21 July 2026, London: BT today announced it has been selected by Scottish Water to deliver a new fully integrated network and security service transformation, supporting the digital foundations behind water services used every day by millions of people across Scotland. The partnership will help Scottish Water improve visibility across its network, respond more quickly to issues and strengthen the resilience of services relied on by households, businesses and communities nationwide.

Scottish Water is a publicly-owned utility responsible for delivering water supply services to about 2.6 million households and 150,000 business properties, supporting a population of more than 5 million people across Scotland.

The multi-million pound agreement with BT forms part of a wider £130 million Scottish Water investment programme in networks and security services. It will see BT take end-to-end responsibility for Scottish Water’s extensive connectivity and security estate, spanning both IT and operational technology environments. This includes managing approximately 7,000 network connections across broadband, MPLS, satellite and internet services, alongside a large-scale operational technology network critical to delivering essential water services across Scotland.

A step-change in how critical services are delivered

Scottish Water’s decision reflects a shift away from a traditional multi-supplier model towards a single, integrated approach, with BT bringing those capabilities together to improve visibility, support faster incident resolution and create a simpler operating model for essential services.

BT’s solution centres on a converged Network Operations Centre (NOC) and Security Operations Centre (SOC), bringing network monitoring and cyber security together into a single, real-time operational model – supporting Scottish Water’s long-term digital ambitions.

For customers, this means strengthening the technology that helps keep essential water services running reliably in the background. By giving Scottish Water better visibility across its infrastructure and the ability to identify and respond to issues more quickly, the partnership will help reduce delays in resolving faults, strengthen protection for critical systems and support more dependable services for homes, businesses and communities across Scotland.

Local delivery, national impact

A key element of BT’s successful bid was its strong local presence in Scotland, combined with its ability to deliver at national scale. BT will provide a locally based team working closely with Scottish Water, ensuring faster decision-making, stronger collaboration, and deeper alignment with the organisation’s operational priorities.

The partnership also includes a commitment to delivering social value across Scotland, with a focus on supporting local employment, skills development and community engagement. Together, these commitments help show how the programme will benefit people and places across Scotland, not just the technology estate behind the scenes.

As Scottish Water continues to deliver its long-term vision for a resilient, sustainable and innovative water sector that contributes to Scotland’s journey towards net zero, the partnership with BT provides a flexible foundation that can evolve alongside these ambitions.

Chris Toop, Scottish Water’s Director of Digital & Innovation, said: "This strategic partnership between Scottish Water and BT is an important step in our digital journey. By working with BT, we are strengthening the technology foundations that support every part of our business. Together, we'll deliver more resilient, secure and efficient digital services that enable us to better serve our customers, support our colleagues and meet the challenges of the future."

Ishbell MacPhail, Head of BT Business, Scotland: “We’re proud to be working with Scottish Water to help keep essential water services running smoothly for millions of people across Scotland. By bringing together BT’s nationwide network, security expertise and local Scottish teams, we’ll help make the services people rely on every day be more resilient, responsive and ready for the future.

It’s about using technology to support better, more dependable services for homes, businesses and communities across Scotland.”

From helping Welsh food and drink businesses process payments during peak trading periods to enabling reliable livestreaming and real-time content sharing, the technology demonstrates how 5G+ can support enhanced experiences for both organisations and consumers, even in the busiest environments.

Alongside providing customers with more reliable and faster mobile experiences in the busiest locations and at peak times, 5G+ – EE’s most powerful form of 5G connectivity – enables new capabilities such as network slicing, which delivers a dedicated, protected slice of the mobile network for specific use-cases, ensuring performance isn’t impacted if the public network is congested.

At the Royal Welsh Show, BT is supporting multiple connections via network slicing – demonstrating the game-changing impact it can deliver to both consumers and businesses as the company prepares to launch its first slicing services for customers later this Summer. Bringing a 5G+ slice to the Show marks one of the first large-scale public demonstrations of how 5G network slicing can support both business-critical applications and enhanced customer experiences in busy real-world environments.

For businesses, network slicing ensures peace-of-mind for connectivity that underpins mission-critical operations. At the Royal Welsh Show, which typically attracts up to 250,000 visitors over its four-day run, BT’s 5G+ network slice will power mobile payments systems for Radnor Hills and Fire and Flank, two independent Welsh food and drink companies, ensuring they can keep the queues moving, customers happy, and sales flowing.

Chris Butler, Marketing Manager, Radnor Hills, said: “The Royal Welsh Show is one of the most important events in our calendar, both as a proud Welsh business and a long-standing supporter of the Show itself. With thousands of visitors stopping by our stands every day, dependable connectivity for our payment systems is essential to keeping queues moving and making sure customers can quickly grab a drink and get back to enjoying their day. Having a dedicated 5G+ network slice gives us greater confidence that we can continue serving people smoothly, even during the busiest periods – helping us keep visitors refreshed and hydrated throughout the event.”

David Evans, Founder and Director, Fire and Flank, said: “This is our first time exhibiting at the Royal Welsh Show, so we're excited to introduce Fire & Flank to such a large audience. When demand is high, the last thing any business wants is connectivity issues slowing down card payments or creating long queues. Reliable connectivity for our ePOS systems helps us serve customers quickly, deliver a great experience and focus on what matters most – sharing our food with visitors. It's reassuring to know that the technology powering our payments is designed to perform, even in one of the busiest event environments in Wales.”

The demonstration reflects growing demand from organisations for more resilient and predictable connectivity to support critical operations, particularly in high-footfall or high-demand environments.

BT is also using network slicing to support the Royal Welsh Show's digital engagement activities, enabling both 2026 Show Ambassador Teleri-Haf Thomas and the RWS team itself to livestream and upload content reliably even when tens of thousands of visitors are on site.

Aled Jones, Chief Executive, Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, said: “The Royal Welsh Show is about bringing together hundreds of thousands of people from across Wales and beyond, and connectivity has become an increasingly important part of that experience. From supporting exhibitors and traders to helping our team deliver the event safely and efficiently, reliable mobile connectivity plays a vital role. Working with BT to showcase 5G+ network slicing demonstrates how next-generation mobile technology can support critical operations while helping us share the best of Welsh agriculture, food and rural life with audiences both on the Showground and online.”

Adam Price, Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy, Welsh Government, said: “It is important that visitors and businesses alike experience high-quality digital connectivity at nationally significant events like the Royal Welsh Show. BT and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society have committed to ensuring the event benefits from world-class technology and I am pleased Welsh Government collaboration has helped to make this possible."  

Greg McCall, Chief Security and Networks Officer, BT, said: “Whether it's buying food and drink from local traders, sharing moments from the Show on social media, or following the action online, people increasingly expect seamless connectivity wherever they are. At this year's Royal Welsh Show, we're demonstrating how 5G+ network slicing can help deliver exactly that. By providing dedicated, high-performance connectivity for specific applications, we're helping businesses keep payments flowing, enabling reliable livestreaming and content uploads, and showing how next-generation mobile technology can support better experiences for organisations and consumers alike.” 

BT's 5G+ upgrades to the Showground and neighbouring mast in Builth Wells form part of its wider investment in digital infrastructure across Wales. Since 2020, BT has invested more than £500 million in mobile and fixed connectivity across the country, helping to deliver faster, more resilient connectivity for communities, businesses and visitors. The Royal Welsh Show deployment demonstrates how next-generation technologies such as network slicing can help unlock new opportunities for organisations that depend on reliable, high-performance connectivity.

LONDON and NEW YORK, 29 June 2026: BT Group (BT) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced the signing of an agreement to combine their respective international enterprise operations into a 50:50 joint venture – in a move that is set to transform international connectivity.

The new joint venture will focus on serving multinational organisations. It is expected to serve more than 3,000 customers across more than 180 countries, representing approximately $4 billion in combined annual revenue. This breadth of operations will unlock significant scale efficiencies across the combined global network and service operations following completion.

Designed specifically for a cloud-first world in the age of AI, the joint venture brings together BT International, which serves multinational customers with secure and resilient communication and network services around the world, with Verizon’s international enterprise wireline arm, which provides secure connectivity to enterprises worldwide. Both BT and Verizon will hold equal voting rights and Verizon has agreed to pay BT an equalisation payment of $625 million.

By combining global scale with infrastructure designed and built to support local compliance and sovereignty needs, the joint venture will create a stronger platform for growth and accelerate the rollout of next-generation connectivity platforms. Customers will benefit from secure and resilient connectivity designed to meet data, operational and regulatory requirements.

At the same time, the parent companies will be better able to focus on their domestic markets, while providing support to the new joint venture as equal shareholders.

BT and Verizon have also today confirmed that Martijn Blanken has been appointed Chief Executive Officer-designate of the new joint venture, conditional on the completion of the transaction. Martijn has almost three decades in senior leadership positions across telecommunications, technology and digital infrastructure at Telstra, Openwave Systems, EXA Infrastructure and KPN, and a career spanning four continents. From 01 September he will join BT and will work with both parent companies, while observing relevant regulatory requirements, as they prepare for the launch of the proposed joint venture.

Clive Selley will continue to lead BT International as CEO, ensuring continuity of BT International’s ongoing transformation in readiness for the creation of the joint venture. Verizon’s leadership remains unchanged.

Allison Kirkby, Chief Executive of BT Group, said: “The world’s leading brands and international organisations trust BT International to connect them across the world. Bringing together this expertise and heritage with Verizon’s deep relationships with multinationals will create a stronger, scaled connectivity partner – one that has the reach, innovation and investment to succeed. Customers will benefit from new, secure and resilient connectivity platforms, which are designed for the age of AI and sovereign where it matters. It will create new opportunities for our people and long-term value for our owners. Today’s announcement marks a major milestone for BT International, and an important step forward for BT as a whole, as we deliver on our UK-focused strategy.”

Dan Schulman, CEO of Verizon, said: "Our international customers require secure, flexible connectivity that works seamlessly across borders and cloud environments. When we thought about how to best support them, this joint venture was the clear answer: a cutting-edge, AI-ready and secure platform run by a single global organization dedicated to their needs. At the same time, our relationship with those customers will stay equally strong as we continue to directly provide them with the connectivity they need in the U.S."

The transaction is subject to regulatory clearances and consultation with employee representations in countries where required. BT and Verizon’s international businesses will continue to operate independently until the transaction officially closes with a full commitment to their respective customers.

