BT retains EE brand as it unveils new structure

BT unveiled a new group structure following the closure of the EE acquisition on Friday, and confirmed that it will retain the EE brand for the consumer mobile market.

In future, EE will be one of six lines of business within the group and will be run by CEO Marc Allera. However, the mobile operator's business division will be brought into a new BT unit called BT Business and Public Sector, which will also include the existing BT Business and the UK-focused parts of BT Global Services.

EE's wholesale operations will also be separated off into a unit called BT Wholesale and Ventures, which will take over the existing MVNO relationships formed by EE.

The other three units are BT Consumer, which also includes BT Mobile; BT Global Services, and Openreach. The six divisions will also be supported by the technology, services and operations (TSO) unit, which as of Monday will be headed up by Howard Watson as CEO. A new IT and mobile business unit within TSO will be led by EE's Fotis Karonis, who will also hold the position of CIO within EE.

BT Group CEO Gavin Patterson said the EE acquisition "provides us with a chance to refresh our structure", and noted that the group will operate a multi-brand strategy with UK customers being able to choose a mix of BT, EE or Plusnet services.

At the same time as announcing its new structure, BT also reported results for its third fiscal quarter, which runs until Dec. 31, 2015. The company said underlying revenue excluding transit increased by 4.7 per cent, which Patterson hailed as "our best result for more than seven years."

Total adjusted revenue was 3 per cent higher at £4.6 billion (€6 billion/$6.6 billion), while adjusted EBITDA in the quarter rose by 3 per cent to £1.6 billion. Adjusted pre-tax profit was up 14 per cent at £928 million.

BT already runs a mobile service under BT Mobile, and said the unit now has more than 300,000 customers. It noted that the majority of the growth in the quarter came from its two higher-tier packages.

For more:
- see the BT results statement
- see BT's announcement on its new structure

Related articles:
BT's new technology chief to help with EE integration
Report: O2 and Three set to face tough EC conditions for UK merger
BT to close EE deal in January after winning approval from the CMA
Mixed reactions to BT/EE as Three/O2 faces a battle ahead
BT wins provisional approval for EE acquisition