If he wishes to stake build he can do so at 240p thanks very much. |
Also from the FT article: -
"James Ratzer, analyst at New Street Research, estimates that Mittal has converted about 16 per cent of his stake in total into equity. Mittal would not look to increase his BT holding until that process was finished, said people familiar with the matter.
“There is very compelling logic to [Mittal] increasing his stake at the current valuation as BT continues its fibre rollout, which continues to add value for the company,” Ratzer said." |
Looking better here than it has for ages. Long may it continue.
Suet |
Well Sid, we broke 1.62 and closed above 1.61. I hope the gods are with us to north of 1.70 before the end of the tax year :-) |
All Indian mobile phone companies have awful customer service. |
Similar to Airtel Africa. Check out the major shareholders :Bharti Telecom (39.14%) Singtel (9.52%) Indian Continent Investment Limited (4.51%) Public float (46%)Circle the wagons,here come the Indians |
He's never likely to disclose what his true intentions are. |
So basically, he's selling down the derivatives contracts and buying shares on the open market. Not really lifting his stake then? |
 Indian billionaire Mittal considering lifting stake in BT
Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal has reportedly indicated that he is considering increasing his holding in BT Group after taking a 24.5% stake in the telecoms firm last year.
The Financial Times cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Mittal, who bought the BT stake from Patrick Drahi's Altice in August last year, has privately suggested that he could expand his position in the company - held via his Bharti Enterprises conglomerate - as it continues to restructure and cut costs under chief executive Allison Kirkby.
It was understood that Mittal is in the process of converting his 24.5% stake, which was partly taken via derivatives contracts, into equity.
Mittal took an initial 10% holding last year, which is being increased to 24.5% after securing national security approvals in December.
The FT said New Street Research analyst James Ratzer estimates that Mittal has converted about 16% of his stake in total into equity. Sources said that Mittal would not look to increase his BT holding until that process was finished.
A spokesperson for Bharti told the FT the company "currently has no plans to buy any further stake above the 24.5%". |
It's certainly trying hard, smurfy, hitting 161.75 earlier today.
If we can break 162, with a close above 161, it could move up to 176 very quickly.
Good luck everyone, Sid. |
Can we finally break out 161p? PLEASE :) |
When I look at these, I see the following...
1) bottom in late 2022 at a pound and pence.
2) bounce to just over 150 in 2023.
3) bottom in earl 24 at a pound and a few pence
4) initial rejection of break line at just over 150p late 2024.
5) break of just over 150p break line
6) bit of back testing of break line.
So from a very basic chart perspective, it has everything in place for a run to c£2. |
BT wants Renters Bill to allow automatic broadband upgrade
Openreach, the wholly-owned subsidiary of BT, is calling for the Renters Rights Bill to be amended to allow it, or other providers, to automatically upgrade rental properties’ broadband capacity.
Currently, in older residential properties, it must by law secure the permission of freeholders to upgrade the existing copper broadband network to ultrafast. However, the provider claims some landlords and/or freeholders are difficult to identify and contact, or can be obstructive.
In a written submission to the government Openreach says: “Our 2024 data reveals that over 1,040,000 flats across the UK are at risk of missing out on faster, more reliable broadband due to access barriers. We believe over 780,000 of these are at risk of no coverage from us or any other provider. Our request is for automatic upgrade rights where the market is unable to deliver (ultimately some subset of the 780K).
“These homes, located in Multi-Dwelling Units (flats or sub-divided houses), face a potential ‘digital divide’ unless automatic upgrade rights are established. Currently, we can use existing access rights to maintain the copper network in these buildings but not to upgrade to Full Fibre technology. To address this issue, we are advocating for legislative amendments to allow the use of these access rights for Full Fibre upgrades, particularly for those living in blocks contacting 10 units or less. This change would foster economic growth and ensure that tenants are not left behind, even if landlords are difficult to contact.
“The Renters’ Rights Bill will give a tenant the right to request a pet, “such consent is not to be unreasonably refused by the landlord”, yet not the right to request Full Fibre broadband. The installation of Full Fibre is, in the main, unobtrusive and wherever possible simply replaces the copper cable into premises. Research shows that properties with gigabit connectivity carry a price premium over those without, so it should be positive for the building owner and the tenant.”
Openreach has suggested a possible amendment to the Bill and sent it to the House of Lords committee currently looking at provisions in the proposed legislation. |
BT delivers first successful trial of new live streaming technology
By Chris Bramley, Managing director, NAS and architecture, Networks, BT
It’s the era of box office events driving huge online traffic, and in the case of Taylor Swift, literally the ‘Eras’. During her tour she smashed records for the most mobile data used during a standalone concert at Wembley Stadium. And while Swifties streamed their favourite songs in 2024, we saw sports lovers also drive record highs of online traffic. Over 11.5 million homes streamed a home-nations match at Euro 2024 and there was a record weekend of data in July, driven by Formula One at Silverstone, Women’s T20 cricket, international rugby and tennis action on the grass courts of SW19.
