INTERVIEW: BT May Bid For UK Mobile Spectrum - CEO

By Lilly Vitorovich Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) may bid for mobile spectrum in the U.K. government auction, but it's not high on the telecommunication firm's to-do list, Chief Executive Ian Livingston said Friday. "We'll have a look, but again its not high on the agenda," he told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview at his office near St Paul's Cathedral, adding that significantly improving customer services and processes, further cost cutting and investing for the future are the company's top priorities. As long as BT has access to mobile networks, which it does with its mobile virtual network operation with Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), "I would think it's low down on the list of likely things. Of course you'd want to have a look at the terms and conditions of these things," Livingston said. The U.K. government Wednesday gave the green light for the long-awaited mobile spectrum auction as part of wider efforts to improve the speed of Internet broadband in the country. The auction will also bring in billions of pounds to help pay down the nation's debt. BT is spending about GBP2.5 billion on its fiber-optic broadband program, which will cover around two-thirds of U.K. premises by 2015. It covers more than 1.5 million premises already, and is now adding around 100,000 premises every week. It has 3,000 people working on its fiber program. "We've got one of the largest fiber-optic build-out programs in the world, without government support," Livingston said. Fiber is being deployed in the U.K. by BT at the equivalent rate of covering the whole of Singapore every quarter, according to BT. BT's fiber-optic-cable strategy, which begun several years ago, will allow BT to move ahead of rivals in the broadband market. Its major rival in the fiber-optic market is Virgin Media Inc. (VMED). BT delivered solid first-quarter results Thursday, underpinned by contract wins and cost cutting, and reiterated its full-year outlook. Communications regulator Ofcom will co-ordinate a combined auction of 800 megahertz and 2600MHz spectrum as soon as possible so that "operators can deliver widespread high speed mobile broadband," Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said on Wednesday. Ofcom plans to hold the auction at the end of 2011, slightly later than mobile industry executives were expecting. A spokeswoman for Vaizey declined to say how much the auction could raise. -By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 30, 2010 09:56 ET (13:56 GMT)