BT Sport nears 5m sign-ups
May 8, 2014
In releasing its Q4 and Full Year 2013/14 results, BT has revealed it has around 3 million direct BT Sport customers and that including its wholesale deals, the service is in around 5 million homes. The telco also said its fibre roll-out was ahead of schedule, passing more than 19 million premises, around two thirds of the UK.
“Our investment in fibre is delivering with 1.3 million more premises taking fibre this year, almost doubling the number of homes and businesses now connected,” said Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive. “Our roll-out is ahead of schedule with our fibre network passing more than 19 million premises, around two-thirds of the UK. But we are not stopping there. All of our BDUK projects are under way and will help take the coverage of all fibre networks to at least 90 per cent of the UK, bringing significant benefits to communities across the nation.”
“BT Sport has proved very popular and we are delighted the service is now in around five million homes. For BT Consumer it underpinned a record nine per cent growth in revenue in the fourth quarter and the lowest line losses in over five years. We achieved an excellent 79 per cent share of broadband market net additions in the quarter,” he advised.
BT originally said it would cover 19 million premises with fibre by the end of 2015. It passed that total in March this year, around 21 months earlier than planned, with the vast majority of that footprint being enabled by BT under its commercial plan. The remainder has been enabled in partnership with the public sector.
BT has also announced plans to swap out its original TV set-tops and replace them with YouView units. The exchange will take place by the end of this quarter.
BT reported ‘flat’ EBITDA for the year of £6.116 billion compared with its outlook of £6.0 billion-£6.1 billion.
BT Sport programme rights charges were £203 million.