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Additional information

• The new joint venture will be incorporated in the Bailiwick of Jersey and headquartered and tax resident in the United Kingdom.
• On completion of the transaction, the new joint venture will establish commercial relationships with both BT and Verizon – providing a seamless, end-to-end service across borders including for our customers in the UK (BT) and the US (Verizon).
• Goldman Sachs acted as lead financial advisor to BT, with Deloitte as transaction services advisors and Freshfields LLP as legal counsel. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors to Verizon and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel.

BT has become the first UK company to confirm its membership of Anthropic’s Project Glasswing – giving access to Claude Mythos Preview, Anthropic’s frontier AI model, and strengthening BT’s protection against cyber security threats for its networks and customers.

Project Glasswing brings together critical infrastructure providers to secure data and systems which underpin services that millions of people rely on. It allows trusted organisations to use Anthropic’s safe AI systems to rapidly identify vulnerabilities – and help fix them before criminals can take advantage.

BT’s Chief Executive, Allison Kirkby, announced the news as she opened the UK Government’s ‘AI Adoption Summit’ earlier today, which featured the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, DSIT Secretary Liz Kendall, Business Secretary Peter Kyle, Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo and Minister for AI and Online Safety Kanishka Narayan.

Allison’s speech outlined the critical role of connectivity in ensuring the UK can seize the growth potential of AI, stating that “AI only works at scale when it is underpinned by future-ready networks that are secure, resilient, safe”. She also emphasised BT’s commitment “to working with Government to support the further development and deployment of sovereign British AI capability, so that the UK can be an AI maker and not just a taker”, and to acting as an “enabler of responsible adoption and a responsible adopter ourselves” in AI.

BT’s participation in Project Glasswing reflects its role in securing UK critical national infrastructure, and as one of the UK’s leading providers of security managed services. BT now prevents four million cyber-attacks across its networks every day, underlining the scale of the threat and the importance of staying ahead of it.

Jon James, Chief Executive Officer, BT Business said: “AI is changing cyber security fast, and businesses need trusted partners who can help them stay one step ahead. By joining Project Glasswing, BT will strengthen its own cyber security capability to protect our networks, our customers and the wider UK.”

BT Business already provides AI-powered cybersecurity solutions to customers of all sizes, including new products for small businesses – and recently announced a collaboration with Accenture to develop advanced AI-powered cyber operations, responding to cyber threats at machine speed.

Wednesday 20^th May, London: BT Business is today launching a comprehensive new suite of cyber security tools to help the UK’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) deal with the rapidly escalating threat of cybercrime.

Recent BT research revealed a 300% year-on-year increase in malicious scanning activity, with connected devices now probed an average of 4,000 times a day¹, as AI tools rapidly increase the scale and pace of cyber threats. BT’s latest data shows the company now prevents 4 million cyber attacks across its networks every day.

SMEs are a prime target, with half saying the risk of cyber threats is one of their top tech concerns². Despite this, close to 1.8million businesses, around one in three of the UK’s SME population, still lack even basic cyber protection³, leaving a significant gap in the nation’s defences.

For the first time, BT has launched new AI-powered cyber tools, powered by CrowdStrike, for UK SMEs – giving them access to leading-edge cybersecurity typically reserved for big businesses. Supported by new free cyber support for SMEs and a nationwide marketing campaign, the move reinforces BT Business’ commitment to putting industrial-grade security within reach of every UK business.

Government figures suggest the average cyber breach now costs a UK business £3,550⁴. With 43% of UK businesses having experienced at least one breach or attack in the past year⁵, the need for simple, accessible support has never been more urgent.

Following research showing that over eight in ten SMEs believe personalised, in-person guidance would help them improve their security, BT’s new Cyber Support Hub offers a wealth of free support to help close the UK’s growing cyber resilience gap. Developed in line with National Cyber Security Centre guidance, this gives SMEs access to easy-to-understand assessments, guidance and practical next steps.

BT is now providing the following free tools to UK SMEs:

• Cyber Health Check – a simple self-assessment tool to help SMEs understand their risks, and receive a cyber score and prioritised action plan in response
• Cyber Guides – a dedicated team of cyber advisors offering clear and practical advice by phone, online chat, and in-store
• AI Cyber Assistant – providing 24/7 support to any cyber question, utilising guidance and insights curated by BT’s security experts
• Cyber Support Hub – a platform packed with practical explainers and easy how-to guides, to help SMEs stay one step ahead of cyber threats

Jon James, Chief Executive Officer at BT Business, said: “As technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed, cyber-attacks are becoming ever more sophisticated. For UK SMEs, this means they now must defend themselves against the same highly complex threats faced by large enterprises, without the resources, expertise or budget to match.

“BT protects more businesses than any other network, so we know the level of threat they face – and because cyber threats don't care about size of your business, neither should the protection we provide our customers. That’s why we’re offering new AI-powered solutions and a range of expert guidance and support, providing big business security to the UK’s small businesses.”

Jonathon Ellison, Director for National Resilience at the National Cyber Security Centre, said: “The cyber threat to UK organisations is increasing and small businesses are certainly not immune from attacks and their potentially devastating consequences.

“Alongside providers like BT, we are working tirelessly to ensure every organisation has the tools they need to put in place the cyber security basics consistently and comprehensively. It is vital that SME owners manage the cyber risks they face by taking action to protect themselves.”

The launch of enhanced AI-powered security for small businesses further expands the range of cyber security solutions BT Business offers to UK public and private sector organisations. Underpinned by CrowdStrike’s leading AI technology, the solution provides real-time monitoring of suspicious activity and rapid automated remediation of potential threats – meaning attacks can be prevented before they impact. To find out more, visit Endpoint Threat Protect . 

ENDS

Notes to editors

The NCSC also provides free support to SMEs through its Cyber Action Toolkit, which is designed to help sole traders and small businesses take their first steps in cyber security. It provides bite-sized actions to help protect their money and reputation from cyber criminals. The toolkit is a strong starting point to help small businesses put in place basic measures and develop confidence to work towards Cyber Essentials - the government-backed certification scheme that demonstrates an organisation meets the recognised UK minimum standard for cyber security.

BT worked with polling house and BPC member, Censuswide, to survey 1,004 decision-makers in small and medium-sized businesses in the UK between 30th January and 4th February 2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles.

¹ BT network data as of Oct 2025
² BT commissioned research, conducted by Censuswide among 1,004 SME decision-makers between 30^th January and 4^th February 2026
³ BT commissioned research, conducted by Censuswide among 1,004 SME decision-makers between 30^th January and 4^th February 2026. The 1.8 million figure represents 31.28% of the UK’s 5.7 million SMEs, according to UK Parliament data.
⁴ Gov UK Cyber security breaches survey 2025/6
⁵ Gov UK Cyber security breaches survey 2025/6

The new five-year contract will see BT provide services for BAE Systems’ global network which operates across 40 countries. The deal also includes the option to extend for up to a further three years.

Delivery will be underpinned by BT’s leading networks and experience in delivering complex services across the UK, enabling BAE Systems team members to work more flexibly and access digital tools in specialist environments.

The new deal paves the way for BAE Systems to implement new technologies as part of its digital transformation process to bolster operational efficiencies.

The announcement follows BT’s recent launch of a new sovereign platform as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting organisations working in sensitive national roles or needing to meet changing regulations.

The partnership builds on that commitment, focusing on delivering dependable connectivity and security at scale for key sectors including defence, manufacturing and critical national infrastructure.

Chris Sims, Chief Commercial Officer at BT Business, said: “Networks are mission-critical to BAE Systems. This partnership is about getting those foundations exactly right, and we have decades of experience delivering secure, complex connectivity for critical organisations that need absolute reliability. By combining our resilient networks with advanced security services, we’re giving BAE Systems a platform they can depend on to support the UK’s security, now and into the future.”

Dr Mary Haigh, Director Digital Delivery at BAE Systems, said: “We’re taking a significant step in our transformation of the Digital ecosystem to deliver a secure, insight-led digitally enabled working environment to power operational excellence across BAE Systems. Our partners will play a critical role by unlocking greater agility, pace and innovation across our business.”

Thursday, 23 April, London: BT Business today announced the UK’s first full suite of sovereign services, offering public and private sector organisations an end-to-end portfolio spanning sovereign connectivity, voice, cloud and AI. The expanded sovereign platform is built to help customers keep sensitive workloads in the UK, strengthen operational control and deploy advanced digital services faster – without compromising on security, resilience or compliance.

The commercial launch comes as a new report from Assembly Research finds that concerns over data security are holding back AI adoption in the UK. By giving organisations clearer control over how data is stored, accessed and governed, digital sovereignty can provide the confidence needed to scale AI securely – unlocking an estimated £18bn productivity boost for the UK economy.

The report also highlights the wider commercial opportunity created by sovereign infrastructure. Accelerated investment in UK-based data centres could generate £14.6bn by 2030, while the expansion of sovereign cloud services is estimated to be worth an additional £13.6bn over the next five years.

As part of the expanded sovereign portfolio, BT is building sovereign AI capability with Nscale and NVIDIA to deliver new sovereign AI solutions in the UK. This will enable organisations to run AI workloads domestically, scale capacity on demand and meet data residency, security and regulatory requirements – supporting use cases from operational automation to advanced analytics and AI-assisted customer service.

BT is also launching Sovereign Cloud – a private cloud platform hosted and operated entirely within the UK. Designed for organisations handling sensitive or regulated workloads, it provides compute, storage and backup capabilities underpinned by Rackspace Technology’s UK data centre infrastructure, with UK-based, security-cleared teams and managed services to support migration, operations and ongoing compliance.

Jon James, Chief Executive Officer of BT Business, said: “Organisations, public and private, want to move fast with AI and cloud while keeping control over the sovereignty of their data. That’s why BT is the first UK provider to offer a complete sovereign portfolio – from secure connectivity and voice to sovereign cloud and AI – all delivered in one place. Only BT has the scale and infrastructure to help customers modernise critical services with confidence, delivering real benefits for organisations and for the UK as a whole.”

Matthew Howett, Founder and Chief Executive of Assembly Research, said: “Our research shows that digital sovereignty has become a political focus across Europe and in the UK, as concerns about an over-reliance on non-sovereign digital platforms have intensified. The clear prize on offer should encourage the Government to take further steps to realise the opportunities of a wider adoption of digital sovereignty. As well as the potential economic benefits, the wider adoption of digital sovereignty promises enhanced resilience by giving organisations more control over services.”

