EE brand to remain as BT restructures following mobile acquisition
BT CEO Gavin Patterson slices and dices BT to accommodate new acquisition
BT has unveiled a restructuring following the completion of its £12.5bn acquisition of mobile operator EE, revealing that it plans to maintain the EE branding - for the time being.
"EE will focus largely on the consumer market retaining its brand, its network and its hundreds of high street stores. It will serve its customers with advanced mobile services, broadband and TV. It will also continue to deliver the Emergency Services Network contract which was awarded to EE late last year," revealed BT in a statement.
EE chief commercial officer Marc Allera has been appointed CEO of EE - replacing outgoing CEO Olaf Swantee, who is expected to receive a multi-million pound payout as a result of the BT takeover.
According to BT CEO Gavin Patterson, consumers will be encouraged to put together the portfolio of communications services - fixed line phone, mobile phone, broadband and television - that they want from across the range of BT's companies, including BT, EE and Plusnet.
Overall, BT will be split into six lines of business - two serving consumers, two focusing on business and the public sector (one for the UK and Ireland and one globally), and two providing wholesale services to the industry.
The £5bn-revenue Business and Public Sector division will serve businesses, large and small, as well as the public sector across the British Isles. It will encompass the existing services business, but will also incorporate the relevant EE business division and UK and Ireland focussed parts of BT Global Services.
Global Services, meanwhile, will focus on providing IT and communications services to global multinationals. Luis Alvarez will continue as its CEO.
The Wholesale and Ventures division will provide wholesale services to more than 1,400 communications providers, but will also absorb EE's mobile-virtual network operator business (which currently includes BT Mobile as a customer) as well as some specialist businesses, such as Fleet, Payphones and Directories. Gerry McQuade, currently chief sales and marketing officer, business at EE, will step up as CEO of the Wholesale and Ventures division.
Finally, Openreach - which is the subject of a review from Ofcom over whether it will remain a part of BT or be spun off into an independent company - will continue as the regulated, arms-length UK network operator. Clive Selley has taken over as CEO of Openreach today.
"We will operate a multi brand strategy with UK customers being able to choose a mix of BT, EE or Plusnet services, depending on which suit them best. The acquisition enables us to offer great value bundles of services and customers are set to be the winners as we compete for their business," said Patterson.
He continued: "The acquisition provides us with a chance to refresh our structure and we have done that by creating a major new division that will focus on businesses and the public sector in the UK and Ireland.
"We want to support those sectors by offering customers the very best services whether that be dedicated private lines, network products such as fibre broadband, mobile solutions, IT services or cyber expertise to keep them safe."