Albacom acquisition completed

BT Group PLC
04 February 2005


 February 4, 2005

                      BT COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ALBACOM

BT announced today that, having received regulatory approval from the European
Commission on January 31, it has completed the acquisition of full control of
Albacom. BT's agreement to acquire the 74% not already owned from ENI, Mediaset
and BNL was announced on December 3.

Francois Barrault, President of BT International, said: "This acquisition is an
excellent opportunity for BT to further boost its pan-European position and to
deepen its presence in the key Italian market. Together with our recently
announced offer for Infonet, Albacom forms part of BT's increased capability to
supply networked IT services to multi-site organisations all over the world. We
are thrilled by the quality and professionalism of Albacom's employees, and are
delighted to welcome them to the BT family."

Inquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on its
 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK dial + 44 20 7356 5369. All
  news releases can be accessed at our web site: http://www.bt.com/newscentre



About Albacom
Albacom is the second largest telecoms operator in the Italian business market,
behind Telecom Italia, with an 11% share of the data services market. Albacom
provides data transmission, voice and Internet services to more than 240,000
Italian businesses and to international companies active in Italy. Albacom's
domestic network infrastructure comprises 8850 kilometres of wholly-owned fibre.
In addition to its head office in Milan, Albacom is represented throughout Italy
with offices in Rome, Turin, Bologna, Genoa, Padua, Florence, Pescara, Naples
and Bari and Palermo. It operates its own data centres as well as a state of the
art call centre.



About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions serving
customers in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. Its principal activities
include IT and networking services, local, national and international
telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products
and services.

BT consists principally of three lines of business:

BT Retail, providing fixed and mobile communications services and solutions and
IT and networking services to more than 20 million business and residential
customers in the UK. It is also a leading UK internet services provider.

BT Wholesale, providing network services and solutions within the UK to more
than 600 fixed and mobile operators and service providers including the
provision of broadband, private circuits.

BT Global Services, providing IT and networking services internationally to meet
the needs of multi-site organisations with European operations. BT Global
Services operates in more than 130 countries and also offers international
carrier services.

In the year ended 31 March 2004, BT Group's turnover was £18,519 million with
profit before goodwill amortisation, exceptional items and taxation of £2,013
million.

BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. British
Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and
encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange