Member Info for NDNIC00

Good to see FTTP build is on target especially as there had been concerns it was slowing and would missed targets.

To which ever avatar you are at any given point in time, but for now I will go with SOM.

At no point have I commented on the right or wrong of dividend reinvestment.

Your comments on reducing the pension deficit for the BTPS by getting rid of staff is incorrect, as I have pointed out.

I do not block posters for any reason, in fact very occasionally I find some humour in your comments. But if I blocked all your accounts on this site I would likely only see a couple of posts on an average day, rather than double digits.

I have not commented on whether I am in favour of a bid or not, except in regard to your rambling about an, owned by all equivalent to OR. Bid or no bid, at present most of my holding is in very good profit, if a bid were to come that would likely improve my personal position and I would decide what to do at that time.

Bluepete. It’s not really defending the CWU, it’s pointing out the false narrative that is repeated time and time again . The assumption that members of a union are in some way only there to discredit their employer and cause trouble at every turn. There are many reasons people join a union, as another poster stated, they were a member of the CWU for the backup being a member could provide if in direct dispute with there employer, not to get a pay rise by collective bargaining of keep there company British. Some forget that the CWU helped the BT share price rise to a high of nearly £15 and support the company when it fell to around 60p. Ther was no strike action at those times, or 5 years ago when it was £5. I think that in 40 years with only two very short periods of strike action is a remarkable degree of cooperation. The constant rubbish posted about the CWU, its members and their intentions is simply a bigoted viewpoint with no basis in fact or reality.

Just for clarification I was a member of the CWU when employed by BT for nearly 35 years and participated in strike action in 1987. I am no longer a member, I have no need.

Fact check and history lesson for SOM or any derivative of.

“But reducing the bloated workforce, including more than 40,000 engineers and back office staff, will considerably reduce the wage bill and future pension liabilities. “

Pension. The BTPS is the scheme that BT has an agreement to fund a shortfall in, a reduction in staff will not affect the payments that are in place to be paid in the coming years. Staff who are in the BTPS stoped paying into that in 2018 and were moved onto a new scheme BTRSS which has no shortfall as it is DC not DB. DB defined benefit, BTPS. DC defined contribution, BTRSS. BT will be paying the shortfall to BTPS whether a member is employed by BT or not, if you are a member of the scheme then BT is paying for your pension, employee or not. For clarity some staff those employed by BT before March 2001 and still employed will have two pension pots, BTPS and BTRSS. Those employed after that date are not part of the BTPS therefore do not affect the cost of a pension liability going forward.

Workforce. A percentage of the engineers rolling out FTTP are contractors, they generally follow the cash so sometimes the quality of work can suffer leading to future potential costs. This is not the case for all but is always a risk. Employed staff tend to be the better bet if possible, they have a vested interest in their employer going forward. Some of the BT employees are on fixed term employment which depending on work flow may not have their contract renewed when it ends.

CWU. Since privatisation there have been only two periods with strike action taking place. The winter of 1987 and in 2022. Not a bad record for nearly 40 years. In fact BT and the CWU have worked well together over those years given the constraints of OFCOM in modernising the network. Together they have and are now delivering a world class fibre network ready for whatever technology can throw at it.

It’s a shame that some need multiple identities to keep pushing the same old, outdated arguments and falsehoods. A bit like a certain Mr Trump, who also seeks a lot of attention and an ongoing need to push false narratives…

I would like to point out to those concerned. Christmas is in December. Please keep it that way.

Now off to rant at the CEOs of all UK supermarkets as there TV adds are to Early…

SOM. “ While I dislike politicians in general as much as union leaders, union activists and lacklustre bosses, this is not the forum for political argument. ”

Yet you constantly bring up politics, unions, socialism, labour, are at fault for the position you find yourself and your BT investment in.

As I stated the other day, two of your heroes, that you put your faith in, were Boris and Liz Truss, not that they turned out very good people to big up.

Then there is your need to keep having to get new accounts for this site as you keep losing them due to the way you behave. It would appear that you need this forum more than this forum needs you.

SOM. You really are getting worse. Your judgment and instinct really needs some serious work. Your hero’s have been, Gav the hair Patterson, spent millions on TV for it to be dropped not that long after he left. Boris, the lier, just look at what is coming out in the COVID inquiry. Liz, AKA the lettuce, Truss. Look how long that lasted and the damage done. Unfortunately some of your comments on those were made under your previous handles, those accounts have been deleted by this site. You bang on about other members having additional accounts to boost their view, who knows, but you have had at least 4 accounts deleted by this site due to your lack of respect and treatment of others. What’s with the 1970s thinking about unions, especially the CWU. You’re 50 years out of date, then again perhaps to be expected. You lambast the investment strategy of others, yet if you are to be believed, you are the best part of around 80% down on your holding. Another strong indication of your lack of judgment, yet you are happy to tell others how bad they are at investing. Stop whinging, let your heroes go, see them for what they really are and have been proved to be. Open your eyes and sole to today and how the world works now. Let the negativity go, you really will benefit and feel anew…

