Investors in BT Group (BT.A) will be scrutinising its upcoming full-year results for evidence that hefty spending on TV and broadband has driven subscriber growth. The telecom giant launched a new sports channel last August, and plans to fork out £2.5bn on rolling out fibre broadband to two-thirds of the UK.
They may be in luck – analysts believe BT grabbed substantial market share of new customers from BSkyB last year, and expect the launch of its 4G mobile-broadband service this year to drive further growth.
BT’s shares have drifted down 10 per cent since late February amid fears that regulator Ofcom may force it to slash the prices it charges rivals for using its fibre-optic cables. And BSkyB and TalkTalk recently announced plans to build their own network in York that will offer speeds three times faster than BT's, challenging its monopoly on broadband infrastructure as well as its products.
