The UK’s landline network dies this year and BT couldn’t be happier
Key Points
- BT confirmed 2026 is the final year of the UK's legacy landline network
- Fibre contributed more than half of BT's broadband revenue for the first time
- Voice declines dragged adjusted UK service revenue down 1% to £3.8 billion, but service revenue excluding voice grew
- Full fibre footprint hit 23.4 million premises, on track for 25 million by December
- BT cut labour by 8% and Openreach repair volumes by 21% as copper winds down
BT confirmed this is the final year of the UK’s legacy landline network as fibre passed 50% of its broadband revenue for the first time and the group held revenue flat at £4.3 billion.
The group published its results for the three months to 30 June 2026 on Thursday (23 July), covering the first quarter of its 2027 financial year.
The traditional public switched telephone network, which has carried voice calls in Britain for over a century, shuts down at the end of this year as BT moves customers onto digital services running over broadband.
The numbers show why BT wants the old network gone. Adjusted UK service revenue fell 1% to £3.8 billion, with the decline driven almost entirely by shrinking voice income. Consumer broadband average revenue per user dropped 2% to £40.90, again primarily because of falling voice usage.
Strip voice out, and the picture flips. BT said its service revenue excluding voice grew in the quarter, with broadband, Corporate and Public Sector, and Consumer customer growth all contributing.
Allison Kirkby, Chief Executive of BT Group, said the group achieved record new full fibre connections and take-up across Openreach and Consumer. “In this final year of the legacy landline network, our service revenue, excluding voice, grew in the quarter,” she said.
Fibre now pays the bills
Fibre contributed more than half of BT’s broadband revenues for the first time in the quarter, a milestone in the shift away from copper.
BT’s full fibre footprint reached 23.4 million premises after adding 514,000 in the quarter, and the group remains on track to hit its 25 million target by December 2026. Openreach recorded 574,000 fibre net additions, its strongest quarter yet, taking connected premises to 9.4 million and its take-up rate to 40%.
BT’s own retail fibre base grew by 1.1 million over the year to 4.8 million, and fibre connections now account for 54% of its Consumer broadband base. The group has also received prepayments for the sale of redundant copper as the old network winds down.
The transition away form landlines is also reshaping the company itself. BT reduced its total labour resource, excluding its International division, by 8% over the year to 94,000, cut network energy usage by 8%, and reduced Openreach repair volumes by 21% as fibre requires less maintenance than copper.
Reported profit before tax for continuing operations came in at £505 million, down 4% on higher finance costs, while adjusted EBITDA slipped 1% to £2 billion. BT reconfirmed all of its full-year and mid-term guidance, including normalised free cash flow of around £2.0 billion this year, rising to around £3.0 billion by the end of the decade.
Kirkby said no one is upgrading the country’s digital backbone at BT’s scale and pace, adding that the group remains on track to deliver its targets “as we create a better BT, for all of us”.