Alongside growth, the research highlights the role of sovereignty in mitigating risk. Greater control and visibility across data and digital systems can help organisations limit the financial impact of cyber incidents, reducing losses linked to data, intellectual property and digital assets. The report estimates this could save about £632m a year.

Greater use of domestically controlled systems can also simplify compliance. The research suggests it could make it easier for organisations to meet UK data protection rules and sector-specific regulation, helping to avoid up to £1bn in GDPR-related fines.

ENDS

About the report

BT asked Assembly Research to research the potential benefits of digital sovereignty to the UK and the policy levers that the Government could use to realise them. Assembly Research outline policy actions that could encourage the business adoption of digital sovereignty, in support of the Government’s growth agenda.

Assembly Research established an understanding of the different elements of digital sovereignty by assessing the few early approaches and frameworks that have been adopted elsewhere using our expertise in the regulation of global digital markets.

Assembly Research estimated a number of potential economic benefits of a wider adoption of digital sovereignty across the UK based on official UK Government projections, and a review of other literature.

About Assembly Research

Assembly provides independent research on regulatory, policy, and legislative developments in communications markets and the digital economy.

For more information, visit www.assemblyresearch.co.uk

Nscale plans to build up to 14 megawatts of AI data centre infrastructure across three existing strategic BT sites in the UK. BT will provide infrastructure and connectivity to these new data centres, which will significantly expand the UK’s AI compute capacity in response to surging demand.

The development extends BT Business’ sovereign platform to provide new AI services for the private and public sector. Organisations using BT’s sovereign AI capability will be able to:

• Run AI models in the UK, supporting regulatory, data residency and security requirements
• Scale AI capacity on demand, without upfront capital investment in infrastructure
• Adopt advanced AI technologies, while maintaining operational resilience and control

This will support a wide range of use cases, from AI-powered analysis of sensitive data in healthcare and research, to enabling AI in public services and critical industries such as energy, finance and security.

Sovereignty plays a critical role in the UK Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, a strategy to boost economic growth through AI and data centre investment while ensuring national resilience and control.  NVIDIA, Nscale and BT are also among the founding members of the ‘UK Sovereign AI Industry Forum’, a coalition of leading British businesses working with the government to strengthen the UK’s sovereign AI infrastructure, skills capacity and startup ecosystem.

AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: “To unlock the full benefits of AI, Britain needs more of the infrastructure that powers it. This investment in new AI data centres will give businesses and public services the tools they need to use AI at scale here in the UK. Building more of this on British shores strengthens our position in a highly competitive global market, supports high value jobs, and ensures Britain can work with the best technologies in the world while growing our own capability at home.”

Jon James, CEO, BT Business, said: “The development of AI and data centre infrastructure is key to unlocking economic growth in the UK, and is only possible with the best, most trusted networks at the foundation. Digital sovereignty enables UK organisations to adopt the world’s leading technologies, while maintaining resilience and control in a rapidly changing world. Our collaboration with Nscale reflects BT’s unique position as the digital backbone of the UK – the only provider with the scale, capabilities and experience to enable the nation’s sovereign ambitions.”

Tom Burke, Chief Revenue Officer, Nscale, said: “Partnering with BT is a major milestone in supporting the UK’s AI ambitions and its position in the global AI economy. Telecommunications have a critical role to play in this shift – you can’t deliver AI at scale without resilient, high-capacity networks as the backbone. Together, BT’s nationwide digital infrastructure and Nscale’s modular, NVIDIA-powered AI data centre deployment will give organisations access to world-class compute, with the assurance that their data and operations can stay local.”

Anthony Hills, Director UKI, NVIDIA, said: “Telecommunications is at the core of sovereign AI, because secure, high-capacity networks are essential to unlocking the UK’s accelerated computing potential. By combining BT’s trusted nationwide infrastructure with Nscale’s AI data centres powered by NVIDIA , this collaboration expands access to sovereign compute under UK control, enabling telcos and their customers to innovate with AI while keeping sensitive data and operations in the country.”

The agreement introduces two key 5G Standalone (SA) functions – the Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) and the Network Exposure Function (NEF). Together, these capabilities support BT’s strategy to build a more flexible, programmable, and performance‑aware network that can provide more predictable performance for critical applications, faster innovation through secure APIs, and the ability to tailor connectivity to operational needs.

Enabling dynamic network slicing

NSSF will enhance BT’s ability to manage and orchestrate network slices by selecting the optimal network slice for each user based on factors including time, location, subscription type, current network load, and application requirements. 

Crucially, NSSF can dynamically adjust slice assignments in real-time based on network conditions and analytics, meaning that if one network slice becomes congested traffic can be intelligently redistributed to deliver consistent performance even under changing conditions.

By introducing NSSF into its core, BT is laying the foundation for fully dynamic, application‑aware slicing which can give business customers more predictable performance and new connectivity options tailored to their operational needs. For example, a hospital could run its connected ambulances, patient monitoring systems and staff mobile devices on separate slices – ensuring that mission-critical applications are prioritised, even during peak network usage.

Faster innovation through secure, standardised network APIs

NEF enables customers, developers and partners to integrate selected network capabilities directly into their applications and workflows thanks to secure, standardised APIs. This evolves BT’s network from a connectivity layer into a programmable platform which can support new services, partnerships and consumption-based models.

Demand for network programmability is increasing as UK businesses and developers look to integrate network features more closely with their digital services. BT has already demonstrated the value of securely exposing network capabilities through its work within the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative, delivering CAMARA-certified APIs including SIM-Swap and Know Your Customer to help organisations strengthen fraud prevention.

NEF could also provide developers access to capabilities such as quality‑of‑service controls and device authentication, allowing them service differentiation through intuitive, standardised APIs which eliminate complexity and the need for specialised network expertise. For example, in logistics, a fleet management app could request dedicated low latency connectivity for vehicles in a specific area, or a bank could use real-time device authentication to strengthen fraud checks during mobile transactions.

Greg McCall, Chief Security and Networks Officer, BT Group, said: “Our renewed partnership with Ericsson reinforces our ambition to evolve BT’s network into a more flexible and intelligent platform for our customers. Capabilities like NSSF and NEF are important building blocks that will allow us to respond to customer needs in new ways as the wider ecosystem matures. This is about putting the right foundations in place today so we can unlock more advanced connectivity opportunities in the future.”

Luca Orsini, Head of Ericsson North Europe, said: “By continuing to evolve our 5G Core partnership, we are laying important foundations to build a more intelligent, programmable network that can meet the growing needs of UK businesses and developers. Differentiated services enabled by Network APIs represent a significant and fast-growing market opportunity, and this evolution positions BT to capitalise on that demand by opening up network capabilities in new and innovative ways. We look forward to working with BT to commercialise these capabilities and deliver real value for UK businesses and the wider digital economy.

The agreement builds on a BT’s long‑standing relationship with Ericsson across both its core network and RAN, which includes recent milestones such as the world-first deployment of Advanced RAN Coordination (ARC) and European-first rollout of next-generation Massive MIMO units, boosting network capacity in busy areas.

The expanded deployment of the dual‑mode 5G Core solution will continue to run on BT’s Network Cloud with advanced orchestration and automation capabilities, while integration with Ericsson Expert Analytics provides deep visibility into network and service performance to help BT proactively maintain service quality.

Katie Milligan, currently Deputy CEO of Openreach, will become CEO, Openreach on 01 April 2026. She succeeds Clive Selley, who will become CEO of BT International. He succeeds Bas Burger who has decided the time is right for him to leave BT after 18 years of service, including nine years on the Executive Committee, also on 01 April 2026.

Allison Kirkby, BT Group Chief Executive, said:

“Openreach is a critical national asset - the digital backbone of the UK - and a key driver of BT Group’s long‑term value. Its talented team, disciplined execution and customer focus continues to strengthen our position as the UK’s most trusted connector. Katie has helped shape that success. Her deep industry experience, strong people leadership and sharp operational instincts make her the right leader to take Openreach forward.”

“Clive’s contribution at the helm of Openreach has been exceptional. His leadership - particularly the scale, pace and quality of the full fibre broadband build, has set new standards for our industry. We are deeply grateful for the commitment, expertise and integrity he has brought to the role. Clive’s lasting legacy is a world-class digital infrastructure that will serve the UK for generations to come.”

“Clive is also the best person to lead BT International forward as a next generation, global telco platform business. No one has more experience building complex modern day infrastructure and supporting customers at scale in their digital transition. I’m delighted he’s staying within BT Group and look forward to working together with him in his new role.”

“I’d like to thank Bas for all that he’s done for us over the past 18 years, including leading Global, BT Business and, most recently, successfully carving out BT International as a standalone unit. He has laid the foundations and strategy for a more focussed, responsive platform business for our customers outside of the UK, ready to scale and grow with the help of next generation technologies.”

“Together these changes strengthen BT Group’s leadership for the next chapter – giving Openreach continued commercial and customer momentum in the UK, and speeding up the transformation of BT International.”

To read Openreach’s announcement on its leadership succession, see here https://www.openreach.com/news/katie-milligan-appointed-next-ceo-of-openreach/

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Katie Milligan biography

Katie Milligan is Deputy Chief Executive of Openreach, the UK’s largest digital infrastructure provider and the engine behind the nation’s Full Fibre upgrade. 

She has been instrumental in Openreach’s return to revenue and EBITDA growth and reshaped the company’s commercial strategy through major product and pricing innovations. This included landmark wholesale pricing agreements such as Equinox and 112 – and she has strengthened long-term partnerships with hundreds of communications providers across the UK. 

Katie joined BT Group in 2004 on its graduate programme, developing deep commercial and operational expertise across a range of senior leadership roles. She then moved to Openreach in 2009 and has held positions including Commercial Director and Chief Commercial Officer.

Clive Selley biography

Clive Selley leads Openreach, the UK’s biggest digital infrastructure provider. He’s responsible for the nationwide full fibre build that’s transforming how people live, work and stay connected. 

Since 2016, Clive has driven one of the fastest broadband upgrades in Europe, taking full fibre past more than 22 million homes and businesses and helping shape the UK’s digital future. His focus on engineering excellence, innovation and skills has helped Openreach create the UK’s first fully fibre city and build one of the largest engineering workforces in the country. 

