Executive Appointment

BT Group PLC 17 November 2003 November 17, 2003 TELEWEST CHIEF JOINS BT One of the cable industry's top players is to join BT as group managing director of its consumer and ventures division. Gavin Patterson currently controls the largest part of Telewest's business as managing director of its £950 million-turnover consumer division. He will fill the vacancy left by the departure of Angus Porter from BT to the Abbey a few months ago. Patterson, aged 36, will start in his new role on January 12. As group managing director of BT's consumer and ventures division, Patterson will be in charge of defending the company's fixed-line business in an increasingly competitive marketplace and driving up sales of BT Broadband and mobile services. He will also be responsible for setting the direction for BT's new ventures that aim to generate additional revenue streams, including BT Home Computing, BT Home Communications and BT Click&Buy. Patterson will report to BT Retail CEO and plc director Pierre Danon and will become a member of BT's management council. He has spent the past four years with Telewest, first as marketing director of the company's telephone and internet services, moving to become commercial director before taking up his current post last year. Prior to Telewest, Patterson worked for Procter and Gamble for nine years, starting in brand management and rising to become European marketing director for the company's third largest brand, Pantene. Patterson holds two masters degrees in chemical engineering from Cambridge University. Pierre Danon said: "We are delighted to welcome Gavin to our leadership team. This is a crucial appointment for BT, as we are keen to maintain and build on our success in competing aggressively in the fixed-line market, growing BT Broadband numbers and developing our new ventures into strong and profitable businesses. Gavin has the ability, experience and impressive track-record to deliver a strong performance from a division which is an important contributor to the overall success of BT." Patterson said: "This is fantastic opportunity in a market that is more competitive than ever. I am relishing the prospect of working for such a great brand that is moving swiftly to achieve greater success with its traditional services as well as new-wave areas that help customers get the most from broadband and other exciting technology.'' - ends - For interviews, photos or further information, please contact: Michael Jarvis 020 7356 6045 Jon Carter 020 7356 4523 About BT BT Group plc is the listed holding company for an integrated group of businesses providing voice, data and video services in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. British Telecommunications plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group, holds virtually all businesses and assets of the BT group. BT is one of Europe's leading providers of telecommunications services. Its principal activities include local, national and international telecommunications services, higher-value broadband and internet products and services, and IT solutions. In the UK, BT serves over 20 million business and residential customers with more than 29 million exchange lines, as well as providing network services to other licensed operators. BT consists principally of three lines of business: • BT Retail, serving businesses and residential customers and including BT Openworld, one of the UK's leading ISPs. • BT Wholesale, providing network services and solutions within the UK, including ADSL, conveyance, transit, bulk delivery of private circuits, frame relay and ISDN connections. • BT Global Services, BT's managed services and solutions provider, serving multi-site organisations worldwide. Its core target market is the top 10,000 global multi-site organisations with European operations. There are a number of other businesses within the BT group, including BT Exact, an internationally renowned centre of excellence in IT and networking technologies. It is also BT's technology and research and development business. In the year ended 31 March 2003, BT's turnover was £18,727m. with profit before taxation of £1,829m. For more information, visit www.bt.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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