BTwatch News
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PeoplewatchBT Peoplewatch: data and API commercialisation brought under new leadership
March 2026 edition: a wave of end-FY changes sees BT tap Verizon for a Group-level strategy appointment; bring in a new network procurement lead; and move data and API commercialisation under fresh ownership. Significant changes at Consumer and Openreach, while BT alumni pick up exec roles elsewhere…
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Network & InfraEE refreshes ESN fleet with Starlink connectivity
Operator rolls out upgrades its rapid response vehicle fleet with Starlink LEO service onboard as it looks to build Emergency Services Network resilience.
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Analyst BriefingBTwatch: Openreach gets innovative with fibre tech
Analyst Briefing: As Ofcom lays out its latest regulatory regime and rivals squabble over altnet consolidation, Openreach remains focused on fibre rollout. Deals with Google Cloud and a pilot with Lightsonic put the incumbent’s fibre deployment machine into overdrive, and showcase the potential value-add beyond pure connectivity…
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B2BBT completes £350m Scottish WAN migration
Group completes upgrade and migration of 5,000 sites in major SWAN milestone, two years after starting the programme.
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Network & InfraUK’s long-delayed ESN gets a new set of ‘realistic but ambitious’ targets
The oft-criticised Emergency Services Network is now expected to go ‘live’ in mid-2028, with a mass transition not set to complete until 2030 — more than a decade behind schedule. EE and IBM claim significant progress, however, and Home Office assures latest dates are within reason…
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Suppliers & SCMOpenreach taps Google Cloud for fleet migration, fibre planning
Suite of Google Cloud platforms and tools support Openreach’s fibre-building machine, ‘optimising’ the EV fleet and streamlining network planning.
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Analyst BriefingBTwatch: slicing 5G, steering 6G
Analyst Briefing: BT gets to work on 5G network slicing with Ericsson in a bid to leverage the network for B2B customers; while ‘committing’ with Nokia, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm to help shape early 6G thinking…
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Network & InfraBT taps Ericsson for programmable networks ‘building blocks’
MWC26: networks chief Greg McCall touts expanded Ericsson engagement as laying the foundations for dynamic, programmable, application-aware networks, with network slicing and APIs for real-world use-cases.
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Network & InfraBT gets in on 6G action with vendor triumvirate
MWC26: Group adds its logo to Nokia, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm 6G initiatives as BT’s tentative, sometimes dismissive view of 6G begins to give way…
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Products & ServicesBT Business launches UK sovereign voice with Cisco
BT adds to 35-year Cisco collab as it adds its first product to nascent UK sovereign platform.
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PeoplewatchOpenreach ‘joins up’ engineering in latest exec shake-up
Access provider sets up Service Operations team to house all engineering capabilities, bringing rural and run-of-the-mill fibre build, copper maintenance, and civil engineering under one roof. New CX team also launched to improve CP relations…
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Analyst BriefingBTwatch: management defiant against headwinds
Analyst Briefing: Q3 underlines a Group still wrestling with decline, but CEO Allison Kirkby uses fibre momentum, an imminent cash flow inflection, and a refreshed leadership team as evidence that a recovery is in the works amid reports of rising shareholder pressure…
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PeoplewatchBT Peoplewatch: Openreach names rural fibre and complex build chief
February 2026 update, including Garret Kavanagh as Complex Engineer lead at Openreach; new CISO at BT International; towers boss pivots to InfraCo brief; ex-BT tech duo exit cyberattack-hit M&S…
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Financial & PerformanceGuidance: BT’s difficult Q3 not enough to dampen spirits
Q3 FY25–26: Group reiterates modest forecast of a repeat of last FY’s performance. Promises of an incoming cash flow “inflection” reiterated…
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Financial & PerformanceIn depth: BT loses customers but claims to be building ‘momentum’
Q3 FY25–26: In patchy performance, BT International remains on the turnaround starting line, BT Business is limping heavily, and BT Consumer has not picked up the network advantage baton handed to it by Openreach. The latter, however, continues to put in work to provide management with something positive to talk about…
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Financial & PerformanceBT CEO ‘ignores the noise’ as pressure builds after tepid Q3
Q3 FY25–26: Allison Kirkby dismisses detractors as Q3 earnings underwhelm and reports hint at growing boardroom agitation. “I just keep my head down”, says indomitable CEO.
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PeoplewatchNew era: BT, Openreach start ‘next chapter’ with fresh energy, familiar faces
CEO reshuffle in depth: a rising star reaches her zenith as Openreach CEO; a reliable hand gets called in to take BT International into next stage of transformation; and a global B2B boss bows out…
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Financial & PerformanceBT CEO bullish in face of altnet challenge, Openreach line losses
Q3 FY25–26: Allison Kirkby says BT is biting back amid a fibreco incursion as Openreach passed 21 million premises and tops 38% penetration, but line losses continue to drag and seem to be tempered, not overcome…
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Strategy & ChangeBT International CEO goes ‘radical’, aims to ‘rip up the telco playbook’
Bas Burger offers a further glimpse into BT International’s roadmap, with a regional setup, multidisciplinary teams, and a sharper customer focus…
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PeoplewatchSchulman’s knife: BT procurement star looks Verizon-bound, supporting massive ‘turnaround’
In-depth: Verizon seems to be adding another European Galactico to its team, tapping BT Sourced founder Cyril Pourrat to spearhead a massive efficiency drive. New CEO Dan Schulman is targeting rapid elimination of $4bn in capex and $5bn in opex, and deployment of automation at scale. Pourrat offers battle-tested digital procurement strategies to a US-supersize turnaround story…