Business

Broadband growth boosts BT profits

BT has announced increased revenues and profits
BT has announced increased revenues and profits BT has announced increased revenues and profits

FIBRE broadband growth in Northern Ireland helped BT's Irish operation revenues jump 3 per cent in the past year, the telecommunications giant has said.

Underlying revenue at BT Ireland was up 7 per cent in the 12 months to March to £681 million with profits rising 8 per cent.

An increase in managed services in the north also contributed to the growth, as did rising call volumes and data in the Republic.

The company said its performance was buoyed as it secured several high profile business and public sector contracts over the course of the year.

These included deals with Health and Social Care Northern Ireland, a 10-year data centre deal for the north's public sector and other contracts with Abbey Insurance and Danske Bank.

BT said it had made a multi-million pound investment in its Belfast and Dublin data centres as part of expansion plans and energy efficiency programmes following new customer contracts.

It said a quarter-of-a-million consumers and businesses had signed up for fibre broadband services via BT's network.

The year also saw BT acquire mobile network operator EE, which has 98 per cent outdoor 4G coverage in the north.

BT said it planned to create 600 new customer service roles across Britain and Ireland in a bid to ensure 100 per cent of queries are dealt with locally.

Colm O'Neill, head of BT in Ireland described the results as a "good financial performance".

"Our significant local and global capabilities are boosting sales to the business and public sectors, as we support their transformation programmes and growth ambitions," he said.

"Fibre broadband remains a strategic priority, and while we are currently at over 93per cent availability, we are focused on bringing improved broadband speeds to harder to reach rural areas.

"With the acquisition of mobile network operator, EE, we will be a digital champion for the UK, benefiting consumers, businesses and communities as we combine the power of fibre broadband with the convenience of leading edge mobile services.”

The overall BT group in the UK meanwhile unveiled a £6 billion programme to upgrade its network in a move to extend ultra-fast broadband to at least 10 million homes and businesses and lay fibre optic lines to around two million premises in Britain.

It announced a 15 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £3.03bn for the year after seeing revenues rise by 6 per cent to £18.9 billion.

Part of the three-year initiative will see BT focus on replacing its ageing copper wire that most homes rely on for internet access, with aims to roll out fibre optics to two million homes and businesses - mainly in new housing developments, high streets and business parks.

It comes after Ofcom recently stopped short of ordering a split of Openreach, but told BT it must cut prices charged for high-speed lines, install more business lines and improve business services.