If Bt has bought back 2million 5 thousand shares to day. How come it shows on trades as a sell?

3rd Quarter Results

Ian Livingston, Chief Executive, commenting on the results, said:

"Our fibre plans are helping to make the UK a broadband leader in Europe. More than 13 million premises can access our fibre broadband and we are passing around 100,000 additional premises every week. Take-up is growing strongly with around 1.25 million homes and businesses now enjoying the benefits of faster speeds. This gives us an excellent platform for our push into TV and Sport later this year. Our pre-season training is going well. We have secured attractive new content and world class production facilities at the Olympic Park and are building a strong team.

"Our engineers have worked tirelessly following some of the wettest weather on record. Not only did they complete a record number of field visits in the quarter, they also connected a further 281,000 homes and businesses to broadband and helped us grow the number of landlines. BT Global Services has also done well securing £1.9bn of new orders, up 17%.

"We have made progress in a number of areas and delivered solid financial results. These are in line with our expectations for the year, which remain unchanged."

Cost controls help BT to beat profit forecasts

LONDON | Fri Feb 1, 2013 7:07am GMT

(Reuters) - Strong demand for broadband and tight cost control helped Britain's BT to post a better-than-expected 7 percent rise in third-quarter profit, and to keep its outlook unchanged.

In a continuation of the strategy that has sent shares in the group to a near five-year high, BT said it had recorded profits in the three months to December 31 of 675 million pounds, compared with a forecast of 632 million pounds.

Group revenues, weighed down by regulation and recession, were down 6 percent and down 3 percent on an underlying basis excluding transit revenues.

The group was boosted by 122,000 new broadband customers after it employed more engineers in recent months, and the move by more than a million of its BT Retail customers to take its faster BT Fibre product.

A lone candle atm

I do believe we are due to receive the 3p interim dividend next week skinny.

Yep - Monday!

At the top of the channel - any views.

It broke through the top of the channel - but not for long.

Lord Gnome, I've got a contrarian short running from 273 against my holding - looks like I'll be closing / stopped shortly!

A profitable trade Skinny. I wish I had your courage.

Or stupidity - on this occasion I ended up closing +7.

As an aside, NWS strong again of late.

Back above the channel again - maybe time for a small short?

Isn't it safer to wait before it falls back into the channel , what if it bounces off channel to new short term high ?

Not a fan of channels prefer pure resistance / support levels.

And imo market becoming a tad irrational on upside , so just go with the flow.

Thanks Dil :-)

Just enjoying the ride and happy to hold. I still feel that this has long legs.

BT Group in Talks to Buy ESPN Football Rights - FT

U.K. telecommunications operator BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) is in talks to buy over sports broadcaster ESPN's football rights, which cover certain matches from the German Bundesliga, the Europa League and the English FA Cup, the Financial Times reported Sunday on its website, without elaborating on its sources.

Ofcom announces winners of the 4G mobile auction

· Five winning bidders to deliver future mobile competition in the UK
· 4G services from a range of operators expected within six months
· Research measuring 4G speeds to be conducted at the end of 2013

Ofcom has today announced the winners of the 4G mobile spectrum auction.

After more than 50 rounds of bidding, Everything Everywhere Ltd, Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, Niche Spectrum Ventures Ltd (a subsidiary of BT Group plc), Telefónica UK Ltd and Vodafone Ltd have all won spectrum. This is suitable for rolling out new superfast mobile broadband services to consumers and to small and large businesses across the UK1.

The auction has achieved Ofcom's purpose of promoting strong competition in the 4G mobile market. This is expected to lead to faster mobile broadband speeds, lower prices, greater innovation, new investment and better coverage. Almost the whole UK population will be able to receive 4G mobile services by the end of 2017 at the latest.

A total of 250 MHz of spectrum was auctioned in two separate bands - 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz. This is equivalent to two-thirds of the radio frequencies currently used by wireless devices such as tablets, smartphones and laptops.

The lower-frequency 800 MHz band is part of the 'digital dividend' freed up when analogue terrestrial TV was switched off, and is ideal for widespread mobile coverage. The higher-frequency 2.6 GHz band is ideal for delivering the capacity needed for faster speeds. The availability of the two will allow 4G networks to achieve widespread coverage as well as offering capacity to cope with significant demand in urban centres.

Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, said: "This is a positive outcome for competition in the UK, which will lead to faster and more widespread mobile broadband, and substantial benefits for consumers and businesses across the country. We are confident that the UK will be among the most competitive markets in the world for 4G services.

"4G coverage will extend far beyond that of existing 3G services, covering 98% of the UK population indoors - and even more when outdoors - which is good news for parts of the country currently underserved by mobile broadband.

"We also want consumers to be well informed about 4G, so we will be conducting research at the end of this year to show who is deploying services, in which areas and at what speeds. This will help consumers and businesses to choose their most suitable provider."


Widespread 4G coverage
Ofcom has attached a coverage obligation to one of the 800 MHz lots of spectrum. The winner of this lot is Telefónica UK Ltd. This operator is obliged to provide a mobile broadband service for indoor reception to at least 98% of the UK population (expected to cover at least 99% when outdoors) and at least 95% of the population of each of the UK nations - England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales - by the end of 2017 at the latest.

BT SECURES 2.6GHz SPECTRUM LICENCE

BT has secured a licence for 2x15MHz of FDD and 20MHz of TDD 2.6GHz spectrum, the company confirmed today. This spectrum, which can be used to provide fast 4G connectivity, will enable BT to provide its business and consumer customers with an enhanced range of mobile broadband services, building on its existing strength in wi-fi.

The licence was won via the recent 4G auction process conducted by Ofcom.

The licence, which is indefinite in length, was won at a price of £186 million1. There are no further licence fees for at least twenty years.

Ian Livingston, BT chief executive, said: "We are pleased to have secured this spectrum. We have said that we do not intend to build a national mobile network. Instead, this spectrum will complement our existing strategy of delivering a range of services using fixed and wireless broadband. We want our customers to enjoy the best possible connections wherever they are and this spectrum, together with our investment in fibre broadband, will help us achieve that."