Again, that and the nascent optic fibre industry was killed by government regulation. The Conservative government of the time decided that they wanted to open

Again, that and the nascent optic fibre industry was killed by government regulation. The Conservative government of the time decided that they wanted to open up the cable tv market. They didn’t want the incumbent BT dominating the market so they banned them from carrying TV services. No TV, no products requiring fibre to the home. BT quietly dismantled all of the infrastructure they’d put together to manufacture fibre products. Like Europe’s largest cleanroom for instance. The market ended up split between two foreign companies, Telewest and NTL, using coax.