Clive has spent more than three decades in telecoms, previously leading BT’s technology division and major network transformation programmes. He was awarded a CBE for his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and serves as Honorary Colonel of 81 Signal Squadron. 

Digital sovereignty is a growing priority for organisations of all sizes, as they look to enhance their resilience in the face of growing geopolitical instability. It’s also key to ensuring the adoption of new technologies and digital infrastructure incorporating the world’s leading global firms is future-proofed against developments outside the UK.

Assuring the control and management of operations, systems and data within a UK infrastructure platform – supported exclusively by UK-based staff where required – is key to providing digital sovereignty. With network infrastructure at its centre, BT has deep expertise delivering secure sovereign services to critical public and private sector organisations, making it the natural choice for businesses seeking a trusted partner.

BT is significantly enhancing its customer offering by making a range of new solutions available for customers via its sovereign platform, built on BT’s unique capabilities in UK-based systems, infrastructure and sensitive customer data management.

The platform will underpin the rollout of new sovereign voice, cloud and AI services over the coming months. It will also enable BT’s Business unit to make a range of its existing core products and services available with a sovereign option in the first half of 2026, allowing customers to choose the level of sovereignty they need for their organisation.

Jon James, CEO of BT Business, said: “Sovereignty isn’t simply a matter of compliance or risk management – it’s key to unleashing the potential of AI, and ensuring resilient operations in an increasingly uncertain world. Our pioneering launch reflects BT’s unique position as the digital backbone of the UK, and the only provider with the scale, capabilities and experience to enable true UK sovereign solutions.

“Organisations are increasingly looking for sovereignty in their services and it’s up to us to make sure we deliver for our customers. That means making sure we’re offering the right sovereign solutions that ensure data and operations remain secure, compliant, resilient and future-proofed.”

The UK Government’s ambitious AI strategy includes boosting national growth through AI and data centre investment, and securing future UK AI sovereignty. BT is committed to supporting this strategy, both as a founding member of the UK Sovereign AI Industry Forum and partner on the UK Government’s AI skills development programme, and by providing the future-ready digital infrastructure key to connecting and powering these technologies.

For more information, visit: Sovereign Platform | Secure Digital Infrastructure

Cyber criminals are stepping up their surveillance of British businesses, scanning online devices more than 4,000 times a day to identify gaps in security, BT network data reveals.

Malicious scouting raids, which increasingly use automated ‘bots’ to look for weaknesses across organisations’ networks, have risen 300% in the last 12 months as hackers zero in on web-connected devices. This can range from company laptops and mobile phones through to IoT devices such as office security cameras. Once a system vulnerability has been identified, it can lead to the launch of a cyber-attack such as ransomware, which can compromise an entire business.

BT’s new data shows that professional services such as accountancy, legal and consultancy firms are the most targeted sector for ransomware attacks, followed by retail businesses. The hospitality and leisure sector is the third-largest victim in the last year, as criminals look to exploit valuable guest data and payment details. Ransomware hits smaller businesses the hardest, with firms employing fewer than 25 staff the most targeted group for attacks¹.

To help businesses stay ahead of evolving cyber risks, BT partnered with global cybersecurity leader CrowdStrike to launch BT Business Antivirus Detect and Respond. Powered by CrowdStrike Falcon® Go, the service leverages CrowdStrike’s industry-leading, AI-native technology to proactively stop threats before they become breaches. Available exclusively in the UK with BT, it extends the same AI-powered cybersecurity trusted by the world’s largest enterprises to smaller businesses, helping every organisation defend against today’s adversaries.

The launch comes as CrowdStrike’s State of SMB Cybersecurity Survey reveals only 11% of small businesses use AI in their defences – even as cybercriminals increasingly weaponise AI to scale their attacks. In March, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre said “keeping pace with frontier AI capabilities” would be key to being resilient against threats in the next decade.

Chris Sims, Chief Commercial Officer at BT Business, said: “Cybercrime is a threat to all businesses, not just the household names that make headlines when they get hacked. Although small businesses often don't consider themselves prime targets, they’re under attack like never before, as cybercriminals increasingly use AI to scan for and exploit vulnerabilities. We’re committed to delivering leading technologies that secure organisations of all sizes, enabling them to focus on growing their business.”

Daniel Bernard, Chief Business Officer at CrowdStrike said: “Adversaries are weaponising AI to launch faster, more targeted attacks – and BT’s data shows the scale of that threat is only accelerating. At CrowdStrike, we’ve harnessed AI to stop breaches before they happen. Together with BT, we’re bringing that same AI-powered protection and expertise to UK small and medium-sized businesses, giving them the power to stay ahead of even the most sophisticated adversaries.”

The launch represents a further expansion of BT’s range of cybersecurity resources for UK businesses, following the launch of its cloud-based threat protection solution Complete Cloud Secure and Security Awareness Training, designed to help companies build up their cyber strength. Small business owners can also visit BT’s Cyber Security Decoded website, which features simple guides and expert tips on how to protect people, services and data from cyber threats.

_{¹ The CrowdStrike State of SMB Cybersecurity Survey}
 

BT has released new economic modelling from Assembly Research highlighting some of the financial, societal and environmental benefits of moving the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sectors from outdated analogue networks to digital infrastructure. The study finds a £3 billion net economic benefit could be realised across five key sectors by 2040.

The research evaluated the costs, risks and potential gains from digital migration across energy, water, health (NHS), emergency services and local government. It accounted for the direct cost of upgrading, as well as the rising expense of maintaining legacy systems like the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the 2G mobile network – both decades old and increasingly challenging to support. Ofcom data shows resilience incidents on the PSTN have risen by 45%, underscoring the urgency of change.

Beyond the financial case, the modelling shows clear societal and environmental benefits by 2040, including:

• Preventing 750,000 unnecessary ambulance trips – averaging more than 100 avoided journeys every day.
• Freeing up 12 million hours of council staff time – equal to around 6,500 staff working full-time for a year.
• Saving over 600,000 NHS staff hours – comparable to the annual workload of 350 full-time employees.
• Avoiding up to 280,000 false fire service callouts as businesses move away from legacy fire alarms – equivalent to 54 false alarms every day.
• Cutting 3.42 megatonnes of carbon emissions – equal to powering every home in Birmingham for a year.

Looking ahead, the benefits of digital migration are projected to bring significant improvements across the UK’s critical infrastructure. For the energy sector, digital networks can deliver improved resilience, help prevent outages, and enable more accurate demand forecasting – translating to an estimated £1.4 billion in savings. In the water sector, smarter network monitoring and reduced electricity usage could generate efficiencies worth £771 million.

Local governments, often under pressure to do more with less, stand to gain £486 million by modernising telecare systems and cutting the cost of maintaining ageing analogue equipment. In the NHS, digital transformation promises better call handling and more efficient emergency response. Meanwhile, emergency services could see fewer false alarms and improved call management, enabling faster, more targeted responses.

Jon James, CEO of BT Business, said: “This research sends a clear message: delaying the shift to digital carries a real cost to public services, the environment and the wider economy. Legacy systems are becoming increasingly unreliable, and the case for action is urgent. BT is committed to guiding the UK’s critical national infrastructure sectors through this upgrade with the resilience and support they need.”

Matthew Howett, Founder & CEO of Assembly Research, added: “For the first time, we've lifted the lid on legacy network migration and worked to understand the scope and scale of how key UK industries are still relying on aging fixed and mobile networks. Our research found that while the energy and water sectors are already well into their migrations, it’s vital that others follow to avoid growing costs and missed efficiencies."

The UK’s transition to digital connectivity is a major national infrastructure programme, with the nation's telecoms industry working closely with Ofcom and the Government. The Public Switched Telephone Network will be fully retired in January 2027, with businesses and public services urged to complete their migrations by the end of 2025 to avoid last-minute disruption.

In 2024 alone, BT migrated nearly 300,000 legacy PSTN business lines. Yet many CNI providers in the UK still rely on ageing analogue systems for critical operations, while other countries are moving faster. Germany and Spain are close to completing their migrations, and Italy, Portugal and France are actively pressing ahead. Against this backdrop, the UK risks falling behind its peers unless the pace of migration accelerates.

The message is clear: now is the time to act. Read the full report and learn more about the All-IP transition and what it means for your business.

BT today announced that it has completed the sale of its Irish wholesale and enterprise business unit to Speed Fibre Group.

The transaction, first announced on 5 February 2025, has been cleared by the Irish the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

BT will maintain a strong presence in Ireland post divestment, with over 300 colleagues serving multinational companies and large organisations, and offices in Dublin and regionally. This team will also continue delivering the Emergency Call Answering Service. In Dublin, BT also employs over 100 experts in its global procurement unit, BT Sourced.

The transaction also includes a long-term agreement between BT and Speed Fibre Group to source connectivity for their respective customers from each other.

Bas Burger, CEO of BT International, said: “We are delighted to conclude this successful transaction which represents the next step in our strategy to become a more agile and focused business. We will continue to invest in this important market for our multinational customers to provide them with secure multi-cloud connectivity and deliver on our purpose to connect for good.”

BT was advised on the transaction by Citi, PWC, and Simmons & Simmons. Cordiant and Speed Fibre Group were advised by McCann Fizgerald, PwC, and Matheson.

ENDS

As official technology supplier for the Portsmouth event, in which 12 national teams compete on the waters of the Solent, BT is working closely with SailGP and Ericsson, the championship’s global technology partner. This will see BT provide two dedicated network slices tailored to the event’s specific requirements, enhancing connectivity and complementing Ericsson’s role in delivering high-capacity, reliable network performance for SailGP.

Network slicing uses 5G Standalone technology to provide a dedicated, protected slice of the mobile network for specific use-cases, ensuring performance isn’t impacted if the public network is congested by users at the event. SailGP marks the first time that BT has delivered multiple concurrent network slices at the same event, showcasing the technology’s ability to keep fans connected to event experiences as well as power the delivery of seamless operations behind the scenes. It has worked with Nokia to deploy network slicing capabilities in several radio mast sites covering the event area around Portsmouth harbour, with the slicing being configured end-to-end.

