Openreach
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M&A
BT said to explore TalkTalk takeover to fend off further customer losses
BT reportedly mulling opportunistic acquisition of financially and operationally challenged TalkTalk, which could help with shoring up defences against fibre altnets and competing in the low-cost broadband sphere. Includes fibre wholesale, copper shutdown, exchange consolidation intrigue…
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Financial & Performance
BT FY24−25 Spend: ‘on and off’ contractors help keep cost-cutting on track
BT’s long-running cost-cutting campaign is in full swing, with headcount cuts driving the savings. Capex continues to rise despite earlier promises, but the (revised) peak is in sight…
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Financial & Performance
BT FY24−25 In-depth: another year of transition
Group CEO Allison Kirkby has called the past year one of ‘transition’, but insists a turnaround is imminent. ‘Revenue pressure’ (see, decline) reflects a challenging FY for all divisions, but strategic and structural change at the Group may have set it up for delivery next FY and beyond…
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Financial & Performance
BT FY24−25 Guidance: free cash flow ‘inflection point’ in touching distance
Group misses revised revenue targets, and expects another fall to come, but groundwork has been laid for elusive ‘predictable growth’ two years out…
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Financial & Performance
BT FY24−25: no longer a newcomer, CEO Kirkby begins to make her mark
A year of mixed results, but CEO Allison Kirkby claims the strategic tweaks of her first 15 months are having an impact. A management team overhaul, a renewed domestic focus, and an apparent ability to capture investors’ imagination has set the Group on an upward trend, albeit with plenty of work to do to deliver on her vision…
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Financial & Performance
Openreach seeks another gear as altnets gain and CPs flop
FY24–25: BT CEO Allison Kirkby has tossed earlier promises of lower capex, instead fuelling an accelerated fibre build “now that we’ve got the engine humming” to bolster a defence against altnet incursions, and make up for CP shortcomings…
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Network & Infrastructure
BT secures slice of Welsh rural broadband funding
Duo to deliver £10m fibre to hard-to-reach premises in Wales under the Swansea Bay City Region’s Digital Infrastructure Programme.
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Network & Infrastructure
Openreach banks £157m subsidy for Scottish fibre build
BT’s wholesale access arm confirms latest Project Gigabit regional contract as it continues to stack up government grants for fibre notspots and chase near-£1bn-scale BDUK jackpot. Builds on controversial £600m, Scottish R100 awards…
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Network & Infrastructure
BT exploring Edge DC play via towers arm
With the decommissioning of copper networks and a focus on AI-ready infrastructure, BT is investigating edge data centres amongst new commercial models for its tower and exchange assets. Explore the strategic implications (including reporting from TowerXchange Europe)…
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Network & Infrastructure
Openreach’s new deputy CEO: fibre take-up accelerating, ‘and we can go even faster’
FTTH Conference 2025: Katie Milligan teases Q4 build and take-up figures as Openreach keeps up the fibre rollout pace. Altnets reframe competition battle around migration…
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Strategy & Change
BT ‘remains committed’ to diversity despite dropping DEI calculator
BT’s decision to drop the diversity, equity, and inclusion targets from its management bonus scheme comes as the corporate world reassesses the benefits of DEI measures. BT claims to be ready to move on with DEI already embedded, but has it reneged on commitments without first meeting targets?
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Financial & Performance
BT Q3 Spend: savings on track thanks to job cuts, network upgrades
Q3 FY24–25: Efficiencies delivered through headcount cull and fibre migrations, with BT on track to hit financial savings targets…
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Financial & Performance
BT Q3 In-depth: talk is good, but seeing will be believing
Q3 FY24–25: CEO Allison Kirkby remains optimistic about FY despite shaky Q3, but goalpost-moving last quarter left expectations low. The headlines are much the same: Consumer’s woe; Business’s rebirth; Openreach’s fibre charge. While the latter is still BT’s source of good news, there are awkward questions over each of the Group’s CFUs…
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Financial & Performance
BT Q3 Highlights: is the tanker beginning to turn?
Q3 FY24–25: 12-months in and CEO Allison Kirkby continues to impose herself on the Group with yet more executive changes, but the needle on KPIs has scarcely twitched. Management remains optimistic about prospects at Consumer and Openreach, but latest Business reboot smacks of overseas defeat, as Q3 trading update builds on now-familiar ‘wait and see’ mantra…
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Financial & Performance
In depth: Openreach line losses accelerate, fibre gaps widen as strategic vulnerability
Q3 FY24–25: BT’s wholesale division again reports strong financials and record fibre build, but a deeper look reveals a worrying trend of accelerating line losses. This analysis delves into the implications of altnet and Project Gigabit competition, eroding historic market dominance.
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Operations
BT electrifies fleet, charges on with EV infra transition
The BT/Openreach fleet inches towards zero emissions with a 3,500-vehicle order from Ford, Stellantis, Toyota, and Renault, backed by gov grants. Challenges remain, but Etc.’s charging pilot rolls on with a new focus…
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Network & Infrastructure
Openreach chases ‘one network’ architecture with Nokia Altiplano deployment
Access provider confirms Altiplano onboarding, adding further Nokia presence to FTTP infra.
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Financial & Performance
Kirkby ‘convinced’ of BT strategic plan despite scale of challenge
Q2/H1 FY24-25: BT CEO Allison Kirkby now settled into role and aware of mountain to climb, but no less confident of the Group’s strategic direction.
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Financial & Performance
In-depth: change is coming at BT, ‘trust me’
Q2/H1 FY24-25: Group CEO Allison Kirkby calls on investors to ‘trust me’ in wait for promised turnaround as revenue falters in first half of the year.
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Financial & Performance
Spend: BT past its peak, transformation agenda in full flow
Q2/H1 FY24-25: BT capex drops as Openreach fibre build keeps spend in check.