A little like oom really from my point of view - I believe they are the favoured company within their sector and despite the markets - Oftel and the G3 nonsense they will climb back. They pay a divi and this wioll be seen to be increasingly important in the days to come. They have new management and are looking to enhance shareholder value .....

I hold and swing trade a few and not adverse to intraday trading them.

ains


BT in web-based investor relations drive

London, February 7 2003, (netimperative)



by Chris Lake

BT is launching a web-based scheme which it hopes will improve communications with its retail shareholders and help cut costs.


Dubbed 'ShareholderPlus', the system allows investors to sign up and receive BT communications - such as reports, news releases, mandates and, subject to a change in the law, electronic tax vouchers - by email, rather than by post.

BT said this will help it achieve cost savings - by not having to print and despatch reports - and pointed out that it is also good for the environment.

Furthermore, it has negotiated a number of deals with companies such as Virgin Wines, Apollo Travel, RSA and National Car Rental, to market the service and said it will add new offers in the future if it proves to be a success.

BT claims to be one of the first FTSE100 companies to launch such a programme, though it is likely that more will follow.

www.btplc.com/shareholderplus

3.4GHz auction: All systems go
17:45 Thursday 27th February 2003
Graeme Wearden


Details about the new wireless broadband auction have hit the Web ahead of a government announcement on Friday. All the auction needs now is some bidders
The forthcoming 3.4GHz wireless broadband auction has been given a provisional starting date of 26 May.

The government is expected to announce full details on Friday, but the Radiocommunications Agency (RA) published the information memorandum on its Web site on Thursday. A deadline to register interest for the 3.4GHz auction has been set at 14 April -- although this could change. The early date for this deadline is designed to help the government weed out unsuitable candidates.

The RA has revealed that the auction will run for two weeks, and that any licences that are left over after 6 June will still be available for at least another year.

Fifteen 3.4GHz licences are on offer -- seven covering metropolitan areas, seven covering rural areas, and one for Northern Ireland. This distribution has caused some controversy, especially in Wales where politicians and industry figures fought in vain for two Wales-only licences.

The government hopes that companies will use 3.4GHz to offer wireless broadband services in rural areas. However, there are concerns that the auction may flounder because large telcos decline to take part in it. BT, NTL and Telewest are all expected not to take part.

This has left the government hoping that smaller players will take part, and the DTI explained on Thursday that this could include Regional Development Agencies. "A Regional Development Agency would be able to take part in the auction, as long as they did so in partnership with a company," a DTI spokesman told ZDNet, explaining that a public-private partnership between an RDA and a commercial operator would be acceptable.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BT demonstrates web-based ID checker
by Gillian Law
All your details in one handy place
Friday, 28 February 2003




BT yesterday demonstrated concept web services, including an identity checking product that it predicts will be the "ubiquitous verification service for business and government".
The service, called Uru, was jointly developed by BT and software company BG Group. It takes the identification details provided by an individual and compares them to a range of databases, including UK registers of names and addresses, death registers, the national telephone directory services database and the Meter Point Asset Number database maintained by the UK electricity companies.

Uru is currently CD-based but an online version is set for launch too.

The Uru service works by asking customers to provide several forms of identification that, used alone, could easily be forged. Armed with more indepth information it can quickly check whether an individual is who he or she says they are and whether they really live where they claim.

"Existing systems used in the UK are based on credit worthiness, not on identity. All they're interested in is whether you're good for the money. So if a fraudster manages to take or copy your ID, it's like an open cheque book," said BG group chief executive Richard Law.

Uru does not disclose personal information. Instead, it checks that the information provided is correct.

There are over two billion authentication transactions taking place every year in the UK, most of them in the financial, retail and government sectors, according to Law.

The databases currently available to Uru won't solve all identity issues indeed, they only confirm identity in about 50 percent of cases at the moment, Law said. But they are an important first step and BG Group is currently speaking to the UK Passport Office about putting its information in the public domain as well as to the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) and Inland Revenue.

"I predict that in 10 years time, 90 percent of identity checks will be done this way," said Law.

The UK government has over 100,000 databases, in a very fragmented system, and is looking to make the information more useful, Law said. If, for example, digital certification is to work, identity checking will be essential, he said. While BG Group has "no formal backing from the government," Law is aware of no other company able to provide the information needed.

