BT Cellnet Launch First UK Pre-pay Internet Phone

British Telecommunications PLC
9 March 2000


                  'WAP GOES MASS-MARKET' -
              BT CELLNET LAUNCHES UK's FIRST
                  PRE-PAY INTERNET PHONE

BT Cellnet today announced the launch of the UK's first
pre-pay Mobile Internet phone to extend its leadership of
the UK mobile Internet market.

BT Cellnet anticipates sales could reach 500,000 Mobile
Internet phones from leading handset manufacturers
including Mitsubishi, Siemens and Alcatel between April
and June 2000. The announcement follows BT Cellnet's
launch of the first commercial WAP (Wireless Application
Protocol) service in the UK in January this year with
phones from Nokia and Motorola.

Peter Erskine, Managing Director of BT Cellnet commented:
'This is a landmark announcement for us and marks two
points of transition - as BT Cellnet turns from a mobile
phone company into a Mobile Internet company.   From
April, Mobile Internet phones will become widely available
and even more affordable - we're taking WAP mass market.

'The new service will enable BT Cellnet to establish
rapidly the UK's largest customer base of early adopters
in Mobile Internet.  They will buy more WAP phones than
any other kind in the next three months. The old mobile
phone market has had its day.'

The new Internet Phones will offer an ever widening range
of Internet services from Genie Internet, the company's
market-leading Mobile Internet Service Provider, which has
already linked with an exciting range of partners,
including Freeserve, EMI Group, 365 Corporation,
Unmissable TV and Dotmusic.   Customers with a BT Cellnet
Internet Phone will simply register with Genie Internet  -
www.genie.co.uk - to be able to send and receive e-mails
on their Internet Phone.

BT Cellnet also announced that they were taking mobile e-
mail mass market.  From today, Freeserve customers will be
able to access their e-mails via the new BT Cellnet
Internet Phones.  This gives a potential two million
customers access to their e-mails while on the move.

Customers with a BT Cellnet Internet Phone simply register
with Freeserve (www.freeserve.net) to be able to send and
receive e-mails on their mobile phone.  'This is just the
first example of Freeserve's commitment to delivering its
content to its customers wherever they are', said John
Pluthero, Freeserve's Chief Executive Officer.

The new pre-pay BT Cellnet Mobile Internet phones will be
available in the high street, and via the Internet, from
Monday 3 April, for £99.99 including VAT.  Mobile Internet
calls will be charged at a flat rate of 10p per minute at
all times and voice calls will cost 30p per minute at peak
times and 5p per minute off-peak.    The pre-pay Mobile
Internet phone comes with up to 200 minutes of free calls
which can be used at the weekend for Mobile Internet
access and standard voice calls.   New customers who
connect between 3 April and 30 June 2000 will get double
the number of bundled free minutes for a period of three
months from the date of purchase.

BT Cellnet expects sales of nearly all new mobile phones,
and other new mobile devices, to be Internet-enabled
within 18 months and that 85 per cent of all mobile
handsets in use in the UK market will be Internet-enabled
within three years.  By 2003 it is expected that more
people could be accessing the web from mobile devices than
from desktop PCs.

There is a ready market for Internet-enabled phones.  NOP
research commissioned this week by BT Cellnet shows that
67 per cent of UK consumers with mobile phones also have
Internet access and that more than half of all consumers
would today buy an Internet phone.

The new pre-pay range of Mobile Internet phones will exist
alongside BT Cellnet's post-pay subscription Mobile
Internet service, extending consumer choice in how they
want to manage their bills.  The new delivery of 500,000
Internet Phones will be roughly equally split between pre-
and post-pay sales.

BT Cellnet has today also announced it is completely
restructuring its voice and Mobile Internet tariff
structures for the Mobile Internet age.  In future,
customers will be able to choose between voice-only and
Mobile Internet calling plans, depending on their usage.
See separate news release for details of new calling
plans.

BT Cellnet also announced its intention to partner with
more large companies to enter into affiliate-style
arrangements to provide Mobile Internet services to their
customer base.  BT Cellnet recently announced such
partnerships with Freeserve and Halifax plc.

Further information on the BT Cellnet Internet Phone can
be found at www.btcellnet.co.uk or at www.genie.co.uk