If interested.

https://uk.yahoo.com/style/broadband-supplier-last-resort-talks-144049493.html

“I am not the Messiah”

“ Same people doing the work, yes. But a lot fewer of them. Ever heard of the word consolidation. ”

BT will reduce numbers once the major build is finished, it is happening now with redundancy packages, so no difference there. A lot of the work is being done by contractors now, so any new entity would still need the same number of total workers, again no change. As the build enters its last stages, the contractors will depart, BTs workforce will have decreased, those left will finish the build and maintain the network and staffing levels will fall in line with the numbers required to keep the network going.

Your plan will have to follow the same route, but cost a whole lot of unnecessary money in addition to what it will cost the existing paln with BT.

SOM. Which bit of, BT is building a one nation fibre network that all are free to utilise should they want to enter the market for services. Overbuilding has been caused by those deciding they have a better business model than BT by targeting particular locations without having to put in place their own duct or overhead infrastructure. Even without the additional cost of the ductwork they are still going to the wall. Why is there a need to have a takeover to do what BT is currently doing.

Perhaps the reason you want a bid is you see it as the only way to recoup your stated paper loss. Is it not ironic that you lambast other people’s investment choices when you state that your choices are perhaps just as bad.

No matter what the circumstances are around who builds and maintains a national fibre network, it will be the same individuals who actually do the work. Except in your new world a whole lot of money needs to be spent to achieve what BT are currently doing , which is the reason so many Altnets have gone to the wall, with no gain for anyone…

SOM

It would appear your memory is failing you. I have stated many times that I took early retirement from BT a few years ago. What you are talking about is exactly what has / is happening, it’s just that the people governing this country over the last 14 years wanted it the way it is now. Enjoy your time away from us, we will…

“ NDN, BT owns the infrastructure, of course. I am saying that if a bid comes in and is successful, the BT comms infrastructure (aka Openreach by name), should become a national one, financed by the entire industry, in preference to having a patchwork of neworks (and needless overbuild) all over the UK, which is the case at the moment.”

Is that not what BT have and are doing. One national fibre network, it’s due to OFCOM that others are overbuilding then going bust , with the exception of Virgin. If those Altnets had invested their money in doing wholesale deals with BT that would have helped finance the rollout, they now would still be in business providing services and making money. If that had been the narrative then likely the SP would now be over £5 and you would have sold and investors in now defunct Altnets would be seeing a return on there investments rather than lost it…

A true and streamlined national comms infrastructure, owned by CPs.

Openreach do not own any infrastructure assets they are just a workforce acting on behalf of all service providers using BTs infrastructure to supply services…

CPI will be published tomorrow for September 23 that will then be the increase for section A & B members from April 24. In addition to Simonsw00d comments, section A & B do not receive an increase if CPI is 1% or under which has happened twice in recent years…

Similar to my experience last year. OR engineer doing a survey in August, fibre build started around the end of September and I converted to FTTP mid December. Trooli started there fibre build in our area nearly a year before BT and they still do not offer service…

With all this talk of a takeover of BT on this board, is it only a topic because the share price is low at present, and some holders are seeing a big loss if they were to sell in the near future.

Personally I do not think any bid is likely to happen for quite some time, if ever, it is more likely that at some point in the future there will be a tie up with a major holder or perhaps separation of OR completely. If either of the two major holders were interested in a bid, it would have happened by now, if the share price were to be the driver, it would appear that is not the case. DT have there holding as part of the deal for EE, they are down on there holding at present, so what. They may be happy to hold until things improve and take the dividend payments they receive as a way to improve their overall loss at present. Let’s face it BT is not going to go bust, just its share value fluctuations affecting what the company is worth at any point in time. Their income is good and not likely to disappear, maybe increase going forward as costs will slowly drop as well as head count. Altice are likely in the same position as DT, happy with what they have now and going forward. The biggest problem for any non UK bit at present is probably the bad deal done over Brexit. With the current situation an overseas bid is likely to fail being stopped by the government. Those hoping for a bid may well have to wait until a closer relationship exists between the UK and the major holders based outside the UK but in the EU. If or when that happens those holders may well consider a bid, but without some improvement in that relationship, personally I do not see any bid being successful…

So now the Altnets want BT to get them out of the hole they have put themselves in. Please can we use out Tesco card in Sainsbury’s…

We need not worry. If all else fails they can give the job to Boris !!!

Fleccy. Think he may be referring to patch being a geographical area under which a group of people work, eg. Birmingham patch.