BT hits a customer broadband high

BT yesterday said the proportion of new broadband customers using its own service hit an eight-year high in the final three months of last year as profits at the telecoms giant exceeded half a billion pounds.

By The Newsroom

Published 4th Feb 2011, 17:04 BST

BT said 356,000 customers were added by companies using BT’s network, such as Sky or Talk Talk, in the three months to December 31, up on the 253,000 gained in the previous quarter.

The firm said 53 per cent – or 188,000 – of these new additions connected using BT’s own broadband service, the highest proportion since 2003.

The group’s broadband television service BT Vision added 40,000 customers in the quarter, compared to 24,000 additions in the previous three months. This brought the total to 545,000.

The figures came as BT posted a 30 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £530m in the three months to December 31. BT returned to profit last year after driving down its costs, mainly through major job losses. It continued to make labour savings in the second quarter by employing fewer contractors and third parties.

Sky