Powered by EE, the UK’s best and most reliable mobile network¹, BT will provision multiple network slices to provide dedicated capacity for critical use cases including:

• Boat connectivity: To support seamless roaming between the private and public network across all 12 F50s. BT’s network slice ensures always-on connectivity for voice communications, transfer of telemetry data and on-board video.
• Point-of-sale terminals: Enabling a quick payments process in SailGP’s official merchandise shop within the SailGP Race Stadium.
• Broadcast: Working with Sony and its 5G live production products to trial new broadcast capabilities, roaming Full HD cameras will utilise the network slice – optimised for the high-capacity uplink requirements of Sony’s ultra low-latency encoders – to support a SailGP production which is broadcast to 212 countries worldwide.
• Media: Select photographers at the event will benefit from instant and assured connectivity to upload photos in real-time for use by international media. This is being delivered in partnership with Sony’s connected camera solution, consisting of Sony Alpha cameras and PDT-FP1.

Also new to the UK event is SailGP’s 360-degree AR/VR experience, which will allow fans to experience what it’s like to be onboard an F50. This high-quality experience will use new higher capacity 5G radios, being tested in Portsmouth by BT and Ericsson, that will enable ultra low-latency performance and gigabit capacity.

Kerry Small, Chief Operating Officer, Business at BT Group, says: “5G Standalone isn’t just about faster speeds – it’s about unlocking tailor-made capabilities that can transform customer experiences. In partnership with SailGP, we’ve demonstrated this by using network slicing to streamline event operations and bring fans closer to the action than ever before. It’s a powerful example of how we’re evolving the UK’s best network to deliver next-generation connectivity and more immersive experiences.”

Warren Jones, Chief Technology Officer of SailGP, says: “Bringing SailGP back to UK shores after three years is a major milestone, and delivering a world-class, tech-driven event is critical to the success of it. Partnering with BT has allowed us to push the boundaries of what’s possible in sports connectivity. In a first for SailGP, BT’s use of 5G standalone network slicing ensures the global championship can maintain real-time communications, telemetry and live video from the racecourse – this collaboration showcases how cutting-edge connectivity can transform the delivery of global sporting events.”

BT’s latest implementation of network slicing builds on a series of recent deployments, including at Wembley Stadium and Belfast Christmas market. EE’s 5G Standalone network, which launched less than a year ago, is now available to over 30 million people across more than 50 major towns and cities in the UK – covering over 45 per cent of the population.

Limited tickets to the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix still remain. Don’t miss out on the action – visit SailGP.com/tickets to experience the most exciting racing on water’s return to UK shores on July 19-20. 

ENDS

About SailGP

The most exciting racing on water, the Rolex SailGP Championship is a global championship with national teams battling it out in identical high-tech, high-speed 50-foot foiling catamarans at iconic venues around the world. Racing faster than the wind at speeds exceeding 100 km/h // 60mph, the Rolex SailGP Championship is driven by the sport’s top athletes, with national pride, personal glory, and bonus prize money of US$12 million at stake. Visit SailGP.com to find out more.

¹ Claim based on the RootMetrics® UK RootScore® Report: H2 2024. Tested at locations across the UK with the best commercially available smartphones on 4 national mobile networks across all available network types. Your experiences may vary. The RootMetrics award is not an endorsement of EE. Visit ee.co.uk/claims for more details.

London, June 24, 2025 – A study by BT in partnership with Be the Business reveals that two in five (39%) SMEs, equivalent to two million businesses, have not arranged cyber security training for their teams¹ – despite four in ten (42%) small businesses having experienced a cyber attack in the last 12 months, increasing to two in three (67%) for medium-sized companies². 

The impact can be severe too, costing companies considerable time and money to recover from an attack. Micro and small businesses have to pay £7,960 on average to cope with their most disruptive breach when it resulted in damage, according to the latest Government survey.

The most common attack SMEs face is phishing, with email scams targeting 85% of UK businesses. Damaging ransomware incidents, meanwhile, have more than doubled in the last 12 months, rising from affecting less than 1 in 200 businesses last year to 1 in 100 in 2025. A separate report by BT has revealed large businesses which are more proactive with their cyber security are more likely to grow that those who aren’t. It showed that these “cyber agile” companies have a 20% higher growth rate on average³.

In response, BT is bolstering its suite of security products with the launch of dedicated security training, to help SMEs understand the practical steps they can take to protect themselves against cyber attacks and potential breaches. The training, unveiled today at an event for SMEs featuring cyber security experts from BT, educates small businesses about next-generation threats, including the role of AI and quantum computing. It also highlights the rise of attacks, including account takeovers, where stolen customer credentials are used to breach systems, as well as QR code scams – or “quishing” attacks – which have surged by 1,400% in the past five years.

Tris Morgan, Managing Director for Security at BT, comments: “At BT, our mission is to enable UK businesses to grow and prosper, and we know the challenges SMEs face protecting themselves from growing cyber threats. These often include budget constraints and the lack of a dedicated cyber team, but for SMEs a cyber attack isn't just an inconvenience; it poses an existential threat.

The good news is that effective cyber security doesn't require corporate-grade resources. With the right training, basic security measures, and awareness, SMEs can dramatically reduce their risk profile. The key is recognising that, in today's digital landscape, cyber security is not a luxury but a foundation that enables companies to face forwards confidently, rather than forever looking over their shoulder.”

Further research findings: 

• 18% of UK SMEs say their biggest cyber concern is the threats posed by AI. Seven in ten business leaders (69%), however, are considering using AI tools to protect themselves.
• About half (46%) of business leaders turn to industry experts for cyber security advice, more than any other source.

ENDS  

Notes to editors  

¹ Insights from the Be the Business Cyber Security report May 2025 (including a survey of 1,000 SMEs, excluding sole traders)
² Insights from the Government Cybersecurity Breaches Survey 2025
³ Insights from the BT Cyber Agile organisation report January 2025

London, May 29, 2025 – CEOs are taking over our social feeds, with one in three (30%) building up such a following that they now see themselves as influencers. That’s according to new research from BT, which finds execs now see their social media presence as critical to their business strategy.

Entrepreneurs and company chiefs are increasingly stepping into the limelight, tempted by the promise of new revenue, low barriers to entry, and the pressure to keep pace with competitors. Half of businesses (52%) now bring in more customers via social media than any other channel, while 61% of companies launched in the last 12 months sell the bulk of their products or services through social channels.

Three-quarters (73%) of CEOs say effective social media use will be critical for future growth, and two in three (66%) believe it’s essential to be a good leader in 2025. Despite this, a third (34%) say they have had no training on how to use it in the workplace and 40% still feel uneasy representing their company online. It’s one of the main reasons why more than half (56%) feel digital skills training would help their company target prospective customers more accurately.

To help business leaders navigate life as an ‘InfluenCEO’, BT has teamed up with entrepreneur and star of The Apprentice Amber-Rose Badrudin to outline the hard and soft skills required to use a personal brand to boost business growth. Amber-Rose built her Asian convenience store Oree Mart from scratch, generating a network of about 1.6 million followers across her personal and business social channels, including nearly a million on TikTok.

Oree Mart CEO Amber-Rose Badrudin comments: “Leadership isn’t confined to the boardroom anymore. Today’s CEOs have an opportunity to speak directly to their customers and be an influencer among their peers, and the rewards can be well worth it. If you want a big audience, the most important thing is to be authentic, be honest, and find ways to get people invested in and energised about your business. You can’t do this half-heartedly, it takes time, effort and plenty of planning. Social media has been the key to transforming my company into a well-known brand, and with help from BT, I want to show entrepreneurs how to harness it for business growth.”

Digital infrastructure is also playing a vital role supporting these ‘InfluenCEOs’. More than half (52%) say better broadband has helped them monetise their business, while an overwhelming 9 out of 10 (89%) believe they couldn’t keep their business running without reliable mobile and broadband connectivity.

Caroline Southall, Director of Small and Medium Enterprise at BT, comments: “Building a public profile can be a game changer for business leaders, unlocking new business opportunities, and showing a more engaging and human side to a company. No wonder then that 85% of FTSE bosses have a personal LinkedIn profile, up from just 12% in 2023¹. Better digital connectivity is underpinning their social media push, enabling them to use data-intensive technology like TikTok Live and Instagram while on the move. I hope Amber-Rose’s story and guidance helps those that want to boost their social presence understand the tricks of the trade.”

This partnership is part of BT’s wider effort to empower business leaders and entrepreneurs with the tools, training, and connectivity they need to thrive in today’s digital world. Building on its support for over 1.2 million small businesses since 2015 via digital skills programmes, BT continues to offer evolving initiatives around AI and cybersecurity, ranging from one-to-one mentoring via Digital Boost to community Netwalks and free sustainability training³.

Amber Rose’s practical advice for business leaders hoping to blaze the same trail includes:

• Firm foundations: A personal brand channel and a business page are very different, but many confuse them when marketing their business on social media. The personal channel should give your audience the story of the business through your eyes, insights into who you are, and create a connection. It will complement your company page, which should be focused on showcasing what your business does along with specific events and products. Make the distinction by using a different style and tone of voice for each, writing in the first person and voicing opinions for your channel.
• Be Authentic: It’s a crowded field out there, with many business owners looking to carve out a personal brand through social media. To stand out, share your company journey in a way that captures your personality, rather than how you feel a leader should behave. Whether this is recalling your first customer or showing how tired you are at the end of a hard week, authenticity is the super-power to help you shine.
• Get started… then get polished: It’s nearly impossible to “get it right” first time when taking your first steps to build your business online. Don’t hold back on posting or sharing content because you feel it’s not perfect, it’s better to embrace those mistakes – they’ll help you learn faster. Everyone has their own path to success.
• Risk and repeat: Whether it’s through making a bold investment or a first TikTok LIVE video, don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Improved connectivity means you can easily reach out to your audience while out and about so why not try it? Viral entrepreneurs thrive on failures as much as successes, and your audience will recognise and appreciate you trying new approaches and taking some risks.
• Power on through: Being the public face of a business will throw up challenges and regularly test your limits. If you’ve had a bad week or been criticised, posting on your socials may be the last thing on your mind. In tough times, always ask: “If 10 people faced this exact situation, how many would give up?” Don’t be the nine who walk away – be the one who keeps on going. Resilience will separate you from the rest and make your success even sweeter.

