BT reported revenue of £5.0 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, down 4 percent year-on-year, reflecting declines in service revenue, lower equipment sales mainly from handset trading in Consumer and Business, and the impact of divestments. Despite the revenue drop, the company highlighted continued progress in fibre rollout, mobile network leadership and customer growth across its core divisions.
Segment performance
BT generated £2,468 million in revenue from its Consumer division, £1,297 million from Business, £522 million from International, and £1,540 million from Openreach.
The decline in total revenue was partly influenced by portfolio changes. All five targeted disposals in the International segment are now complete, with the final transaction, BT Radianz, closing on February 1. These disposals reduced International revenue by £45 million in the quarter.
The Business unit continued its transformation, although performance was affected by contract milestones in the financial and public sectors, wholesale activities and the timing of costs across quarters.
Fibre expansion continues at record pace
BT maintained its aggressive full fibre rollout, passing more than 1 million premises with FTTP for the eighth consecutive quarter. The FTTP footprint now stands at 21.4 million premises, including 5.9 million in rural locations. The company remains on track to reach up to 25 million premises by December 2026.
Openreach recorded strong demand for full fibre broadband:
Net adds reached 571,000, up 21 percent year-on-year
Total connected premises increased to 8.2 million
Take-up rate exceeded 38 percent
Broadband ARPU grew 4 percent to £16.8 due to higher FTTP adoption, speed mix improvements and price increases
Openreach broadband lines declined by 210,000 quarter-on-quarter, consistent with last year. BT now expects full-year losses of about 850,000 lines, an improvement on previous estimates.
BT’s retail FTTP base grew 32 percent year-on-year to 4.2 million customers, including 3.9 million in Consumer and 0.3 million in Business.
Consumer business shows steady customer growth
BT reported growth across all Consumer customer bases for the fourth consecutive quarter:
Broadband customers increased by 8,000
Postpaid mobile customers grew by 55,000
TV customers rose by 22,000
Consumer service revenue remained flat year-on-year and is expected to grow in the second half of the fiscal year.
Consumer broadband ARPU declined 1 percent year-on-year to £41.8, while postpaid mobile ARPU fell 1 percent to £19.2. Fixed and mobile convergence increased to 26.2 percent from 25.9 percent in the previous quarter.
EE maintains UK mobile leadership
BT’s EE brand retained its position as the UK’s best mobile network for the 11th consecutive year, according to Umlaut Connect. Opensignal ranked EE first in 11 of 15 categories in its January report, while RootMetrics named EE the UK’s best network for the 25th time.
The company’s 5G base reached 14.3 million users, up 10 percent year-on-year, with 5G+ coverage now reaching 69 percent of the UK population.
Outlook and CEO commentary
BT Chief Executive Allison Kirkby said the company is delivering on its strategy to build next-generation networks while accelerating transformation.
She noted that full fibre broadband now reaches more than 21 million homes and businesses, with strong demand driving record Openreach connections. Customer satisfaction also reached an all-time high during the quarter.
BT remains on track to meet its financial outlook, including a projected cash flow inflection to around £2.0 billion next year and approximately £3.0 billion by the end of the decade.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
