Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive, commenting on the results, said:
“We’ve made a good start to the year, with growth in revenue and strong cash flow. We’re on track to deliver our full year outlook.
“Our integration of EE is progressing well, alongside our business reorganisation that took effect on 1 April. EE performed strongly, both financially and commercially, and our customers are seeing the initial benefits of our acquisition with BT Sport now available to EE pay monthly customers. We remain focused on improving customer experience and 100% of EE pay monthly calls are now handled in UK and Ireland contact centres. We’ve reduced engineer missed appointments by more than a third since last quarter and Openreach is again ahead on all 60 minimum service levels set by Ofcom.
“Fibre broadband is available to well over 25m premises and take-up remains strong. At a retail level, we performed well achieving a 79% share of broadband net adds in the quarter. We were pleased to renew our FA Cup rights during the quarter and we look forward to showing more games from the Premier League at a much better time slot, starting in two weeks. Our customers can also look forward to all the exclusive live action from the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League once again this year.
“Our investment plans remain central to our future and so we will be rolling out further fibre in the coming months, as well as 4G through the Emergency Services Network contract. Our aim is to make these services as universally available as we can, whilst also deploying a new generation of ultrafast broadband. Such investment requires regulatory clarity, particularly in these uncertain times.
“Having listened to Ofcom and industry, we have set out our proposals for greater independence and transparency for Openreach. Our proposals can form the basis for a fair, proportionate and sustainable regulatory settlement and we believe they can also enable Ofcom to bring its Digital Communications Review to a speedier conclusion. We will continue to engage with Ofcom over the coming months.”
Also commenting on the results, Colm O’Neill, MD of Major Business & Public Sector, UK and Ireland said:
“We’ve had a solid performance in the first quarter of the year in Northern Ireland, driven by the signing of new contracts with private and public sector organisations as well as a rigorous focus on cost management. Our rollout of fibre broadband networks continues across Northern Ireland as we push fibre technology deeper into rural areas in partnership with government. We are currently at a stage where 93% of premises are passed by our fibre network, but to date only 39% of broadband users have made the switch to fibre based broadband. We will continue to increase awareness of availability and benefits that superfast bring on an open access basis via 28 service providers who currently offer fibre services on our network.
In addition, we welcome Ofcom’s recognition this week that BT Northern Ireland Networks has delivered successfully for the people and businesses in Northern Ireland and that changing the current arrangements as part of the Digital Communications Review would be disproportionate. We will continue to engage with Ofcom and stakeholders in the coming months.”
Key points for the quarter:
