step up and respond to the challenging circumstances many customers have found themselves in."
Analysts say Facebook’s actions in Australia are designed to send regulators worldwide a clear message: don’t touch the business model.
“It’s a conflict that is playing out in different ways, across multiple countries and I think what Facebook is doing is flexing its muscles, not only in Australia but also showing the rest of the world that it is prepared to take extreme measures if it's business model is threatened,” says Luca Schiavoni, Senior Analyst at Assembly Research.
“The message is: regulate us on things like privacy but please do not disrupt key elements of our business model”.
Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly Research, said: “We’ve already seen something of a shift in that direction given the restrictions that they’ve faced by being unable to license the Android operating system from Google in the US.”
Howett added that global politics have had a “profound” impact on Huawei’s success, but the company seemingly remains resilient and observant of new business pathways despite the US’s “sustained attacks”.
The current political climate has “forced” Huawei to develop their own operating system, Harmony OS, which will be developed further throughout this year, Howett added.
"The slowing down of the full rollout of gigabit capable broadband will impact productivity and cost tens of thousands of jobs,” said Matthew Howett, the founder of Assembly Research.
“If the infrastructure is not there to make the UK an attractive place set up shop then we miss out. That's really what we don't get back. That's gone for good.”
Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly Research, said: “The original target for 2025 was always an ambitious one, but crucially one that industry felt it could deliver with the right enabling regulatory environment.”
“While progress was made with that, a number of barriers still remain. To depart from the original target with four years still left to run suggests perhaps that mountains can’t be moved after all, and the remaining barriers are permanent ones.”
Another observer - Matthew Howett, founder of research firm Assembly - added: "The original target for 2025 was always an ambitious one, but crucially one that industry felt it could deliver with the right enabling regulatory environment.
"While progress was made with that, a number of barriers still remain. To depart from the original target with four years still left to run suggests perhaps that mountains can't be moved after all."
"We know these are the hardest to reach and most expensive households to connect, where there are real barriers and real costs to deploying broadband, and where further government subsidy may be needed," said Matthew Howett, founder of research firm Assembly.
"Sometimes eye-watering quotes might arise because of estimates made without full engineering surveys having yet been completed. We're still at the early stages of the scheme so Ofcom's investigation may result in useful guidance when calculating quotes for future requests."
Imagination Technologies this week confirmed the appointment of telecoms veteran Simon Beresford-Wylie as its next chief executive, marking a new chapter for the British chipmaker.
Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly Research, described Beresford-Wylie as a “well-liked” figure who was a “safe pair of hands”.
