Bloomberg: BT in talks with AT&T and Orange as its international unit struggles
BT Group has approached major telecommunications companies about partnerships to help turn around its struggling international business, according to a Bloomberg article. The UK-based network operator approached potential partners including AT&T and Orange to explore arrangements that could involve selling a stake in its global segment, according to people familiar with the matter. Deliberations are preliminary, talks are private, and there’s no guarantee of a transaction, said the referenced people.
BT’s global unit, which was recently folded into a larger business segment, has dragged down growth metrics for years, with steadily declining earnings and revenue. The unit accounted for about 11% of BT’s revenue in the first half of the 2025 fiscal year. It allows the British network operator to serve customers around the world, but many of the contracts generate little profit and are costly to maintain. Meanwhile, BT is the UK leading network operator in both fixed line and mobile customers.
Revenue at BT’s global unit declined 9.9% in the six months ended in September from a year earlier to about £1.1 billion ($1.4 billion).
“We’re keeping everything open and this means we’ve been speaking to third parties about a range of possibilities,” a BT spokesperson said by email to Bloomberg.
In the release of its financial results for the quarter ending 31 December 2024, CEO Allison Kirkby confirmed that “In (BT) Business, our core UK channels were stable. Cost transformation remains firmly on track, with excellent progress on both energy costs and productivity in the quarter.”
“We continue to make progress towards becoming fully focused on the UK, with the sale of our data centre business in Ireland,” she added.
References:
https://totaltele.com/bt-in-partnership-talks-with-att-and-orange-as-international-unit-struggles/
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