I’m a firm believer in celebrating all the milestones in life. (At right are some fabulous fireworks from Boston’s Independence Day celebrations, as shot by YG’s own Carl Howe from our offices that evening.) Tuesday was a good day for Anywhere–the world’s move to ubiquitous connectivity and all it will unleash–because British Telecom announced that it will provide the UK with more fiber for delivering broadband capacity to its citizens’s homes. (See this earlier post for a taste of the agita that’s been building around this.)

The good news: it’s a much-needed market signal. BT is showing commitment at a time when it would be easier to hold back. (Was its hand forced by Virgin’s more aggressive approach?) This should encourage other participants essential to making the Anywhere Network happen in the UK — competitors, equipment vendors, more.  BT says the fiber buildout will add 3%-5% to its capital expenditures each year for the next five years (with the first results in 2009). These spending levels will help boost the UK’s current household broadband penetration from 50% today to something beyond Yankee Group’s current CAGR forecast by 2011 of 28% (info here if you’re not a YG Connected View client). That’s one adjustment to our outlook we’ll be happy to make.

Like many milestones, it’s just progress, not a full victory. Some of the fine print:

• It ain’t all the way there. The plan falls short of committing to anything as ambitious as full fiber to the home, and rather is focused more on putting fiber in the access network up to the cabinet–a way-station to the consumer’s premises that means the capacity actually reaching the home won’t be as great as it would with fiber all the way there.
• It ain’t going to be 100% fiber. As part of the expanded broadband delivery, the company plans to use a copper-based broadband technology called ADSL2+; while better than speeds currently delivered by ADSL, it doesn’t offer the same bandwidth that a fiber-to-the-home link does.
• Language is fun. You have to love the marketeers who create phrases that suck us in. The BT release features this doozy: “super-fast broadband.” What does that mean, specifically? Even BT’s not sure. The Q&A in the release includes a question about how that’s different from “next-generation broadband”, but the answer doesn’t define it.
• Ofcom is the escape hatch. The commitment is clearly gated by what the UK regulatory body’s support will be for BT charging others to use what it builds. Our own take, from Dianne Northfield’s quarterly regulatory review: Ofcom’s making the right noises. But if Ofcom doesn’t step up, BT has pre-warned us all on its intent to slow or change plans.

Light those fireworks anyway, to mark off another step on the path to Anywhere — the pervasive, high-capacity connectivity fabric that will rock our world.