Newly acquired EE to operate as new business unit
British telecom group BT announced a new organizational structure following the acquisition of compatriot mobile operator EE. The new business structure will take effect beginning in April.
Under the new structure, BT will have six lines of business: Consumer; EE; Business and Public Sector; Global Services; Wholesale and Ventures; and Openreach.
Through its Consumer division, BT will continue to serve 10 million households in the U.K. with broadband, telephony, TV and mobile services.
EE will focus on the consumer market and will offer advanced mobile services, broadband and TV. It will also continue to deliver the emergency services network contract awarded to EE late last year.
Business and Public Sector is a new business unit with around £5 billion of revenues. It will serve small and large businesses as well as the public sector in the U.K. and Ireland.
BT’s Global Services business division will offer communications services to multinational companies and financial services organizations, while the Wholesale and Ventures division will provide wholesale services to communications providers. This unit will include EE’s mobile virtual network operator business.
BT said Openreach will not be affected by the re-organization, and will continue to offer all companies with equal access to BT’s local access network in Great Britain.
The six divisions will be supported by Technology, Service and Operations, which is currently responsible for BT’s core networks in the U.K. and overseas.
“The acquisition [of mobile operator EE] provides us with a chance to refresh our structure and we have done that by creating a major new division that will focus on businesses and the public sector in the U.K. and Ireland,” explained BT CEO Gavin Patterson, in a statement. “We want to support those sectors by offering customers the very best services whether that be dedicated private lines, network products such as fiber broadband, mobile solutions, IT services or cyber expertise to keep them safe.”
BT posted revenues of £4.6 billion ($6.57 billion) in the third quarter of fiscal 2016, climbing 3% compared to the year-ago period. The telco’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the quarter totaled £1.61 billion, a 3% year-on-year.
BT’s consumer business posted a year-over-year revenue growth of 11% in the quarter. The operator said its fiber broadband network is available to more than 24 million households and businesses. The U.K. telco also said the firm’s overall mobile base reached 300,000 subscribers at the end of December. “We will help take fiber coverage to 95% of the country by the end of 2017, with plans to go even further. Our G.fast trials are progressing well,” Patterson added.
Last week, BT confirmed the completion of its £12.5 billion acquisition of EE, which was previously controlled by Deutsche Telekom and Orange.
In return for their stakes in EE, Deutsche Telekom and Orange received £3.46 billion in cash and shares. After the completion of the acquisition the German telco now owns 12% of the new company while the French firm controls 4%
Earlier this month, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Consumer Authority cleared the way for BT to acquire EE. The regulator affirmed the deal is not expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in any U.K.
