BT CEO to step down
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Editor
| 10 July 2023
As the UK’s leading telco engages with addressing the burgeoning connectivity demands of UK businesses and homes, BT’s chief executive Philip Jansen has informed the company that he intends to step down from his role over the next 12 months.
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After having succeeded Gavin Patterson in the role four and half years ago, Jansen has set about restructuring BT, undertaking a cost saving programme and embarking on a strategy of a focus on fibre networks and 5G BT set itself a target of passing 25 million premises with gigabit fibre networks by 2026.

In May 2023, after what it said was a year of continuing to build and connect like fury, BT published annual results showing a year that said was clear customers loved full-fibre with strong growth in fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) and also 5G mobile advances.

The telco showed a FTTP build of 702,000 premises passed in the fourth quarter of 2023 at an average build rate of 54,000 per week, reaching 41% of its target to reach 25 million premises with FTTP by the end of 2026. The company finished the year with a FTTP footprint of 10.3 million, up 43% annually with a further 6 million where initial build was underway. To date it has now passed over 11 million homes with fibre, and through its EE network got 5G service to 68% of the UK. . Q4 2023 saw a record number of FTTP connections up 50% year-on-year with a base now over 1.7 million.

Another of Jansen’s key achievements was to end Patterson’s development of the company as a broadcaster, in particular though BT Sports. In February 2023,nearly year after it began talks with Warner Bros. Discovery to form a joint venture company creating a new premium sport offering for the UK and Ireland, BT Group has confirmed TNT Sports as the new name for the premium sports brand that will replace BT Sport in the UK & Ireland from July 2023.

The 50:50 BT and Warner Bros. Discovery Joint Venture was formed in 2022 and saw the production and operational assets of BT Sport transfer to and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery which owns Eurosport.

Commenting on his imminent departure, Jansen said: “We’ve made a lot of progress over the last four and half years and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved to date. We’re investing heavily in both BT’s and the UK’s future…This is creating a much stronger BT Group which is starting to drive growth for both investors and the UK. But there’s a lot more to do and I am fully committed to driving the business forward until I hand over to my successor.”

In preparation for his departure, BT’s board has now begun conducting a formal succession process. The company stressed that succession process to replace Jansen was something that it was well prepared for and that it expected to expect to be able to update the market on progress in appointing a new CEO over the course of the summer.

“Philip has done an excellent job in his time at BT and the Board is fully supportive of our long-term strategy which he and his team are pursuing. Whilst we are still in the early years of that transformation we are on track to deliver,” said BT Group Chairman Adam Crozier. “In the meantime, it is business as usual, and we are focused on executing our plans and delivering for all our stakeholders. This is creating a much stronger BT Group which is starting to drive growth for both investors and the UK. But there’s a lot more to do and I am fully committed to driving the business forward until I hand over to my successor.”