BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen said today the broadband revolution was gathering pace, with the company already halfway to achieving its target of 5 million high-speed internet users over its phone lines by 2006.
Mr Verwaayen, who today announced encouraging fourth quarter results, said that as of May 14, the company had almost 2.5 million broadband subscribers through its own internet service providers and those provided by competitors but using its phone lines, such as AOL and Tiscali.
The former monopoly telecoms operator, which has struggled with declining turnover amid severe price competition, said revenue rose to £4.8bn in the fourth quarter to March 31, up 1% on the previous year.
BT's performance was boosted by a 38% rise in so-called "new wave revenues" from broadband internet, mobile access and business computing, areas the firm is increasingly relying upon to offset the decline in its core fixed-line business.
Mr Verwaayen has bet the farm on transforming BT into the backbone of broadband Britain since joining the company in 2001 and said today's results showed the strategy was working.
"We are enabling broadband Britain. We now have approaching 2.5 million connections, a 162% increase in a year. We aim to have over 99% of the UK broadband enabled within a year, putting the UK towards the top of the broadband league," he said.
"Our transformation of the business will continue to accelerate. We expect the environment to remain challenging but we will also increase our investment to build on the significant progress already achieved."
The telecoms giant has unveiled numerous initiatives and price cuts over the past 18 months in an effort to make broadband a mass market product and stimulate the provision of new services from ISPs and content from broadcasters and Hollywood studios.
According to the latest available figures, there are now almost 4 million broadband subscribers in Britain, including those connected via cable groups NTL and Telewest.
Last week, under pressure from regulator Ofcom, BT announced it would slash the amount it charges rival telcoms operators to access its local exchanges by up to 70%.
Rivals hope this will open up the market and speed the introduction of new services such as video-on-demand and voice over IP (VoIP) telephony, allowing subscribers to make cheap calls over the internet.
Meanwhile, France Telecom ISP Wanadoo today announced it had signed a distribution deal with retailer Maplin Electronics to push its new broadband services to customers.
The ISP, formerly known as Freeserve, recently ended its in-store promotional deal with former owner Dixons, after AOL said it would pay more to distribute its discs in Dixons, Curry's and PC World.
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