Without doubt, the demand for live content will continue and innovation will be part of the answer to deliver faster streaming, of higher quality content, to an even greater number of devices.
In late 2023, responding to this challenge, we launched MAUD (Multicast-Assisted Unicast Delivery) – BT Group’s revolutionary technology solution. MAUD enhances live video streaming quality and reliability for viewers and increases content delivery efficiency for broadcasters and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).
We teamed up with Broadpeak - a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-tv operators worldwide, to leverage their technology as part of the MAUD solution. And our partnership with Qwilt enabled us to deploy the MAUD solution with their Open Edge technology.
A year on from launching MAUD and we’re delighted with the results from our first trial. The trial used BBC Two content on EE’s set-top box TV platform in the live network – taking the technology from proof of concept to real-world. The trial has shown that during peak times on the network, the MAUD solution has converted over 60 percent of traffic from unicast delivery to multicast delivery. In simpler terms, the trial has demonstrated MAUD’s ability to flatten peaks of network traffic, by switching to multicast delivery, which is a more efficient way of delivering content over the internet.
Moving to the next stage of the trial, BT Group is looking to broaden the scope to include more channels, build out the full feature set, as well as to test the addition of dynamic ad insertion, which would enable a seamless, personalised ad experience for viewers. As seen during the recent Super-Bowl, there is high demand for ad space for live sports with CEO of Fox, Lachlan Murdoch, commenting that ‘ad space had sold out at record pricing’.
As millions look forward to watching the next live event, we’ll continue to innovate and collaborate with content and application providers, on technologies such as MAUD, to make sure that we collectively deliver the best experiences for our shared customers.
[...] |
Yes, we just managed a new closing high, with the end of day auction pushing the price up to 160.95p.
To put it into some context, it's the highest closing price for over two and a half years! Well done BT.
Good luck everyone, Sid. |
Getting very close to that recent high of 161.9, from early December, hitting 161.85 before backing off. Hopefully it will take that out very soon.
Combine that, with a close above 160.9 and it could look very promising.
Good luck everyone, Sid. |
If it breaks then it could 2 pounds |
Gunna break through and upwards on onwards.. |
It keeps hitting 160p and retracing back lol |
Perhaps the cause of today's weak opening. Recovering well enough.
Barclays cuts BT Group to 'underweight' (equal-weight) - price target 150 (190) pence |
Strategic Shift as BT No Longer Being Ditched as UK Consumer Brand
Broadband and telecoms giant BT appears to have confirmed that their strategy of turning EE into the group’s “flagship brand for our consumer customers”, which was eventually expected to result in the BT brand focusing more on business customers, will no longer result in the original brand being retired for consumer products.
Just to recap. Back in April 2022 the BT Group announced a significant and surprising change in their branding strategy (here), which sought simplification (i.e. no more having “two of everything“) by turning EE into their “flagship brand” for most consumer customers, while BT would become the main brand for their Enterprise and Global units. In addition, Plusnet would have continued to “serve customers with basic no-frills broadband and landline” (although they’ve opted not to offer landline phone services on FTTP).
Since then there have been a series of gradual moves to help facilitate this transition (e.g. product changes and withdrawals), although we’ve long questioned the wisdom of the operator’s approach, particularly given that the BT brand was already synonymous with home broadband and phone services. Instead, BT’s efforts to foster brand simplification always seemed destined to fuel consumer confusion.
According to The Telegraph (paywall), the CEO of BT Group, Allison Kirkby, has now “shelved” the original re-branding strategy “amid concerns that dropping the historic brand risked alienating older customers” (this seems like a reference to their older standalone broadband and landline-only base).
A Spokesperson for BT said:
“EE is our lead consumer-facing brand for converged mobile and broadband customers but there will always be a big role for BT as one of our most highly valued brands by our customers. BT will therefore continue as part of our portfolio of well-loved consumer brands alongside EE and Plusnet.”
The report also indicates that BT will “step up its investment” in Plusnet, which seems odd given how much they’ve gutted from that service in recent years (mobile, TV, home phone etc.). But despite this, the report indicates that BT may be preparing to launch a new budget focused mobile service in the future, although it’s unclear if this will be done under Plusnet or a completely new brand.
On the one hand, we agree that the BT brand should be retained for consumer services, particularly broadband and phone. On the other hand, we’ve just spent 2-3 years on the process of transitioning consumers over to EE, and to change course now seems likely to fuel yet more confusion. Hopefully we’ll learn a bit more about exactly what BT intends to change in the near future. |
Register for Free to get streaming real-time quotes, interactive charts, live options flow, and more.
Hot Features
Premium