"So we believe we're poised to grab that market," he added.

upgraded by Williams DeBroe and CFSB today. could be that BT has hit a floor for a while.

in top ten risers ..... bit of a game really - brokers notes



ains :-))

LONDON (Reuters) - These are the key upgrades and downgrades for UK stocks on Friday.
CSFB UPS BT ON DIVIDEND HOPES

Investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston has raised its rating on BT Group BT.L to "neutral" from "underperform" based on hopes for higher dividend payouts.

BT has indicated a payout ratio of 50 percent in the medium term but CSFB saw a ratio of 80 percent for financial year 2005 if the company's finances continued to improve.

"As BT nears financial rehabilitation, investors face the possibility of increased distribution," CSFB said in a note.

The investment bank said BT shares were now approaching fair value levels, based on financial year 2004 forecasts for a dividend yield of 4.7 percent.

It gave a price target of 160 pence.

volumes and price picking up as we head for the close - wonder what the shorters are doing


ains

bloomberg

BT Group Plc (BT/A LN) rose 7p, or 4.6 percent, to 159.5. Morten Singleton, an analyst at Williams de Broe, raised his recommendation on the former phone monopoly to ``buy'' from ``hold.''

``BT's share price has come under considerable pressure over the last few weeks, and is now trading at unfairly low levels both on an absolute basis and relative to its European incumbent peer group,'' Singleton said in a note to investors.

nice one ...... great finish @ plus 7.21% - 4th in the ftse100 top risers and way out-performing sector and market with over 48 million traded currently.

Ny tactics paid off and back in profit :-))


ains

Same old story talked them down then talk then up again i bought a few thou @151 so lets hope we see 197 they are talking about that will be a nice turn around but will sell at first sign of weakness as will most others i think

Durlatcher has them as a trading buy this morning after the bounce off the low/support on Friday



ains

BT aims to stretch ADSL reach
By Dinah Greek [03-03-2003]
Telco hopes to push ADSL beyond current boundaries to broadband-enable more homes
BT Wholesale is hoping to stretch the reach of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) to homes currently situated too far from local exchanges to receive broadband.
The telco claimed that it will be possible to provide a viable 512Kbps service without having to upgrade exchanges or copper phone lines.

This tackles head on a problem that affects around six per cent of households in the UK.

Although they are situated near upgraded local exchanges, they are unable to get broadband services because the reach of ADSL has been limited to a maximum level of 'noise' on the line of 55dB. This equates to around 5.5km in distance.

Beyond this the technical limitations of ADSL mean that the service quality has been too poor to offer to customers.

But BT has been examining the standards governing ADSL reach and now believes that noise levels can be pushed to 60dB without too much degradation of the service.

If it is able to increase the distance and establish a viable service, BT estimates that the number of people able to access broadband will rise from 93 to 97 per cent.

Limited trials have already begun using around a dozen households.

According to a BT spokesman, the company plans to start more widespread trials by the end of March and hopes at the same time to interest a range of internet service providers.

"We are looking at the possibility of extending the existing reach but, as it is early days, the numbers on the current trial are very small," he said.

"We are not upgrading these unbundled exchanges as all we are doing is pushing out the standard ADSL acceptable noise levels from 55dB to 60dB.

"It is difficult to say in distance how much further this will extend the reach from certain exchanges as it can vary.

"It will depend on local circumstances and the length of the copper wire involved rather than distance.

"The current trials will be looking at potential service problems caused by more noise on the line, such as if customers keep getting chucked off [the service].

"It is no use trying to offer a service if it is always getting cut off."

These trials should not be confused with those of lower bandwidth broadband of 128Kbps that BT is looking at testing in late March or April.

Trials of this midband range, as BT calls it, will provide a lower bandwidth using different technologies to ADSL.

Meanwhile, as part of BT's ongoing scheme to convert local exchanges, another 20 around the country will be converted during May.

These include Tavistock in Devon, Newton in Mid Glamorgan, Irvine Old Town in Strathclyde and Thirsk in North Yorkshire.

Ains: re Andy's message (No. 100 above). If you attempt to use one of those frightful machines to send me a 30-second video of yourself, you will find that future mail will be automatically deleted from the server.

As it happens I tend to be camera shy although a keen photographer .....

Shares seem to be drifting a little with the market although volumes are very modest - US futures up a little


ains

Frost warms to BT and Lloyds TSB
Published: 07:24 Mon 3 March 2003
By Laurence Fletcher, Funds Correspondent
Email to a friend | Printable Version


Respected Artemis income fund manager Adrian Frost has sold out of stocks such as BAE Systems and Britannic in favour of BT and Lloyds TSB.


Frost, manager of the 125 million Artemis Income, says he currently sees best value among stocks outside the FTSE 100 index and has therefore weighted his portfolio away from large caps.

