Broadband figures

BT Group PLC
04 November 2004


November 4, 2004
                   BT ANNOUNCES RECORD QUARTER FOR BROADBAND

BT today announced that the quarter ending September 30 2004 had been the best
ever quarter for wholesale broadband connections. The company said that more
than 600,000 connections were made in the quarter taking BT Wholesale's end user
base to 3,294,000. The news came in the week that saw the UK overtake Germany in
terms of broadband users per 100 people in the population.

Commenting on the figures, BT Wholesale CEO Paul Reynolds said: "These are
fantastic figures for BT, for the hundreds of service providers we support and
for Broadband Britain. The UK market is really taking off and we have just
overtaken Germany in terms of broadband take up. The UK already leads the G7 in
terms of ADSL availability thanks to BT's investment and so it is hugely
encouraging to see us also climb the league tables for broadband adoption.

"The huge surge in connections was largely due to BT Wholesale's innovation in
stretching the limits of ADSL so that homes beyond 6kms from an exchange can now
access broadband. This breakthrough led to a dramatic increase in orders as we
were suddenly able to satisfy the pent-up demand that existed in many areas. It
was also the case that many more communities had access to broadband in the
quarter thanks to the continuing roll out of broadband by BT".

BT also confirmed that BT Retail's share of the net additions for the quarter
had improved from 29 per cent to 30 per cent taking its installed base to
1,283,000 customers.

ENDS


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 BT
BT Group plc is the holding company for an integrated group of communications
businesses and 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.

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 network centric Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
solutions, 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 to
  over 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 to service providers including the
  provision of broadband, private circuits and PSTN.
• BT Global Services, providing ICT services internationally to meet the needs
  of multi-site organisations with European operations. BT Global Services
  operates in 136 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.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com





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