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Fujitsu sloshes £800m into lukewarm UK pension bathtub

Bumpkin broadband? Bah, urban pipe is where's it's at

Fujitsu has announced plans to pump £800m into its British business. The Japanese tech giant was last seen dropping out of the race for £530m in taxpayers' cash to install broadband in Blighty's countryside.

The Financial Times reported this morning that the company had decided to invest in the UK wing of the corporation, which has 14,000 staff.

Fujitsu signalled to The Register last week that it will concentrate on bidding for slices of the government's £150m pot of cash set aside to improve city broadband. The tech giant was flagged as "high risk" by some government departments shortly before the company left the race for the half-a-billion-pound subsidy for rural fibre rollouts.

But the company told the FT today that it is growing in the UK public sector particularly in defence and national security. According to the report, Fujitsu will halve the deficit across three of its pension schemes in Britain by injecting £800m into the UK and Ireland business.

Over the past 13 years, the company has apparently pumped £3bn into its Brit biz. In 2012 it spent £40m, of which £14m was splashed on research and development.

Fujitsu's UK boss Duncan Tait told the pink 'un that his firm planned to invest in infrastructure and operations. The company is also said to be eying possible acquisitions.

A spokesman at Fujitsu told El Reg last week that its biz tactics in broadband investment in the country had shifted. He said: "Our focus now is very much on urban and city opportunities with our partners such as CityFibre Holdings."

These are potentially crucial public-sector opportunities Fujitsu won't want to miss out on, considering the Chancellor's lack of financial support offered to the British technology market during his bleak Budget Statement to MPs last week. ®

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