To watch BT and Amber-Rose’s guide to being an InfluenCEO, visit Amber-Rose's TikTok page.

Further research findings:

• Britain’s bosses now spend 28 days per year², promoting their business on social media with personal posts.
• Just a quarter (27%) are doing this during the traditional nine to five as digital advances mean they can create and film new content at any time.
• One in six execs (16%) use this flexibility to create content as soon as they wake up, while 12% do so last thing at night.
• Four in five execs (79%) believe their social media activity has boosted their revenue in the last year.
• Nearly a third (30%) admit their confidence has been dented by negative responses to their posts, and 29% worry that something they write online will get them cancelled

Case study: Lee Chambers, Founder of Male Allies UK

In Preston, social media has played a pivotal role in helping Male Allies UK reach new heights, all without a penny spent on advertising. The company, founded in 2023, promotes workplace gender equity by equipping men with the knowledge and tools to foster inclusive company culture.

Founder, author and business psychologist Lee Chambers credits LinkedIn as being “revolutionary” for the growing company, with 55% of its revenue now linked to activity on the platform.

Lee comments: “I thought social media was a distraction - a personal thing to do. But you don’t realise the value of it until you start to utilise it wisely, leveraging the benefits and mitigating the risks.”

And it’s not just the business’ social media channels. Lee credits building his personal brand as a critical part of using social media for revenue. “One of the biggest challenges facing businesses today is that society is becoming less trusting, which means businesses have to actively generate that trust” adds Lee.

“My advice for any other business leader would be to create content for your personal social media channels to develop that connection. Even in my leadership position, I still create content for my own LinkedIn page, and every leader should be considering their personal brand in the current climate. Be brave, be intentional, have a plan but don’t lose the organic and personal touch. Be willing to experiment.”

The success Lee has experienced through social media has prompted further investment into digital growth, with Make Allies UK now renting a studio space to create professional video content. His sights are set on TikTok and YouTube as the next frontiers for reaching wider audiences and championing better mental health and workplace wellbeing.

ENDS

Notes to editors 

¹ LinkedIn data
² 28 days based on survey data showing that the average UK business leader spends an hour a day promoting their business on social media, in line with a 9-hour workday and 252 workdays per year in the UK.
³ BT: Building better digital lives

BT worked with polling house and BPC member, Censuswide, to survey 500 CEOs and founders of small to medium sized businesses in the UK between 4^thand 9^th April 2025. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles.

BT has been awarded the contract for the Better Broadband Infill Project by Swansea Bay City Deal’s Digital Infrastructure Programme, which will be delivered in close partnership with infrastructure supplier Openreach.

The project has been designed to support levelling up in key areas where a connectivity gap exists. BT will provide additional funding to increase the overall value of the project to more than £10 million.

It will bring full fibre broadband access to 1,533 premises and an additional 256 sites across the four counties in the Swansea Bay City Region: Pembrokeshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire.

The homes and businesses included are predominantly in harder to reach, rural areas where the cost to provide faster broadband services is considerably higher. 

It specifically targets premises that currently have broadband speeds of less than 30Mbps and who are not in scope for any other government-funded fibre expansion projects or part of commercial build plans.

Cllr. Rob Stewart, Leader of Swansea Council and Chair of the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee said: “This project is a game-changer for our region. By bringing high-speed internet to areas that have been left behind, we are not only improving quality of life but also opening up new opportunities for economic and social development.

“Access to reliable broadband is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. This project will ensure that everyone in the Swansea Bay region can participate fully in the digital age.”

Susi Marston, Head of Public Sector Wales at BT, said: “Connectivity is at the heart of how people live and work today, but all of that relies on the right infrastructure being in place. 

“The Better Broadband Infill Project will improve services for thousands of people across the Swansea Bay City Region, who will benefit from state-of-the-art connectivity even in hard-to-reach areas.” 

The Better Broadband Infill Project is set to start this month and will continue its delivery across the region over six phases, with the first 220 premises connected by December this year and a completion date of March 31^st 2027.

BT today announced that customer traffic is now live on Global Fabric, BT’s brand-new network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform for multinational customers.

The announcement marks the debut of Global Fabric Internet, the first service offered from the platform, which delivers a step change in flexibility, visibility and performance of connectivity.

Through the platform’s web portal, customers can view connectivity to their apps, network health, events and alerts. It allows them to make changes to their connectivity in an instant, such as scaling up and down bandwidth, as well as provisioning new connections. This offers customers unprecedented flexibility to achieve the best network performance and accelerate their digital business outcomes.

Thanks to the platform’s brand-new hardware and digital orchestration layer, Global Fabric Internet is available on the same physical port as other connectivity services BT will launch over the coming year. This allows customers to future-proof their connectivity, enabling them to switch between different services with the click of a button and scale up or down instantly rather than in hours, days or weeks.  

BT is now adding more customers, scale and features to the platform, such as intent-based routing, building up to the launch of IP VPN and Ethernet connectivity services. These will be offered together with a choice of solutions such as DDoS cyber-security and SD-WAN.

Global Fabric transforms how businesses interconnect with their customers and suppliers securely and reliably across their full digital value chain. It provides people, devices and AIs with the best connectivity to apps and data hosted across multiple clouds.

James Eibisch, Research Director, IDC European Enterprise Communications Services, said: "The disruption and evolution of enterprise IT doesn't stop with digital transformation. The profound growth of AI and the unpredictability of today's geopolitics create uncertainty about how companies should plan and adapt for the future. To cope with this uncertainty, they need flexibility above all, and a platform approach to delivering connectivity and services provides that. BT Global Fabric helps businesses access technology and services in a secure and sovereign manner, wherever it is located and whenever it is needed."

Bas Burger, CEO, Business, BT, said: “Today marks the start of a new era of international business connectivity. Customers are now joining us on a journey to combine the full power of cloud and networks to drive adoption of digital services, such as AI. For BT, it marks a milestone in the delivery of our strategy for customers — to provide rock solid foundations for their digital business plans.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Global Business Internet

Global Fabric Internet is available in increments of 1 Mbps up to 100 Gbps, burstable, and will provide greater geographical coverage than BT’s previous internet services.

It will be offered with four access points as standard, providing the diversity that underpins Global Fabric’s resilience. It will be connected to two separate PoPs within each major business district (metro area) to further ensure resilience should an individual location fail.

Global Fabric Internet is the first connectivity service available from the Global Fabric NaaS platform. Over the following year, BT will also offer Layer 2 Ethernet and IP VPN connectivity services as well as direct peering with SaaS, SASE and Internet exchanges (IXPs).

Global Fabric platform

Built from three fundamental components, Global Fabric includes a customer web portal, digital orchestration layer and a brand-new network hardware layer deployed across an international footprint spanning the world’s top cloud datacentre locations.

Uniquely, it provides observability of both access and core networks. Access networks link up individual customer locations whereas core networks interconnect central IT systems hosted across multiple clouds. By spanning both, Global Fabric allows customers to achieve the best end-to-end network performance all the way from users and devices in offices, factories and other operational sites, to the multi-cloud core where apps and digital services such as AI are hosted.

Global Fabric is deterministic. This gives customers control over the routes their workloads take as they move between clouds, enabling them not only to achieve the best network cost and performance but meet data sovereignty regulations too as they can ensure workloads remain within geographic boundaries.

Global Fabric will be available to customers internationally via 140 PoPs hosted in the world’s top cloud locations located in 40 countries. It will offer 74 per cent direct coverage of hyperscaler clouds and pre-provisioned high-bandwidth connectivity to over 700 data-centres.

Connecting to Global Fabric PoPs

Global Fabric’s core network hardware is installed in the world’s major carrier neutral facilities (CNFs) — large datacentres where cloud providers, software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies and network operators provide access to their services.

Global Fabric hardware locations are known as ‘points of presence’ (PoPs). BT makes it easy for customers to connect their sites to their business partners, and to their applications and workloads hosted in the multi-cloud, using our PoPs as global connectivity gateways.

Global Fabric and sustainability — key figures

The new high-capacity, fully programmable network’s state-of-the-art equipment offers improvements in efficiency, sustainability and resilience. BT estimates that when fully rolled out, Global Fabric will use 79 per cent less electricity than its current international business networks. This means customers on the new network will be able to reduce their Scope 3 carbon emissions.

Using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol ICT Sector Guidance by Gesi, BT has generated the following estimates:

• In use, Global Fabric will consume 8,326 MWh/year versus its existing international networks at 39,890 MWh/year — a 79 per cent reduction.
• Use stage gross carbon including PUE will be 2,964 tonCO2e/year for Global Fabric versus 13,596 tonCO2e/year for BT’s existing international networks — a 78 per cent reduction.
• Global Fabric’s embodied emissions will be 363 tonCO2e/year versus its existing international networks 2,185 tonCO2e/year — an 83 per cent reduction.
• This gives a total carbon in use plus embodied carbon figure of 3,327 for Global Fabric versus its existing international networks at 15,781 tonCO2e/year — a 78 per cent reduction.
• BT estimates the average power consumption of Global Fabric will be 787 Watts per device, versus 2,201 Watts per device for its existing international networks.
• Moreover, Global Fabric will be built using 1,326 devices versus 1,571 devices — a 16 per cent reduction versus its existing international networks.

Dublin, 5 February 2025: BT today announced that it has reached an agreement for the sale of its Irish wholesale and enterprise business unit to Speed Fibre Group. The transaction is subject to customary conditions including competition approval and is expected to complete in 2025. 

The sale of BT Communications Ireland Ltd. (BTCIL) includes BT’s domestic network infrastructure, over 400 customers, and associated teams supporting wholesale and business enterprises. It does not include BTCIL’s customer base of multinationals, large Irish organisations, the Emergency Call Answering Service, associated employees, and the recently divested data centre business (subject to regulatory approval). The transaction also comprises of a long-term agreement for BT and Speed Fibre Group to source connectivity for their respective customers from each other.

The enterprise value of the put and call agreement for the acquisition of the share capital of BTCIL is €22 million.

Speed Fibre Group, the home of telecommunication companies Enet and Magnet+, is owned by Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited, a specialist global infrastructure investor with a focus on digital infrastructure. This acquisition will solidify Speed Fibre Group’s standing as a leading provider of telecommunications infrastructure in Ireland, broadening its reach in the wholesale and business-to-business connectivity markets. It will enhance Speed Fibre Group’s ability to deliver advanced connectivity solutions by integrating BTCIL’s complementary capabilities and domestic customer base.

