BT wireless customer results

British Telecommunications PLC
9 July 2001

July 9, 2001

             BT WIRELESS REPORTS CUSTOMER AND MOBILE DATA GROWTH

                   BT WIRELESS SETS NEW REPORTING BENCHMARK

      * BT wireless achieves first fiscal quarter organic growth of 3.1 per
        cent active customers

      * Genie customers grow 41% over the last quarter, to 5.5 million
        registered accounts

      * BT wireless today sets the new benchmark for reporting - for the
        first time, only active prepay customers are reported

                                 END JUNE 2001

 Operator    Pre-pay Post-pay         Active    % growth in active customer base
              active          customer base                  from 31 March 2001
             (000's)  (000's)  (000's)                     (like-for-like basis)
                             

BT             7,455   3,435         10,890                                 2.8
Cellnet                

VIAG           1,654   1,724          3,378                                 3.8
Interkom               

Telfort          636     199            835                                 5.3
                         
Esat             655     342            997                                 2.5
Digifone                 

Manx              14      19             33                                 3.1

TOTAL         10,414   5,719         16,133                                 3.1
              

BT wireless reports today active subscriber growth of 3.1% for the three
months ended June 2001, and applies a new benchmark focussed on reporting
active customers for the first time. It expects other networks will in due
course also apply and adjust customer numbers to set a welcome new industry
standard.

As a result of the decision taken by BT wireless, inactive prepay customers
registrations and related handsets sales have been eliminated from the
reporting of the customer bases of all the BT wireless operations. It believes
the overriding priority is to drive value and profitable growth and eliminate
the reporting of all inactive pre-pay customers.

From today, BT wireless will define pre-pay customers as active if they have
used the network within the last three months. There is no effect on contract
post-pay customer numbers. The number of post-pay customers and active pre-pay
customers will be described as the active customer base.

For the three months ended June 2001, BT wireless added 492,000 new customers
to its active customer base across its four key wholly-owned businesses, BT
Cellnet, VIAG Interkom, Telfort and Esat Digifone, an aggregate increase of
3.1 per cent, on a like-for-like basis. BT wireless now has an active customer
base of 16.133 million comprising 10.414 million pre-pay customers and 5.719
million post-pay customers.

BTwireless' success in the mobile data market has resulted in 5.5 million
registered accounts at Genie, its leading mobile Internet portal, a 41 per
cent increase of new registrations over the last quarter (ended 31 March
2001). Genie has also shown a strong usage growth of 37 per cent to reach a
monthly average of 103 million WAP page impressions.

Further evidence of the BT wireless drive into mobile data is provided by its
Telfort/Postbank partnership, an innovative mobile banking service in the
Netherlands.

More than 500,000 Postbank customers have already registered for pre-pay
handsets following the launch of this promotion during the quarter. These
subscribers, when connected, will be included in future reports of BT
wireless' or Telfort's customer figures.

Peter Erskine, chief executive officer of BT wireless, said: 'This is a
seminal year for BT wireless. Today's announcement sets a new benchmark for
reporting and shows our commitment to higher quality and profitable customer
growth, part of our focus as a demerged business. The change in our reporting
base is a logical and important step to help our stakeholders clearly
understand the underlying trends both in our business and the wireless market
as a whole.'

'The adjustment in our figures confirm our active customer base and as a
result we are well placed to grow profitably in a market where the pace of
overall customer growth is slowing. I am also delighted we continue to
leverage our strengths in mobile data.'

BT Cellnet

BT Cellnet, the UK arm of BT wireless, has a total of 10.9 million active
customers consisting of 7.5 million active pre-pay customers and 3.4 million
post-pay customers.

BT Cellnet added 301,000 active customers, an increase of 2.8 per cent over
the last quarter.

VIAG Interkom

In Germany, VIAG Interkom continues to grow. VIAG Interkom has a total of 3.4
million active customers: 1.7 million active pre-pay and 1.7 million post-pay
customers.

VIAG Interkom added 124,000 new customers, achieving a 3.8 per cent growth in
its active customer base since the end of March.

Telfort

In the Netherlands, Telfort has 835,000 active customers: 636,000 active
pre-pay and 199,000 post-pay customers.

Telfort grew its active customer base by 5.3 per cent since the end of March
2001, adding 42,000 new customers over the last quarter.

Esat Digifone

Esat Digifone has 997,000 active customers in Ireland: 655,000 active pre-pay
and 342,000 post-pay customers.

Esat Digifone added 24,000 active customers achieving growth of 2.5 per cent
in its active customer base since the end of March 2001.

Notes to Editors

BT wireless has a European footprint of cohesive wholly-owned operations in
the UK (BT Cellnet), Germany (Viag Interkom), The Netherlands (Telfort), the
Republic of Ireland (Esat Digifone), and the Isle of Man (Manx Telecom). BT
wireless also includes Genie, which is one of Europe's leading mobile Internet
portals. BT wireless owns third generation licences to operate 3G mobile
services in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands - all territories where it has
already launched GPRS services. We expect to apply for a 3G licence in Ireland
where the application process is expected to commence shortly.

BT announced on May 10 that it intends to de-merge BT wireless before the end
of this year.

                             --------------------

 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, or to Derek Bainbridge/Fiona Fong,
                           Brunswick, 020 7404 5959

         All BT group news releases can be accessed at our web site:

                      http://www.groupbt.com/mediacentre




                                  Appendix:

BT Wireless Customers for quarter to June 30th 2001

               Customer registrations at March 31st 2001 (000's)
                                    Pre pay             Post pay          Total

BT Cellnet                             7707                 3455          11162
Viag Interkom                          2026                 1694           3720
Telfort                                 744                  176            920
ESAT Digifone                           727                  332           1059
BT Wireless                           11204                 5657          16861


                  Active Customers at March 31st 2001 (000's)
                                    Pre pay             Post pay          Total

BT Cellnet                             7134                 3455          10589
Viag Interkom                          1560                 1694           3254
Telfort                                 617                  176            793
ESAT Digifone                           641                  332            973
BT Wireless                            9952                 5657          15609


                  Active Customers at June 30th 2001 (000's)
                                    Pre pay             Post pay          Total

BT Cellnet                             7455                 3435          10890
Viag Interkom                          1654                 1724           3378
Telfort                                 636                  199            835
ESAT Digifone                           655                  342            997
BT Wireless                           10400                 5700          16100


       Net additions to active base in quarter to June 30th 2001 (000's)
                                    Pre pay             Post pay          Total

BT Cellnet                              321                 (20)            301
Viag Interkom                            94                   30            124
Telfort                                  19                   23             42
ESAT Digifone                            14                   10             24
BT Wireless                             448                   43            491