Ofcom forces Openreach to give better network access to rivals
Virgin Media, TalkTalk and CityFibre are among the firms to benefit
Unified Comms
May 24, 2019
BT is targeting to connect 15 million homes by the mid 2020s
New BT CEO Philip Jansen announced the company has increased its superfast broadband connections target from 3m to 4m homes by March 2021.
By the middle of next decade BT is looking to connect 15m properties instead of 10m to speeds of 38Mbps. But the target is subject to “conditions being right” referencing future regulation and government rulings.
Jansen announced the fresh targets today (May 9) in BT’s full year 2018/19 financial results ending March 31.
Revenue fell one per cent £23.4bn due to declines in phone calls and regulatory price cuts in its infrastructure arm Openreach.
However profit before tax was up two per cent to £2.6bn but adjusted EBITDA was down two per cent £7.39bn
Former WorldPay CEO Jansen said: “We need to invest to improve our customer propositions and competitiveness.
“We need to invest to stay ahead in our fixed, mobile and core networks, and we need to invest to overhaul our business to ensure that we are using the latest systems and technology to improve our efficiency and become more agile.”
PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore added: “The new CEO has some tough decisions to make which will cause further disruption. This will hamper its ability to grow in the short term. Changes will not be made overnight and it is early for a new strategy approach by Jansen.
“In essence, the new CEO needs to consider a radical new strategic approach including the future of global services, Openreach and the importance of costly sports rights. BT is still uniquely placed given its vast network assets. There are no more excuses, it must now execute.”