She explained the Nordic countries are ahead of the UK in telecoms infrastructure due to better regulations and planning laws.
Kirkby (pictured) was speaking at the Deloitte and Enders media and telecoms conference.
She said, “What I would say is Scandinavia is way ahead of the UK. Part of that is very much driven by the regulatory environment, the planning environment and the general adoption of digital skills and digital services.”
She added that about 80 per cent of homes in Sweden are connected by entirely fibre-optic lines.
Kirkby joined BT earlier this year from Telia, a Swedish telecoms company where she was chief executive. She has spent the past decade working in Scandinavia.
Her comments were reported by The Guardian, with Kirkby also telling the conference she was looking for “regulatory and fiscal policy certainty” as we look to the general election and beyond.