But retail unit revenue was dragged down three percent to £2.10 billion on slowing use of land lines for calling, while revenue in the Openreach unit fell by two percent to £1.29 billion after unbundling fewer broadband lines than last year. Openreach says Ofcom’s March statement on next-gen broadband “has given us the confidence to continue with our £1.5 billion investment plans to provide super-fast broadband services to at least 40 percent of UK households by 2012” - it’s accelerating roll-out, doubling the availability it had planned to deliver by 2009/10.

Overall, though, BT’s quarter is overshadowed by “unacceptable” performance in the global services division - the unit, which wires up corporate firms, is writing down £1.3 billion in contract charges. That means BT ends the quarter with a £1.27 billion pre-tax loss, and an end-of-year loss of £134 - its first ever. The company said it will cut 15,000 jobs (10 percent of staff) - the same number it has already cut in the last year.

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