However, he has spotted value in a select number of large caps and has added to holdings in pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), telecoms group BT (BT.A), oil majors Shell (SHEL) and BP (BP.) and banking group Lloyds TSB (LLOY).

Lloyds has recently received support from star Jupiter manager Philip Gibbs on valuations grounds, while highly-regarded Invesco Perpetual manager Neil Woodford and Axa manager Stuart Fowler have steered clear of the bank.

Elsewhere, Frost has sold out of troubled defence group BAE Systems (BA.), jewellery retailer Signet (SIG) and fallen life assurance group Britannic (BRT).

He has also taken profits in mid-cap stocks such as chilled convenience food maker Uniq, port services and property group Forth Ports and gaming and property group Wembley.

But he added: 'We continue to believe stocks outside the FTSE 100 offer the best value and the portfolio is weighted towards this area.'

Since Frost took charge of the Artemis Income fund around a year ago, it has fallen 26.3%, beating an average 28.9% drop among funds in the UK Equity Income sector and a 29.6% decline in the FTSE All Share index.

Over three years Frost ranks 18th out of 38 managers in the UK Equity Income sector of Citywire Funds Insider, a fund manager ranking system developed by Citywire.

2003 Citywire

durlatcher still has them as a trading buy/hold despite yesterdays standstill .... I added a few more to round off my holding - 2nd biggest holding at this time



ains

business weekly

Competition from cable and other broadband enabling technologies has triggered BT plans to speed up its broadband roll-out across the East of England.

It is lowering the threshold levels of customer interest required before an exchange is upgraded for the ultra-fast internet connection. Since July, people in areas where ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) broadband is not available have been able to log their interest through BT Wholesales demand registration scheme.

When the level of interest hits a threshold linked to the cost of providing ADSL at an individual exchange, BT will upgrade the exchange.

Other broadband players are cleaning up in BTs broadband blackspots but BT insists the policy change is simply down to experience.

It says: We now have more experience in the actual costs involved in enabling a broadband exchange, following the first batch of upgrades. Although the cost of an upgrade will depend from exchange to exchange, depending on the fabric of the building and its location, the cost has been much lower than we previously expected.

Demand trigger levels have been reduced at 43 East of England exchanges and set for the first time at a further nine local exchanges. The lowered trigger levels have resulted in 22 exchanges being upgraded nationally, but only two of these are in the East of England Chorleywood in Hertfordshire and Thorpe Bay in Essex. BT maintains there is still simply not enough demand in certain parts of the country principally rural areas for blanket roll-out of broadband.

High profile awareness raising campaigns, such as the East of England Development Agencys Demand Broadband initiative, are beginning to penetrate more remote parts of the region. The maximum trigger level is now 550 registrations and BT said that had been lowered by as much as 450.

One of the UKs flagship trigger scheme broadband communities is now live. BT has enabled the Wymondham exchange for ADSL meaning residents will be able to sign up for broadband and connect to the internet up to 10 times faster than currently possible with a standard 56k connection.

Broadband access will enable Wymondham residents to use the internet to shop and bank online faster and more efficiently. They can also look forward to using ADSL to listen to music and stream videos over the web.

www.bt.com/broadband contains information about the exact trigger levels for every exchange in the region, plus demand to date.



New trigger levels:

Beds: Ampthill 300; Biggleswade 350; Hockliffe 300; Houghton Regis 350; Kempston 300; Toddington 300. Cambs: Buckden 300; Chatteris 300; Ely 300; March 350; Ramsey 200; Sawston 350; Trumpington 300; Wansford 350; Waterbeach 300. ESSEX: Broomfield 250; Downhall Eadow 450; Epping 300; Frinton On Sea 350; Great Dunmow 350; Great Wakering 300; Harwich 350; Ingatestone 300; Marks Tey 250; Saffron Walden 300; Stansted, Essex 300. HERTS: Baldock 350; Sawbridgeworth 300. SUFFOLK: Belstead 350; Newmarket, 350; Hadleigh 250; Woodbridge 300. NORFOLK: Attleborough 350; Costessey 350; Dereham 350; Diss 350; Downham Market 350; Fakenham 350; Narborough 300; North Walsham 350; Norwich Thorpe 350; South Wootton 550; Swaffham 300.



