Well, yes, obviously, what did anyone expect?

Despite the macroeconomic claims of that Modern Monetary Theory there is in fact no magic money tree. Something which BT is just proving again:

Faced with a share price collapse and a gaping pension deficit, BT will pass the cost of better broadband onto customers

Obviously, what did anyone expect?

The former state telecoms monopoly is to hike the price of its products by consumer prices index (CPI) inflation plus 3.9pc from March 31, raising hundreds of millions of pounds to help cover coronavirus costs and pay for broadband upgrades across the country.

...

BT shares nonetheless remain close to their lowest ebb in more than a decade amid fears over the costs of ultra-fast “full fibre” broadband upgrades and an ongoing review of its multibillion-pound pensions black hole.

Upgrading the broadband network is going to cost money, lots of it. Who is going to, who should, pay that bill? The people who use broadband, obviously. For there isn’t anyone else out there to do so. Even if we we start to insist that everyone should have broadband because it’s essential, therefore the taxpayer should pay. That’s still all - the users of broadband now being all of us by definition - paying for it, isn’t it?

We insist that consumers who upgrade from skirt steak to sirloin pay for it. We insist that those moving up from a £500 beater to a new car pay for it themselves. Moving from ASDL to fibre, get your wallet out. How could it be any other way?