For BT, the sale is part of the company’s ongoing transformation of its international business, focused on delivering secure, multi-cloud connectivity to multinational customers and large organisations in Ireland and around the world. Post-transaction, BT will continue to have a strong presence in Ireland, with over 400 employees, with offices in Dublin and regionally, and connections to BT’s global network infrastructure and propositions.

Peter McCarthy, CEO of Speed Fibre Group, said: “We are thrilled to announce that BT Communications Ireland, which includes wholesale and enterprise connectivity customers, will become part of Speed Fibre Group, marking an exciting milestone in our shared journey. This acquisition enables us to deliver even greater value to our customers by expanding our range of connectivity solutions. It’s a positive development for the Irish market, providing us with the scale and capabilities to better serve our growing customer base.”

Steve Marshall, Chairman of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited, said: “This transaction is an important addition to our Irish platform, representing a significant step in our strategy to build scale in key geographies. BT Communications Ireland Ltd’s capabilities complement Speed Fibre Group’s existing operations, enhancing our ability to support the growing connectivity needs of Irish businesses.”

Bas Burger, CEO, Business, BT, said: “Today’s announcement is another key milestone in focusing our international business on what it does best: providing secure multi-cloud connectivity to large organisations globally and in Ireland. Our Irish wholesale and enterprise business unit, which has been a leading alternative provider for more than 30 years, will enter a new era with Speed Fibre Group. We are confident that Speed Fibre Group will continue to deliver exceptional service to customers, and we look forward to working together with them as our future partner in Ireland. 

Shay Walsh, Managing Director, BT Ireland, said: "We have transformed our operations in Ireland over the past eighteen months to position our various business units for future growth. This new chapter will see BT focusing on multinationals and large organisations in Ireland, with Speed Fibre Group as its wholesale network and national services partner. Through this transaction, I am confident that the complementary strengths of both entities will unlock new opportunities, drive innovation, and sustain long-term growth in the Irish telecommunications market."

BT was advised on the transaction by Citi, PWC, and Simmons & Simmons. Cordiant and Speed Fibre Group were advised by McCann Fizgerald, PwC, and Matheson.

About Speed Fibre Group: 

Speed Fibre Group is the home of telecommunication companies Enet and Magnet+. Speed Fibre Group owns and oversees entities generating a combined annual turnover exceeding €86M; Speed Fibre Group employs approximately 190 people, with operations in Limerick and Dublin and proudly serves a customer base of more than 11,000 customers. In addition, it boasts over 1 million people benefiting from wholesale networks - including mobile phone users, students, residential broadband users, public sector workers and staff in multinational organisations. Further details here: www.speedfibregroup.ie

Enet operates a nationwide wholesale telecoms network, delivering extensive connectivity solutions across Ireland. Its infrastructure includes over 5,600 km of fibre, comprising the Irish State’s Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), proprietary metro networks, a unique dark fibre backhaul system, and one of the country’s largest licensed wireless networks

Taken together, Enet’s infrastructure creates a fully integrated nationwide telecommunications network that is truly open access in nature, enabling retail service providers and network operators to deliver world class data connectivity services to their customers throughout Ireland and enabling them to connect internationally.

Enet also offers carriers a wide and innovative range of world-class fibre and wireless wholesale products and services, ranging from Managed Connectivity, Infrastructure Access, Direct Internet Access and white label broadband. Further details here: www.enet.ie

Magnet+ is an independent connectivity provider in Ireland, offering a full suite of telecommunications solutions, including dedicated connectivity, voice, and cloud services. By combining network neutrality with world-class technical knowledge, Magnet+ offers integrated telecommunications solutions utilising its fibre, wireless, 4G, and 5G infrastructure to meet the exact needs of each client, supported by outstanding customer service. Further details here: www.magnetplus.ie

Speed Fibre Group is owned by Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited, (listed and traded on the London Stock Exchange as LON:CORD) an operationally focused specialist digital infrastructure investor. The business primarily invests in the core infrastructure of the digital economy - data centres, fibre-optic networks and telecommunication and broadcast towers in Europe and North America. Further details can be found here: www.cordiantdigitaltrust.com.

London, 12^th December 2024 – BT Group is transforming customer support through the integration of advanced AI and generative AI technologies, in collaboration with Sprinklr. The refreshed customer contact platform significantly enhances the EE and BT customer experience through conversational AI, and enhances support processes for the Group’s customer service guides across its Business, Consumer and internal contact channels. 

BT Group has integrated Sprinklr's unified customer experience platform, meaning when a customer is seeking support, the platform can draw on BT Group’s data to provide a personalised, accurate response. The customer contact platform, which powers EE’s virtual assistant Aimee, also provides the messaging capability for real-time online chat with customers. 

The platform enables BT Group to use generative AI to support various customer experiences, for sales and support for both EE and BT customers. For example, the Gen AI-enhanced experience within Aimee which helps customers prepare for international travel has halved the need for online chat/messaging support, thanks to its ability to understand and respond to customer needs. This keeps guides free for more complex asks, and helps customers get what they need, faster.  

Another place it is making a difference is in billing support, where generative AI provides detailed explanations of billing charges, enhancing transparency and customer satisfaction. Rich media within Aimee also means the chat experience isn’t just a text exchange; product cards and carousels are more engaging and valuable for customers. Over 30 separate customer experiences have been defined within Aimee so far, with more to follow. Aimee’s use has risen 51% year on year, demonstrating customer enthusiasm for the channel as its capabilities continue to be improved. 

Looking ahead, BT Group plans to expand its use of generative AI to further improve customer support. Upcoming features are expected to include AI-driven summaries of customer interactions and real-time support and guidance. With this, Aimee will be able to act as a virtual AI assistant for our guides, helping to improve efficiency, effectiveness, colleague and customer experience.  

BT Group has experienced an impressive growth in customer interactions facilitated by Aimee. ~60,000 conversations per week are now handled through Aimee compared to ~30,000 per week just two years ago. This frees time for guides to help customers with more complex issues and deliver an even more personal experience. 

BT Group has implemented key ethical guardrails to ensure robust data privacy and security measures. AI capabilities are hosted on a private cloud instance, ensuring compliance with data and privacy regulations, and data policies are set by BT Group’s internal data management platform, Data Fabric. This allows BT Group to maintain control over its data while benefitting from Sprinklr's AI capabilities. Working with Sprinklr has also enabled BT Group to put in safeguards to monitor for attempts to get the AI to misbehave. 

BT Group remains agnostic about which Large Language Model (LLM) it uses in generative AI, continuing to draw on different LLMs. The architecture in the customer contact platform allows BT Group to select the optimal LLM for each use case, and will integrate with BT Group’s new GenAI Gateway in the future.  

Harry Singh, MD of Consumer Digital at BT Group, commented: "The collaboration with Sprinklr marks a significant step forward in BT Group's commitment to using cutting-edge technology to deliver exceptional customer experiences. With our customer contact platform, we have unlocked powerful AI-enhanced capabilities for our customer service, boosting satisfaction and creating exciting new opportunities for customer experience." 

Sprinklr President and CEO Rory Read, added: “We’re delighted to be working alongside the iconic brands within BT Group, at the forefront of innovative customer engagement through effective AI. AI has huge potential to enhance and elevate customer experiences, and it’s been fantastic to help BT Group achieve such brilliant results, so quickly.”  

About Sprinklr 

Sprinklr is a leading enterprise software company for all customer-facing functions. With advanced AI, Sprinklr's unified customer experience management (Unified-CXM) platform helps companies deliver human experiences to every customer, every time, across any modern channel. Headquartered in New York City with employees around the world, Sprinklr works with more than 1,800 valuable enterprises — global brands like Microsoft, P&G, Samsung and more than 60% of the Fortune 100. Sprinklr’s value to the enterprise is simple: We un-silo teams to make customers happier. 

For more information, visit www.sprinklr.com 

London, 28 November 2024: Will Kirk, star of hit BBC show The Repair Shop, has joined forces with BT to encourage the UK’s much-loved heritage businesses to go digital – as new research shows two in three small firms (67%) say technology is keeping their traditions alive.

The woodwork expert and Heritage Crafts ambassador, famous for bringing heirlooms back to life, wants to show how moving from analogue to digital can preserve traditional businesses’ historic ways of working, enable them to reach new audiences, and make it easier to manage their operations. The call comes as four fifths (81%) of businesses started before 1900 say tech has helped to preserve their traditions.

BT’s research reveals that three-quarters of small business leaders (77%) believe new technology has ensured their company’s survival. The majority – nine in ten (89%) – say digital tech has opened new revenue streams, 80% feel it has given them a competitive edge, while 79% say it has helped them connect with new customers.

BT’s study shows that the UK’s small business community has been investing in technology this year, with most seizing the opportunity to boost their networks and digital tools in 2024. Four in five small firms (78%) say they have introduced new technology in the last 12 months. The top investment was a new website (50%), followed by increased cybersecurity (48%) and social media (45%). Two in five (40%) describe their small business as being a tech company, or one driven by advanced technology such as AI, robotics, or data analytics.

However, a fifth of the UK’s small and medium firms (22%) – equivalent to more than a million¹ – still think of themselves as an “analogue” company, using technologies like traditional landlines, paper-based contracts and physical filing systems to do business. For example, one in six (16%) still use fax machines.

BT’s research comes as the UK is undergoing a once-in-a-generation tech upgrade, moving to digital networks as the ageing copper-based Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), approaches retirement after more than four decades in operation. The switchover from the PSTN to digital connectivity is a move to futureproof the UK’s infrastructure, with the old network more prone to faults and outages, putting businesses at risk of losing connection to critical services.

BT is working with businesses of all sizes to support them in the move from analogue to digital, and is urging business customers to migrate over to more modern networks by the end of 2025. The PSTN is scheduled for retirement by the end of January 2027. As well as legacy copper landlines and broadband, other business equipment still connected to the PSTN will stop working as the network retires – including certain door entry systems, alarms and CCTV.

Kerry Small, Chief Operating Officer – Business at BT, comments: "These figures show that the majority of the UK’s small businesses have been in upgrade mode this year – embracing the tech to help them thrive in a digital world. Today, businesses of all shapes and sizes can’t run without stable, secure connectivity. The UK’s analogue copper telephone network has a proud history, with its origins in the 1800s, but it’s no longer up to the task for businesses. It’s simply too risky to build the economy on a shaky foundation.

