BT Copper Windfall Soars Past $2.7 Billion as Global Demand Surges

BT Group's copper network is turning into an unexpected windfall as the telecom giant dismantles its legacy infrastructure. The company could generate over $2.7 billion in the next decade by selling recovered copper from its old landline infrastructure.

The valuation has climbed sharply to £2 billion, up from an earlier estimate of £1.5 billion, due to a global surge in metal prices and growing demand for the metal. Copper prices have reached an all-time high of $14,294 per metric ton, driven by fears of a supply shortage.

Openreach, BT's subsidiary responsible for replacing copper lines with full-fiber broadband, recovered nearly 10,000 metric tons of copper in its latest financial year and over 22,000 metric tons since 2023. The company has locked in part of the upside through recycling agreements with EMR, receiving £99 million upfront for thousands of tons of surplus copper.

Copper demand is expected to roughly double from 25 million metric tons currently to about 50 million by 2035, driven largely by electrification and energy-intensive computing infrastructure. This trajectory suggests BT's recovered copper could become even more valuable than current estimates indicate.