BT claims connectivity milestone in first quarter of fiscal year

BT has cited record full-fibre connections and take up, resulting in fibre contributing to more than half of the firm’s broadband revenues for the first time, plus a 5G Standalone (5G+) footprint reaching more than three-quarters of the UK population, as highlights of a solid start to its financial year.

For the quarter ended 30 June 2026, the UK’s leading comms provider said that its strategic priorities were going to plan by connecting more customers to its network, with its full-fibre build on track to reach 25 million premises by the end of December 2026.

Overall, the results showed BT posted revenue of £4.3bn for the quarter, flat year on year (YoY) with adjusted UK service revenue £3.8bn (down 1%), as growth in the company’s broadband, corporate and public sector in business divisions, and customer base growth in the consumer line were offset by declines in voice services.

This all led to an adjusted EBITDA of 2bn, slipping 1% on a YoY basis and broadly flat excluding the impact of prior year one-offs, with lower broadband and voice margins offsetting what BT claimed was “strong” cost transformation. Reported profit before tax was £505m, down 4% compared with the previous year, driven by higher finance costs offset by lower restructuring costs, said BT.

Looking at individual business lines’ adjusted revenues, consumer posted £2.331bn, flat on Q1 a year earlier, with the same lack of growth as business, which took in £1.293bn. The key Openreach broadband provision division saw revenues inch up by 1% to £1.575bn.

Over the course of the first quarter, the company’s fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) footprint increased to 23.4 million, an increase of 514,000 in the quarter, and was said to be on track to achieve a 25 million FTTP build target by December 2026.

The company claimed record customer demand for Openreach FTTP, with 574,000 net adds in the quarter, with total premises connected totalling 9.4 million. This brings its take-up rate to 40%. At the same time, Openreach broadband ARPU grew by 7% to £17.7, driven by higher FTTP take up, speed mix and price increases. There was also record retail FTTP base growth, up 1.1 million YoY to 4.8 million, comprising 4.5 million consumer connections – 54% of the broadband base – and 300,000 business connections.

Yet at the same time, Openreach broadband lines fell by 192,000 and BT continues to expect losses of around 800,000 in the year.

In the mobile domain, BT’s EE 5G line maintained its mobile leadership, winning independent telecommunications consultancy P3’s Test Champion Award and topping the reliability, coverage and performance categories. Its 5G+ population coverage rose to 77%, up from 73% last quarter.

The quarter also saw cost efficiencies across all units, with YoY reductions in network energy usage of 8%, total labour resource excluding international of 8% to 94k and in Openreach repair volumes of 21%.

As a result of the quarterly performance, BT said that it was reconfirming all FY27 and multi-year financial outlook metrics and that it was on track to achieve full-year guidance. It also emphasised that its recently announced international joint venture with Verizon would create a stronger scaled global connectivity business and marking a significant milestone in delivering BT Group's UK-focused strategy.

Commenting on the quarterly results, BT chief executive Allison Kirkby claimed that the company was increasingly the choice for mission-critical solutions as it accelerated its transformation: “By investing in all our brands, and the services they offer, we’re continuing to grow our consumer customer base. In business, service revenue is stabilising, with excellent sales order growth from major customers. In this final year of the PSTN, our service revenue, excluding voice, grew in the quarter.

“Internationally, our proposed joint venture with Verizon will create a scaled global connectivity platform and allow us to focus on our transformation in the UK. No one is upgrading and investing in the country’s digital backbone at the scale and pace that BT is. We remain on track to deliver our targets, including cash flow of £2bn this year and £3bn by the end of the decade – as we create a better BT, for all of us.”