BT extends Broadband

BT Group PLC
8 April 2002

                                   
April 8, 2002

                   BT EXTENDS BROADBAND TO 100 MORE EXCHANGES

BT is bringing broadband services to 100 more exchanges in the UK following a
reassessment of demand in all exchanges based on the new costs and wholesale
prices that were announced by the company last month.

The 100 extra exchanges mean that ADSL services will be available to more than
two thirds of the UK population, a total of 16 million households, by the end of
May. Under the programme, more than 50 further cities and towns will be added to
the broadband map as well as gaps being filled in existing coverage.

Paul Reynolds, chief executive of BT Wholesale, said: "We pledged last month
that we would put broadband at the heart of BT moving forward, and today's
announcements show us doing just that. With the growth in demand following our
price cuts, these moves make excellent business sense for BT, as well as being
further great news for Broadband Britain.

"The work in these 100 exchanges is our response to customer demand. People have
told us, in sufficient numbers, that they want broadband services and the
advantages of always-on, fixed cost, fast access that they offer.

"We are also adding extra capacity in the current 1,010 ADSL enabled exchanges
to meet the significant increase in demand that resulted from the price
reductions made by service providers as they passed on our wholesale cuts."

"We will continue to look at the viability of more exchanges as we identify
sufficient demand, and expect to make further announcements in the summer."

Currently BT is reviewing about 500 exchanges which might next be upgraded.
Generally these are the bigger exchanges and tend to have higher proportions of
existing narrowband Internet users than average.

The wholesale price reductions, which have enabled service providers to drop
their charges to end user customers and so boosted demand, came into effect on
April 1. They were announced on February 26 by BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen
when he forecast one million ADSL customers by summer 2003.

Wholesale orders are now running at more than 10,000 a week, and escalating.

Demand from service providers and would-be end-user businesses and consumers,
along with intelligence gathered from local developers, planners and local
authorities, have prompted the extra engineering work on the next tranche of 100
exchanges.

     BT is also concentrating extra efforts on how to provide broadband to areas
not yet served or covered by future exchange upgrades. These include:

      • Developing current technology so that it can serve smaller numbers of
        customers in BT's smaller exchanges and still be cost-effective
      • Continuing to seek further ways of reducing costs with existing
        technology
      • Exploring alternative solutions - such as mesh radio and satellite -
        that might be used where ADSL is not technically possible or
        commercially viable
      • Working with others to draw up business models for a partnership
        approach to funding future developments and stimulating demand

Note to Editors

Details of the 100 further exchanges to be upgraded by the end of May can be
found at www.bt.com/broadband

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 [phone].

               All news releases can be accessed at our web site:

                           www.btplc.com/mediacentre





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