BT welcomes record number of new TV service customers

Telecoms giant BT has added a record number of TV customers in Q3 2015, driving revenue growth in its BT Consumer segment.

The firm, which yesterday (October 28) had its bid to acquire mobile operator EE approved by the Competition and Markets Authority, added 160k new BT TV customers during the three-month period.

BT’s overall adjusted pre-tax profit increased to £706m in the third quarter, a rise of 2%, while EBITDA fell by 1% to £1.44bn.

Revenues, meanwhile, dropped across BT’s Global Services, Business and Wholesale arms, by 5%, 1% and 2% respectively, but its BT Consumer segment saw revenue growth of 7%.

Chief executive Gavin Patterson has attributed the figure to a rising demand for the company’s BT Sport Europe service.

He added: “Mobile is another growth area and I am pleased our consumer customer base now stands at more than 200k.”

Elsewhere, BT has continued to invest in its UK-wide fibre broadband network, which now connects to more than 24m premises.

Discussing the nationwide rollout, Mr Patterson said: “We want to get fibre broadband to as many people as possible and we are also pushing ahead with our plans to get ultrafast broadband to ten million premises by the end of 2020.

“Market-wide demand for fibre remains strong with fibre net additions up 21% as we hit the five million milestone for homes and businesses connected.”