BT customers leaving en masse

BT confirms customer exodus
By Tim Richardson
Published Thursday 20th May 2004 10:31 GMT

BT is losing between 50,000 and 100,000 residential customers a month,
the UK's dominant fixed-line telco finally confirmed today. This loss
of customers even takes into account all those punters who return to
the company each month - something BT is keen to brag about in its
ads.

This erosion in BT's core customer base, as well as increased
competition and regulatory pressure, is being blamed for a five per
cent decline in BT's traditional voice-related turnover for the year.
But while BT's traditional business continues to suffer, the company's
"new wave" technologies - ICT, broadband, mobility and managed
services - are helping to fill the void.

New wave turnover was up 30 per cent on the year to £3.39bn and now
accounts for 18 per cent of the group's turnover for the year compared
to 14 per cent last year. Publishing its prelims for the year, the
UK's dominant fixed line telco reported that total turnover dipped one
per cent £18.5bn. Pre-tax profit increased swelled 10 per cent to £2bn
as the company benefited from improved operating results of the group
and lower net interest costs.

By 14 May, BT had 2.45m wholesale broadband lines, an increase of 162
per cent on the number of connections 12 months ago, with around
35,000 new DSL connection being added each week. The ever-increasing
number of broadband users in the UK helped broadband revenues climb by
107 per cent on the year to £491m.

Said BT chief exec, Ben Verwaayen: "The results from our new wave
businesses show our strategy is working. Our transformation of the
business will continue to accelerate. We expect the environment to
remain challenging but we will also increase our investment to build
on the significant progress already achieved. Our actions and future
plans give us confidence in our strategy for the future."

By mid morning shares in BT were up 5.25p (3 per cent) at 178.75p, ®
Related stories

UK DSL coverage reaches 90%

"scuffler" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote

> By mid morning shares in BT were up 5.25p (3 per cent) at 178.75p, ®


It wasn't that long ago that BT shares were trading at £13 each

On Thu, 20 May 2004 20:17:57 +0100, "Informer" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>
>"scuffler" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
>
>> By mid morning shares in BT were up 5.25p (3 per cent) at 178.75p, ®
>
>
>It wasn't that long ago that BT shares were trading at £13 each

Define "long ago"...

I think you'll find it was probably more than 3 years in this
instance. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.

"Steve" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 20 May 2004 20:17:57 +0100, "Informer" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
> >It wasn't that long ago that BT shares were trading at £13 each
>
> Define "long ago"...
>
> I think you'll find it was probably more than 3 years in this
> instance. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.

Mostly tears ;-)

"scuffler" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> BT confirms customer exodus
> By Tim Richardson
> Published Thursday 20th May 2004 10:31 GMT
>
> BT is losing between 50,000 and 100,000 residential customers a month,
> the UK's dominant fixed-line telco finally confirmed today. This loss
> of customers even takes into account all those punters who return to
> the company each month - something BT is keen to brag about in its
> ads.
>
> This erosion in BT's core customer base, as well as increased
> competition and regulatory pressure, is being blamed for a five per
> cent decline in BT's traditional voice-related turnover for the year.
> But while BT's traditional business continues to suffer, the company's
> "new wave" technologies - ICT, broadband, mobility and managed
> services - are helping to fill the void.
>
> New wave turnover was up 30 per cent on the year to £3.39bn and now
> accounts for 18 per cent of the group's turnover for the year compared
> to 14 per cent last year. Publishing its prelims for the year, the
> UK's dominant fixed line telco reported that total turnover dipped one
> per cent £18.5bn. Pre-tax profit increased swelled 10 per cent to £2bn
> as the company benefited from improved operating results of the group
> and lower net interest costs.
>
> By 14 May, BT had 2.45m wholesale broadband lines, an increase of 162
> per cent on the number of connections 12 months ago, with around
> 35,000 new DSL connection being added each week. The ever-increasing
> number of broadband users in the UK helped broadband revenues climb by
> 107 per cent on the year to £491m.
>
> Said BT chief exec, Ben Verwaayen: "The results from our new wave
> businesses show our strategy is working. Our transformation of the
> business will continue to accelerate. We expect the environment to
> remain challenging but we will also increase our investment to build
> on the significant progress already achieved. Our actions and future
> plans give us confidence in our strategy for the future."
>
> By mid morning shares in BT were up 5.25p (3 per cent) at 178.75p, ®
> Related stories
>
> UK DSL coverage reaches 90%

I saw the interview on BBC24 - they admitted they were losing Telephone
customers, but said they were getting 5000 new customers signing up for
Internet services (mainly DSL) per day.

--
Krystian Whellans || AngelHosts.com
e-mail:sales [at] angelhosts.com
http://www.angelhosts.com/plans.html Hosting from $2 per month
http://www.angelhosts.com E-mail Hosting, Domain Names, PHP Forum Hosting