Overview
- BT said about 70% of recent broadband line losses occurred where full-fibre is not yet available, pointing to altnets exploiting coverage gaps.
- Management plans a new low-cost broadband brand under its consumer unit to win back price-sensitive users without diluting the EE and BT tiers.
- Guidance was reaffirmed as the company still forecasts roughly 900,000 line losses this fiscal year, with H1 group revenue down 3% to £9.8bn and pre-tax profit down 11% to £862m.
- Headcount fell by around 5,000 to 111,000 in the half, delivering nearly £250m of savings and taking total programme savings to £1.2bn toward a £3bn annual target.
- Openreach added 1.1 million full-fibre connections in the half and says coverage now tops 20 million premises, with the build on track to reach 25 million by end-2026.