[i.h]

Couldn’t they use a satellite internet service in those small examples where that’s the only option?

they could, but that's immensely inefficient compared to a broadcast platform (for as long as there are enough customers to make broadcast worthwhile) and a terrible use of limited capacity. User experience is also likely to be poorer as satellite congestion rears its head.

an ever increasing number of people in the UK can access superfast or ultrafast internet via copper or fibre, however. Ofcom's own statistics say 97% of the population can get superfast, ie 30Mbps or higher.

by the time Sky's satellite contracts expire I'd expect they could reach anyone worth serving via FTTP.