“Analogue companies making the move now can rely on rock-solid digital connectivity to help keep them in business for years to come. We’re supporting customers small and large through the move, so no business is left behind. Whether you’re a tech start-up or a family firm passed down through generations, when it comes to going digital – BT’s got your back.”

Will Kirk, star of BBC’s The Repair Shop, comments: “Restoring the crafts and artistry of the past is my job, so I know how important it is to preserve tradition for the next generations. Embracing digital tech can help small businesses with decades of history reach new customers, streamline services, and stay competitive. It doesn’t mean replacing the heart of what makes heritage businesses unique – it’s about giving them the tools they need to hold onto this heritage in an increasingly-digital world.”

BT is urging all businesses to switch on to the benefits of digital networks, including better stability, security and efficiency. For example, digital landlines enable businesses to make and receive calls from one number via multiple devices, even on the go. They also offer improved scam protection. Full-fibre broadband connectivity can deliver speeds that are up to ten times faster than copper-based connections to handle a wider range of multimedia services, such as video conferencing and streaming.

For more information on the switch from analogue to digital connectivity, businesses can visit: business.bt.com/insights/uk-pstn-switch-off.

Small business case study: Switching to digital

In Birmingham, going digital has helped York Supplies hardware store to continue to deliver on its promise to be an extension of locals’ sheds – as it has since 1947 – even through tough times in retail.

When the previous owner retired in 2022, residents and neighboring businesses rallied round to fundraise to ensure its survival, forming a co-operative that now owns the store. The buyout also led to a full technology makeover, enabling York Supplies to face the future with confidence. The business is now fully digital, equipped with fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband, tablets and modern point-of-sale systems to help its staff streamline orders, expand product offerings, and liaise with customers online. Once a “hidden gem”, York Supplies now has about 2,000 social media followers and is planning to expand its product range.

Richard Bickle, Director of York Supplies Community Society, comments: “Our business has been around since before fax machines, during which time it’s become a huge part of the local community, with generations of customers coming through our door.

“When we purchased the shop we inherited a long-standing relationship with BT, but the infrastructure needed an upgrade so we could adopt new technologies to grow and market the business. Making the switch to digital has been so easy, with BT engineers explaining and installing everything for us. Our new system quietly supports the business as we venture into social media, and online ordering systems, all to help our heritage business to continue thriving in the 21^st century.”

Notes to editors

BT worked with polling house, and BPC member, Censuswide, to survey 1,500 senior decision-makers working for UK-based small and medium-sized businesses between 28th October and 1st November 2024.

¹ UK parliament: Business Statistics show there were 5.5 million UK SMEs as of 1^st January 2024. 22% of business leaders surveyed describe the business they work for as ‘analogue’; 0.22 x 5.5 = 1.21 million businesses.

3 October 2024 - BT’s new Enhanced Call Protect on Digital Voice has successfully blocked more than 2,430,000 scam and identified 17,700,000 spam calls to landlines since the new scam protection service from Hiya was introduced in May.

Digital Voice is BT’s home phone service, powered by broadband, which includes an AI powered tool that monitors incoming calls and will notify the user of any suspected spam calls. With machine learning, Hiya is able to improve its scam detection and protection the more malicious calls it encounters – in one day blocking more than 46,500 scam calls. According to data from Hiya, UK residents received an average of 3 spam calls per month from January to June this year, with 28% of all unknown calls flagged as spam. This equates to approximately 195 million spam calls per month.

2.5 million BT customers already receive the new call vetting service, a benefit of migrating to Digital Voice. This figure is set to double as more customers upgrade to digital landlines, and BT expects to block more than 1.5 million scam calls monthly once all customers have moved over to Digital Voice.

On receiving a potential spam call, customers see a visual warning on their landline phone display, saying, “Nuisance?”. They have a choice to reject or accept an inbound call that is flagged as a spam call. Scam calls are automatically diverted to a customer’s junk voicemail, protecting them from the threat of scammers. Any call from a registered business will have their name displayed to verify it as genuine. Overall, the service gives Digital Voice customers peace of mind and enhanced protection from scam and spam calls.

Any customer can potentially fall victim to voice scams known as ‘vishing’ where fraudsters attempt to collect personal data over the phone. These types of scams are becoming more and more popular with scammers making unsolicited calls masquerading as an organisation that people know and trust. Their aim is to harvest personal data such as bank details or account passwords and use these to exploit consumers.

Lucy Baker MBE, BT Consumer’s All-IP Director said: “Our top priority is ensuring our customers feel secure and confident when using our services. This new Hiya technology is now integrated with Digital Voice and is proving to be incredibly effective at stopping scam calls. We remain committed to protecting customers during the switch to digital landlines.”

Alex Algard, CEO of Hiya added: "We're thrilled to be supporting BT in its mission to shield users from unwanted calls. It’s great to see that our technology has successfully blocked fraud and spam calls, which will in turn give customers the confidence to answer their phones and engage in meaningful conversations without the interruption of unwanted disturbances. This progress underscores our dedication to enhancing digital safety and improving the user experience."

BT has made significant progress rolling out Digital Voice across the country as the UK moves from analogue to digital landlines. This once in a generation upgrade aims to future proof the UK’s landlines and to replace outdated technology. BT has embarked on extensive community outreach, visiting 340 towns and cities across the UK, reaching 30% of the nation’s urban areas.

Enhanced Call Protect is included as a free service for Digital Voice customers on their BT home phone plan.

Given the rising number of malicious calls, BT advises customers to remain vigilant. Tips to avoid scams include:

• If you receive a suspicious call, put the phone down and call back on a trusted number to verify the call
• If you mistakenly give a caller your bank account details, contact your bank immediately.
• If you receive a suspicious call, report the call to us here.
• Block any suspicious numbers after you have reported them.

Remember:

• Take a moment to stop and think. Trust your instincts. If it sounds too good to be true or is suspicious, there’s probably a catch
• Don’t stay on the phone unless you’re 100% sure the caller is genuine
• Don’t give away any of your personal details or give anyone access to your computer

BT is committed to protecting our customers from the threat of scams and encouraging them to remain vigilant of malicious calls. Customers already benefit from an AI network level firewall that detects inbound calls from international locations using a UK number for scam purposes. This blocks millions of calls from fraudsters reaching our customers and those on other networks every year.

ENDS

About Hiya

Hiya is trusted by global businesses, carriers, and consumers to provide secure, engaging connections and stop unwanted calls. Built on the world’s leading Voice Security Platform, Hiya connects businesses with their customers, helps carriers secure their networks, and protects people from spam and fraud calls. Hiya’s SaaS applications, Hiya Connect and Hiya Protect, serve more than 500 million users on the Hiya Network, powering call protection and identity for EE, Samsung, Ericsson and more. Learn more at www.hiya.com.

BT identifies more than 2,000 signals of a potential cyber attack every second – over 200 million per day – as it defends critical networks across the world, according to new data pointing to an accelerated cyber security threat.

The data, unveiled at BT’s Secure Tomorrow cyber security festival at its Adastral Park research centre, showed that web-connected devices are scanned over 1,000 times a day by known malicious sources – an average of once every 90 seconds. While some scans are conducted legitimately for security monitoring, three in four (78%) are not harmless – indicating that hackers are looking for weaknesses in the online systems of businesses and essential public services, as smart tech becomes common.

The data revealed a 1,234% annual rise in new malicious internet protocol (IP) scanners recorded across BT’s networks in the 12 months to July. The increase reflects how cyber criminals are increasingly scanning for vulnerabilities through automated, ‘one time use’ disposable bots, in an attempt to evade existing blocking and security measures.

BT’s analysis also showed that IT, defence and financial services are the three most targeted industries for cyber attacks but, increasingly, less traditional sectors like retail, education, and hospitality – which may not have focused as much on their security – have also found themselves in the hackers’ sights.

Businesses worldwide are navigating a once-in-a-generation digital revolution, with AI, Internet of Things, and cloud technology being incorporated into everyday operations. While these give organisations the opportunity to futureproof themselves and gain a competitive edge, they also introduce new risks.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has said that AI will “almost certainly increase the volume and heighten the impact” of cyber attacks over the next two years, while cyber criminals are increasingly using the tech to conduct their reconnaissance and carry out more sophisticated attacks. The global ransomware threat is also set to increase due to AI, with the NCSC explaining it will make it easier for novice cyber criminals to hack into businesses ^[2].

BT research suggests UK business tech investment will rise by a third (31%) in 2024^[3], yet many companies are upgrading their systems and adding more connected devices without a comprehensive cyber security plan to back them up, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.

To help businesses better understand the cyber security landscape – and stay one step ahead of hackers – BT has teamed up with international digital intelligence expert Ben Owen, best known for his role as global hunter on the reality TV show Hunted, to share insights into the mind of a cyber criminal.

The former spy said that hackers’ natural desire to increase their volume of scam attempts means many have been early adopters of AI. He warned that UK organisations need to match the hackers’ evolution by using advanced technology and tools in their cyber defences. An example is BT’s security platform Eagle-i, which uses AI to predict, detect and neutralise cyber attacks, and machine learning to help improve its knowledge of threats.

Cybersecurity expert Ben Owen said: “Businesses are connecting more devices and adopting new AI tools every day; but hackers are using the same tech to break their defences. It’s an AI arms race that companies can’t afford to lose. Importantly, while advanced technology is set to boost the number of cyber attacks and lower the bar for rookie criminals, it will not change their primary target – low-hanging fruit. Putting security first is the only way to protect businesses, their people and the economy.”

Tris Morgan, Managing Director – Security at BT, said: “Today, every business is a digital business, and our data shows that every 90 seconds hackers are checking connected devices to find a way in – like opportunistic burglars looking for an open window. Tools like AI provide new routes of attack, but they can also be the first line of defence. At BT, we’re constantly evolving our network security to stay one step ahead and protect more than a million businesses, day in, day out.”

^[1] July 2023 vs. July 2024

^[2] NCSC report (January 2024): The near-term impact of AI on the cyber threat

^[3] Research commissioned by BT and conducted by Censuswide among 2,000 UK business decision makers, between 26 March and 5th April 2024.