The oldest telecommunications company in the world today, BT (British Telecommunications) has origins that date all the way back to the development of the first telecommunication solutions in the United Kingdom. BT even has connections to the first commercial telegraph solution: The Electric Telegraph Company, which was originally introduced in 1846.
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Remember Buzby?[/caption]
Today, British Telecommunications PLC is the forerunner of the world's leading global communications company, BT Group PLC - which serves customers across 170 countries. BT runs the trunk network, telephone exchanges, and local loop connections for the leading majority of British fixed-line telephones, and is currently responsible for around 28 million telephone lines in Great Britain. Besides the KCOM Group, which provides services within Kingston-upon-Hull, BT is the only telecoms operator in the UK to have a Universal Service Obligation. The USO dictates that BT must be able to provide fixed telephone lines to any address throughout the UK.
Besides providing traditional services in areas that are closely regulated, BT has also expanded into a service and product portfolio with less regulation, such as broadband internet services, and bespoke information technology and telecommunication options.
A Name in Telecommunications History
The BT Group world headquarters is a ten-story office building located in the City of London. The origins of the business date back to the founding of the Electric Telegraph company in 1846, which quickly became a nationwide network for communications. In the new century - specifically 1912, the General Post Office - a crucial element of the government, took over as the monopoly supplier of telecoms services within the United Kingdom.
In 1969, the Post Office Act lead to the General Post Office becoming a public corporation, which eventually allowed British Telecommunications to rename themselves "British Telecom" in 1980 - although it remained a part of the Post Office. In 1981, The British Telecommunications Act allowed for the transfer of responsibility for telecommunication services from the post office, which resulted in two distinct corporations. Finally, BT was an independent business, and became privatised in 1984 as "British Telecommunications PLC". Now, BT has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, and has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The BT Group also controls a range of large subsidiaries. The BT Global Services division is responsible for offering telecoms services to government and corporate customers across the world, while the BT consumer division provides broadband, telephony, and subscription television to around 18 million UK customers. In 2015, BT also announced that they had acquired the telecommunications company "EE" for £12.5 billion, and received their final regulatory approval from the Markets and Competition Authority in 2016.
BT has also made a name for themselves as an environmental pioneer, with ambitious plans to reduce their carbon emissions significantly over the years. In 2004, the company signed the largest renewable energy deal in the world with British Gas and NPower - ensuring that all of their exchanges, offices, and satellite networks would be permanently powered by renewable energy.