The nine exchanges for which trigger levels have been set for the first time are: Brandon, Suffolk 350; Brundall, Norfolk 400; Halstead, Essex 350; Kelvedon, Essex 250; Linton, Cambs 350; Lower Shelton, Beds 350; Ormesby, Norfolk 300; Sawtry, Cambs 300; Soham, Cambs 350.

well sold them @160 140s here we come again next order in mid 140s

This is why i think bt will be down again these thoughts below reflect the dire straights some companys are in and will not be ignored by the investors look at rolls made 200 mil assets 1.3 bill debt pension 1 bil does that sound a good investment i dont think so with markets likley to fall further sounds negative but realistic i think

Estimates from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein suggest the aggregate pension deficit within the FTSE 100 is 100b, with BT Group (LSE: BT.A)(NYSE: BTY) and Royal & SunAlliance (LSE: RSA)(NYSE: RSA) among the guilty parties.


So what should investors do with firms whose profits are dwarfed by a pension deficit? Simply avoid them. You see, successful investment is all about minimising the unknown and the unpredictable. And as any Equitable Life customer knows, making substantial long-term financial promises can -- at some point down the road -- throw up all sorts of unforeseen issues.


Indeed, pension fund calculations themselves are anything but straightforward. Numerous assumptions must be made about salary inflation, stock market growth and so on, leaving boardrooms (and their actuaries) with plenty of scope for unrealistic optimism. Remember: rosy forecasts caused many large companies to mistakenly take pension holidays during the 1990s.

Sounds good to me


BT cuts IT contractor rates. Again
By John Leyden - Register


BT is to impose a 12.5 per cent pay cut on contractors employed by its BT Computing Partners division from the start of April.

The pay cut, which is non-negotiable, is the latest in a series of pay cuts to fall on contractors since October 2001, that have left workers with a third less take home pay.

The latest cuts follow the upcoming merger of BT Exact, its development arm, with BT Computing Partners, which carries out mainframe and midrange support for various BT businesses. The contractors' account at BT Computing Partners was recently pared from three agencies to one, Hays IT.

Contractors were told earlier this week they were to be offered new contracts - but at 12.5 per cent lower rates of pay. He estimates the cuts will hit around 85 IT contractors in BT Computing Partners.

"We get told we're doing a great job, then we get kicked in teeth," a source said. "There was no room for negotiation - it was a case of like it or lump it."

Our man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that contractors will have little choice but to accept the cuts, because of the continued depressed state of the IT jobs market. If they leave, BT is likely to be able to easily find replacements.

The cuts leave senior programmers earning around 28 per hour and more junior staff less than 20 per hour.

It's unclear if similar pay cuts will be applied to contractors throughout the rest of the BT Group.

Although only a small number of people are affected by the cuts they are nonetheless noteworthy because BT often leads the trend in what contractors can expect to be paid by major IT employers in the UK.

A BT spokesman confirmed that a contractor pay cuts 12.5 per cent is due to be applied this April as part of a new contract between BT Computing Partners and Hays IT.

The deal is part of a managed services contract recently awarded to Hays IT as part of BT's drive to "improve the commercial terms" by which contractors are employed.

"BT has to remain competitive and can't afford to pay contractors at rates that don't reflect market conditions," he told us.

"BT tracked the upward trends in contractors pay in the 1990s, so its only natural we're tracking the downward trend now," he added.

Freeserve mulls dial-up usage limit
By Tim Richardson
Posted: 04/03/2003

Freeserve is mulling over following BT Openworld's lead and introduce usage caps for its flat-rate unmetered AnyTime service.

Currently, Freeserve has no monthly limit for its all-you-can-eat unmetered service. But according to sources, all that could change with execs considering whether to introduce a cap similar to BT Openworld's 150 hour a month limit for its unmetered dial-up product.

A spokeswoman for Freeserve said she was unaware of any such moves to impose a cap on its unmetered service.

However, increased losses at the UK arm of French ISP, Wanadoo, means that Freeserve is being forced to look at cutting costs.

In a statement yesterday Wanadoo said that it had "initiated a programme aimed at enhancing income performance to cut its losses".

Part of that comes from news Freeserve sneaked out late last week adding 1 a month to its AnyTime service. The price rise - bringing the cost of AnyTime to 14.99 a month - comes into force from March 25.

As well as trying to increase revenue, it's also trying to cut costs. Recently, it renegotiated key contracts with its network supplier, Energis, and customer service operators both of which Freeserve claims should help reduce costs.

Said Freeserve in a statement: "We greatly reduced network costs by renegotiating our contract with Energis; the benefits of which will be seen in 2003.

"We are also negotiating more efficient customer service contracts where we are paying less but offering a superior service."