The move, reported by Bloomberg News, is no big suprise given BT Group’s strategy to focus on home market and explore options for its global infra
BT has approached AT&T and Orange about a possible tie-up in what was its BT Global business unit according to Bloomberg News [subscription needed] citing unidentified sources.
This is no surprise since BT Group’s CEO, Allison Kirkby, took up the mantle about a year ago, the company’s strategy is to focus on its domestic business and explore options regarding its struggling international operations. This could include partnerships or sale of the unit, she has said.
This is despite the pioneering Global Fabric built by BT, under the leadership of it CTO Colin Bannon (pictured), which started commercial operations recently. Bannon* will be participating in the opening panel at our annual, virtual Telco to techco event next week. Register to attend for free here.
BT Global was combined with BT’s ailing domestic business unit under the umbrella of BT Business in December 2022, when Philip Jansen was BT Group’s CEO. Bas Burger was the long-serving CEO of BT Global then BT Business. In January it announced he would be superseded in that role by Jon James, who had reported to Kirkby when she was briefly CEO of Denmark’s national operator, TDC.
Burger, the press information stated, would be devoting “all of his time to the optimisation of BT’s international operations and explore options for the [former BT Global] unit”.
Neither AT&T nor Orange has commented on the story so far.
- Bannon’s achievements were also recognised last year when he received Mobile Europe’s Trailblazer CTO of the Year 2024 Award. Entries for the CTO of the Year Awards 2025 are open now to those with an equivalent job title, responsible for mobile, fixed, converged, public and private, and satellite infrastructure in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
