Senior Executive change

BT Group PLC
16 August 2005



August 16, 2005


                           ALISON RITCHIE TO LEAVE BT


Alison Ritchie, BT chief broadband officer, has decided to leave BT at the end
of September. Alison and her husband Steve plan to take a year off and to do
some travelling around the world.

Appointed chief broadband officer in November 2002, Alison's role was to put
broadband at the heart of BT and help the company achieve its ambitious targets
for both broadband availability and take-up.

The UK now has the best ADSL broadband availability in the G8 with more than
99.6 per cent of UK homes and businesses connected to ADSL enabled exchanges.
This figure was 66 per cent when Alison took on her role.

The UK has also seen an explosion in broadband adoption. There are more than
five million ADSL customers in the UK - compared with 500,000 in late 2002 - and
Alison's team helped BT achieve this milestone a full year ahead of schedule.
They also helped improve the systems and processes for all broadband service
providers thereby helping to stimulate the overall market.

Alison was previously chief executive of BT Openworld where she delivered the
narrowband business into profit six months earlier than scheduled. She also led
the teams that delivered BT's financial restructuring in 2001 - including the
demerger of 02 and the £5.9bn rights issue - as restructuring project director.
Alison said today: "It's been a privilege to have spent 24 years in BT, and it's
been a fantastic journey. I've seen a number of significant changes from the
privatisation of BT in 1984, through increasing globalisation, through dotcom
boom and bust, to the recent explosive growth in broadband.

"My last role was all about championing broadband both within BT and outside the
company and I'm proud that the broadband market is now so well established. This
means that my specific role has now come to a natural end, and so I've decided
it's time to do something different."

BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen said: "Alison has made an enormous contribution
to the development of broadband in the UK. The market was in its infancy when
Alison took on the role of chief broadband officer and it is now one of the
fastest growing markets ever seen. I would like to thank Alison for all her hard
work and wish her well for the future."

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 is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions serving
customers in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific.  Its principal activities
include networked IT services, 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 a comprehensive range of communications and related
    services to more than 20m UK consumers and businesses.
   •BT Wholesale, providing network services and solutions within the UK to
    more than 600 fixed and mobile operators and service providers including the
    provision of broadband and private circuits.
   •BT Global Services, providing networked IT services to meet the needs of
    multi-site organisations globally.  BT Global Services operates in more than
    130 countries and also offers international carrier services.

In the year ended 31 March 2005, BT Group's turnover was £18,623 million with
profit before goodwill amortisation, exceptional items and taxation of £2,085
million.

BT Group plc 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.
For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt




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