BT CALLS ON WI-FI INDUSTRY TO JOIN FORCES FOR FIRST FREE NATIONWIDE WIRELESS BROADBAND WEEK

January 5, 2004 /Wi-Fi Technology News/- BT called on other wi-fi operators to join forces and support the UK's first-ever Wireless Broadband Week early next year.

Between January 26 and February 1 2004, anyone with a wi-fi enabled laptop or PDA will be able to register online with BT Openzone and enjoy wireless broadband without time limits for a week free of charge.1

BT was the first to bring wi-fi to the high street in the UK and now has more than 1,700 BT Openzone-enabled sites, with 4,000 targeted by summer 2004.

Plans for a Wireless Broadband Week were revealed at the first UK event for the Wireless Broadband Alliance, an international group aimed at expanding industry adoption of wi-fi across the globe.

Steve Andrews, managing director, Products and Enterprises at BT, said: "Wi-fi has gone from strength to strength in 2003 and the launch of Wireless Broadband Week will help expose an even greater number of people to the benefits of wireless whether they are emailing friends, surfing the web or accessing corporate files away from the office.

"This marks the first national push of wi-fi and I would really urge the industry to get behind Wireless Broadband Week and offer their services free of charge for the entire week."

Between now and Wireless Broadband Week, we will be announcing a series of exciting agreements which will help make wi-fi more accessible to business and recreational users throughout the UK," added Andrews.

As well as the 1,700 access points available for Openzone customers in the UK, users can log on at sites in Europe and the United States following roaming agreements with TeliaSonera and Airpath Wireless Inc.

At the Wireless Broadband Alliance event, Kyong Yu, Chair of the WBA, announced eight new members of the Alliance, including Telecom Italia, Telecoms Asia Corporation (Thailand), and T-Mobile in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and the Netherlands. The Alliance also confirmed its current technical roaming trial between Telstra (Australia), China Netcom, Maxis (Malaysia) and StarHub (Singapore) would be expanded until March 2004 to allow new partners to take part.

To find their nearest BT Openzone site, users can log on to bt.com, dial BT Directory Enquiries on 118 500, access the 118500.com web site or visit the Scoot Channels.



1 This offer applies to existing and new users for seven days from January 26, 2004. Users will be able to access BT Openzone free of charge for a duration of seven days from registration during Wireless Broadband Week. For example, if a new user registers for an account on February 1, 2004, access will be free for seven days from the date of registration.

For more information please contact:
Mike Jarvis, BT Retail press officer tel: 020 7356 6045
Jon Carter, BT Retail press officer tel: 020 7356 4523
Sarah Schofield, Fishburn Hedges tel: 020 7839 4321


For more details on the Wireless Broadband Alliance, please contact Mr Shrikant Shenwai, Alliance Secretariat at shrikant@starhub.com or visit http://www.wirelessbroadbandalliance.com.

Using BT Openzone
BT Openzone provides access to the internet and the ability to get secure and fast connection to corporate networks while working "on the pause" away from the office. Users with a laptop and a Wireless LAN access card and software can access data at speeds of up to 500 kbps (almost 10 times faster than a standard 56K modem), enabling them to send and receive large quantities of information at broadband speed. Users need to be within range of an Openzone site (approx 100 metres) - zones will be badged with the BT Openzone logo. PC access cards range from ?45 to ?120, but are likely to become cheaper as wireless LAN is increasingly built into PCs as standard.

Prices
Subscriptions start at just ?10 a month for 120 minutes and there is an occasional user option, offering a one-hour pass for just ?6, which can be paid for with vouchers or online using a variety of credit cards. A full list of prices is available at http://www.btopenzone.com.

About BT
BT Group plc is the listed holding company for an integrated group of businesses providing voice, data and video services in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. British Telecommunications plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group, holds virtually all businesses and assets of the BT group.

BT is one of Europe's leading providers of telecommunications services. Its principal activities include local, national and international telecommunications services, higher-value broadband and internet products and services, and IT solutions. In the UK, BT serves over 20 million business and residential customers with more than 29 million exchange lines, as well as providing network services to other licensed operators.

BT consists principally of three lines of business:

BT Retail, serving businesses and residential customers and including BT Openworld, one of the UK's leading ISPs.
BT Wholesale, providing network services and solutions within the UK, including ADSL, conveyance, transit, bulk delivery of private circuits, frame relay and ISDN connections.
BT Global Services, BT's managed services and solutions provider, serving multi-site organisations worldwide. Its core target market is the top 10,000 global multi-site organisations with European operations.
There are a number of other businesses within the BT group, including BT Exact, an internationally renowned centre of excellence in IT and networking technologies. It is also BT's technology and research and development business.

In the year ended 31 March 2003, BT's turnover was ?18,727m. with profit before taxation of ?1,829m.

For more information, visit http://www.bt.com.