BT Cellnet-Qtrly Connect.Figs

British Telecommunications PLC
5 April 2000


BT CELLNET YEAR'S GROWTH DOUBLES TO NEARLY
2.9 MILLION NEW MOBILE PHONE CUSTOMERS FOR 1999/2000

BT CELLNET ACHIEVES FULL-YEAR  25% MARKET SHARE - CUSTOMER
BASE GROWS TO 7.4 MILLION

UK's FIRST PRE-PAY MOBILE INTERNET PHONE
ON SALE FROM BT CELLNET THIS WEEK

BT Cellnet, the Mobile Internet market leader today reported
25% market share and a total of 2.88 million new mobile
customers for the year to 31 March 2000, in the week it wins
the race to launch the Mobile Internet phone to the pre-pay
mass market. BT Cellnet growth has more than doubled from
the previous year's 1.4 million new customers to set a fresh
record for the company.

In the latest quarter, January to March 2000, BT Cellnet
connected 457,000 mobile phone customers to its network, and
220,000 Mobile Internet customers.

BT Cellnet's closing base has risen to over 8 million of
which 620,000 are Mobile Internet customers.

Overall, BT Cellnet is Britain's market leader for post-pay
customers, with a base of over 3.8 million, and for the
Mobile Internet, with its 620,000 Genie Internet customers.

Genie Internet, the UK's market leader that brings 100
services to WAP phones, is experiencing a marked rise in the
rate of registrations as public interest in the Mobile
Internet gathers pace. The number of new customers is up
from 2,000 a day at the end of December 1999 to 4,000 at the
end of March.

From the beginning of this week , BT Cellnet began marketing
the UK's first pre-pay Mobile Internet phone as well as
subscription Mobile Internet phones. All BT Cellnet's post
and pre pay WAP (Wireless Applications Protocol) mobile
phones offer the most advanced technology available from
under £100 including VAT.

Demonstrating the growing appetite among consumers for
mobile data services, BT Cellnet reported a total of 500
million SMS messages sent over its network since April 1999,
and over 80 million in March 2000 alone. This represents a
12-fold increase on SMS messaging compared to the same
period last year.

This signals a sea-change in the way people are using their
mobile phones.

Peter Erskine, BT Cellnet Managing Director of BT Cellnet
said: 'The mobile market is being redefined, as the range of
things we expect a mobile phone to do for us is transformed.
Voice communications continue to grow strongly, but in the
next three months we think our customers will buy more
Mobile Internet WAP phones rather than the more traditional
mobile phone. We believe this marks the onset of an entirely
new phase in our industry. BT Cellnet is not just a network
for mobile calls, but is a Mobile Internet company as well.'

BT Cellnet Quarterly Connection Figures - Quarterly totals

BT Cellnet     Net         Internet       Total Closing
Quarterly      Connections Connections    Base
Growth

Jan-Mar         457,000    220,000        8,024,000
2000                                      (voice base 7,404,000)
                                          (Internet base 620,000)

Oct-Dec       1,001,000    200,000        6,947,000
1999                                      (plus 400,000 internet base) 

July-Sept       923,000    100,000        5,946,000
1999                                      (plus 200,000 internet base)

Apr-June        501,000    100,000        5,023,000
1999                                      (plus 100,000 internet base)

Jan-Mar         479,000    NA             4,522,000
1999



For further information,
call the BT Cellnet Press Office on
01753 565656 or
Fiona Campbell/Victoria Tate at
Fishburn Hedges 0171 839 4321