BTINTERNET UNVEILS STRATEGY

British Telecommunications PLC
15 December 2000

 
December 15, 2000

              BTINTERNET UNVEILS STRATEGY TO MAINTAIN LEADERSHIP
                            IN UK INTERNET MARKET


  * BTinternet first in UK to launch a multi-access portal with POP

  * BTinternet Anytime to roll-out from January giving customers 24/7
    internet access

  * New figures reveal BTinternet as UK unmetered access leader, with
    500,000 customers

BTinternet, BTopenworld's leading Internet service provider, today outlined
its strategy for winning in the UK Internet access market with a series of
announcements, including the portal's latest growth figures.

  * In January, BTinternet will launch the UK's first multi-access portal -
    'POP', the personalised Openworld portal. POP allows customers to create
    and access a personalised BTinternet portal from multiple web devices.
    Initially, this includes PCs, WAP mobile phones and handheld devices such
    as PalmPilots. Interactive TV will launch soon after.
  * From January, BTinternet also rolls-out 'BTinternet Anytime' offering
    customers all day, everyday Internet access for £14.99 per month with no
    additional call charges. BTinternet's existing customers will be invited
    to take up BTinternet AnyTime in January, with the product opening up to
    new customers shortly after. New customers will be able to register their
    interest in BTinternet Anytime from today via the BTinternet homepage or
    by calling 0800 328 4991.
  * BTinternet latest user figures also revealing strong growth. This week,
    the portal signed up its half-millionth unmetered access customer, making
    it the UK's largest unmetered Internet service provider. Now more than 60
    per cent of BTinternet's 800,000 registrations subscribe to one of the
    portal's popular unmetered access products - a figure that is growing at
    an average rate of 20,000 new customers a week.
  * New figures also show BTinternet's overall portal growth remains strong.
    Since July, the number of unique visitors to BTinternet grew nearly 85 per
    cent, from around one million in July to nearly two million in October,
    positioning the portal in the top ten of all UK domains according to MMXI.
    BTinternet's page impressions also leapt from around 20 million in
    September to more than 37 million in October when BTinternet was the
    fourth most used Web site in the UK, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Ben Andradi, president and chief operating officer of BTopenworld, said:

'Today's announcements and our latest figures are a perfect end to a
phenomenal year for BTinternet. Since January our customer base has grown from
180,000 to more than 800,000 registrations and we now have nearly two million
users who are turning to BTinternet for its increasingly rich content and
shopping.

'Our leadership in fixed and mobile, through Genie, unmetered Internet access
also supports our strategy to lead the second wave of Internet growth marked
by the coming of mobile and broadband services and the adoption of the
Internet by the mass market.'

BTinternet's use of BT Ignite's Internet-protocol (IP) network infrastructure
- the largest of its kind in the UK - will ensure the portal maintains its
five star quality rating with the roll-out of these additional services. BT
Ignite's million pound plus investment in building an IP network, which was
recently awarded an A+ rating by Visual Networks, allows BTinternet to
effortlessly manage heavier Internet traffic.

Andradi added: 'As customers spend more time online, they're realising that
reliability and connectivity are the critical drivers of value. In this area
BTinternet is consistently rated as one of the leading major ISPs by
independent industry barometers such as Net-Basics, which is why more and more
customers are turning to us.'

BTinternet will introduce a series of new services, as part of POP, to enhance
the customer experience even further, including instant messaging and a
personal organiser calendar. BTinternet already includes a comprehensive set
of communications services - free text messaging to any mobile phone, email
alerts to mobile phones which lets you know when an email arrives and
SpeechMail, which allows you to have emails read over the phone.

                                   - ends -
About BTinternet:

BTinternet is one the UK's leading internet service providers offering
customers an excellent choice of great value payment options to suit their
internet needs. For £9.99 per month, BTinternet for SurfTime provides
customers free internet access every evening and all weekend, plus a daytime
call rate of just 2p a minute*. Customers can also choose 'Pay-as-you-go',
paying only for the time they surf at a competitive daytime call rate of 2p a
minute* and an evening and weekend call rate of 1p a minute*. BTinternet
offers customers hundreds of other services to support their online
experience, including SpeechMail, SMS messaging to their mobile phones, a WAP
portal, regular promotions and more.

*Minimum call charge 5p.

About BTopenworld

BTopenworld is BT's new international mass market Internet business which is
focused increasingly on broadband and mobile services. It brings in a single
business BT's existing mass-market UK and international service providers
(ISPs), portals and Open, BT's digital interactive television joint venture.
The business is also responsible for Genie, Europe's leading mobile portal and
service provider. BTopenworld is responsible for the building of platforms,
aggregation of content and the marketing of its services.

BTopenworld is one of the largest ISP's in Europe and has joint venture
businesses which include: LineOne; Open; Excite UK; Yu.com (Belgium); Arrakis
(Spain); Inifinito (Italy); Mantra Online (India) and BT Looksmart.


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