BT Group

From Wikicompany

BT Group plc (LSE: BT.A) (commonly known as, British Telecom or simply BT) is the privatized former British state telecommunications operator.

BT is still the dominant fixed line telecommunications provider in the United Kingdom.

BT owns and runs the telephone exchanges, trunk network and local loop connections for the vast majority of British fixed-line telephones.

Currently BT is responsible for approximately 25 million telephone lines in the UK. BT is still the only UK telecoms operator to have a Universal Service Obligation (USO) which means it must provide a fixed telephone line to any address in the UK. It is also obligated to provide public call boxes.

The company is officially designated the dominant operator in British telecommunications market. BT's businesses are operated under special government regulation by the British telecoms regulator Ofcom (formerly known as Oftel).

The company emplyos about 99.000 people (2004).

Subsidiaries

BT Group has been organized into five business divisions:

• BT Global Services - Business services and solutions (formerly BT Ignite)
• BT Openworld - Internet service provision
• BT Retail - Retail telecoms
• BT Wholesale - Wholesale telecoms network
• BT Exact - Research and Development, and consultancy

Other subsidiary company's:

• BT Ireland