Message from BT's CEO (Gavin Patterson). May interest some of the members re; G.FAST ?
Q3 financial results 2014-15
Overall this quarter we’ve delivered good growth in profit and strong free cash flow.
Openreach achieved the highest growth in the number of landlines on record. It was also our best ever quarter for fibre broadband net additions. All the major communications providers are responding to the strong market demand for fibre broadband, helping to drive take-up in what is already a very competitive market.
Our superfast fibre broadband network now covers around three-quarters of the UK. As you know BT has been at the forefront of fibre innovation and investment, from which all communications providers benefit - and we aim to keep it that way. That’s why today I’m announcing our ambition to transform the UK broadband landscape from superfast to ultrafast via a widespread deployment of “G.fast”.
This is an innovative technology which we expect to offer initial speeds of a few hundred megabits per second to millions of UK homes and small businesses by 2020. Speeds will then increase to around 500Mbps to most of the UK within a decade, as further industry standards are secured and new kit is developed.
Pilots of ultrafast broadband with G.fast will take place this summer and we’re prepared to upgrade large parts of our network should the pilots prove successful. That upgrade will depend however on there continuing to be a stable regulatory environment that supports investment.
On mobility, we’re making good progress on our due diligence in relation to a possible acquisition of EE and will make further announcements in due course. In the meantime, our Consumer mobile launch plans remain on track. Tune in on Monday to the next edition of AudioByte for more details on our mobility strategy.
Going forward, our goal of delivering sustainable profitable growth remains a key priority for us. Not only does it provide us with options to invest in new technology such as fibre and mobility, our focus has enabled us, based on the strength and sustainability of our future cash flow generation, to agree a new 16-year recovery plan with the Trustee of the BT Pension scheme. This is a good outcome for BT and the scheme, and demonstrates that we are a much stronger company than we were three years ago.
Continuing to execute on our plans, particularly in Q4, is paramount. Please remain focused and committed to deliver. This will allow us to start the new financial year in the right place.
Finally, thank you to everyone for their efforts in putting the customer first. I was delighted to see the range of activity and ideas during our pan-BT #mycustomertoday online event earlier this month. Remember you can continue to add your views, recognise colleagues who are delivering great customer service and share with others what you’re doing to put the customer first.
Here’s to a great fourth quarter.
Gavin
