BT said its 5G customer base grew 11% year-on-year to 13.9 million
In sum – what to know:
Resilient financial performance – Adjusted EBITDA held at £4.1bn as BT’s cost transformation offset pressure from legacy declines and higher wage costs.
Record FTTP rollout and demand – Over 2.2m premises built in H1 and 1.1m new adds lifted Openreach’s take-up rate to 38%, with 20.3m premises now passed.
5G leadership extended – BT maintained the UK’s top mobile network status for a 12th year, expanding 5G+ coverage to 66%
BT Group reported first-half revenue of £9.8 billion ($12.83 billion), down 3% year-on-year, reflecting continued declines in legacy voice, softer mobile handset sales, and lower international trading, partially offset by a stronger FTTP mix at BT’s telecom infra division Openreach.
In a release, the telco noted that the adjusted U.K. service revenue declined 1% to £7.7 billion, impacted by competitive retail pricing and ongoing voice declines.
Reported profit before tax fell 11% to £862 million, driven mainly by higher depreciation and amortization from an expanded asset base, and higher net finance expenses from rising interest rates, BT said.
Capital expenditure increased 8% to £2.4 billion, reflecting strong FTTP rollout activity. BT achieved a record 2.2 million FTTP premises built in the first half, bringing total coverage to 20.3 million, including 5.5 million rural locations. The operator said it remains on track to reach 25 million by December 2026.
Allison Kirkby, chairman of BT, said: “We’re building the U.K.’s digital backbone, connecting the country like no one else and accelerating our transformation. Openreach full fiber broadband now reaches more than 20 million homes and businesses and our EE network is live with 5G+ coverage for 66% of the population. Since the start of the year, we’ve driven customer growth across consumer broadband, mobile and TV and we’re stabilising our UK-focused Business division,” the executive added.
Openreach saw record demand, adding 1.1 million new FTTP customers in H1, bringing total connections to 7.6 million. Broadband ARPU rose 4% to £16.7.
Despite these gains, Openreach broadband lines declined 242,000 in Q2, attributed to competitive losses and weaker market conditions.
The company recently announced a partnership with Starlink to enhance broadband access in remote areas across the U.K.
BT’s mobile division EE 5G coverage rose more than 20 percentage points to reach 66% of the population, with full U.K. coverage expected by fiscal year 2030. The telco’s 5G customer base grew 11% year-on-year to 13.9 million.
EE aims to expand its 5G+ network to more than 130 towns and cities by the end of 2025 and reach 41 million people by spring 2026, Greg McCall, BT Group’s chief networks officer, recently told RCR Wireless News.
McCall noted that EE’s 5G+ — the company’s new name for its 5G Standalone network — already covers over 34 million people. “By the spring of 2026 we expect the network to cover 41 million people (…) with a view to achieving our long-term ambition of delivering the UK’s first nationwide 5G+ network in 2030,” he said.
