BT Group has reported a significant acceleration in its Fiber-To-The-Premises (FTTP) build rate, reaching 73,000 premises per week and achieving a record of 950,000 premises passed in the December quarter of 2023. The FTTP footprint has now expanded to cover 13 million premises, with an additional 6 million in the initial build phase.
Openreach, a division of BT Group, experienced robust customer demand for FTTP, with a net addition of 432,000 connections in Q3. The total premises connected now stand at 4.4 million, reflecting an increased take-up of 34 percent.
The broadband Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for Openreach witnessed a 10 percent year-on-year growth, driven by both price increases and higher volumes of FTTP. However, broadband line losses reached 369,000 year to date, indicating a 2 percent decline in the broadband base. Ongoing challenges in the broadband market conditions are expected to result in losses exceeding 400,000 in FY24.
On the consumer front, broadband ARPU increased by 5 percent year-on-year, and Consumer postpaid mobile ARPU saw an 8 percent year-on-year growth. Despite a competitive market, monthly churn for the quarter remained stable at 1.1 percent for broadband and 1.2 percent for postpaid mobile.
The business segment of BT Group continued to grapple with higher input costs, legacy declines, and prior year one-offs. However, these challenges were partly offset by cost transformation initiatives and growth in Small & Medium Business (SMB) and Security.
The Retail FTTP base saw a growth of 46 percent, reaching 2.4 million, including 2.3 million in Consumer segment and 0.1 million in Business. The 5G base also experienced a 30 percent increase, totaling 10.3 million. EE, a part of BT Group, was recognized as the UK’s best mobile network by RootMetrics for the 21st consecutive time.
BT Group’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) stood at 25.7, marking a 3.6-point increase, indicating an enhanced customer experience.
Allison Kirkby, Chief Executive of BT Group, commented on the results, stating, “BT Group has delivered another quarter of revenue and EBITDA growth, while rapidly building and upgrading customers to our full-fibre broadband and 5G networks.”
BT has reported revenue of £15.758 billion (up 3 percent) with £7.463 billion (up 4 percent) from Consumer, £6.127 billion from Business and £4.574 billion (up 7 percent) from Openreach during October-December 2023.
