Leading Industry Analyst Firm Names BT Counterpane to Leaders Quadrant in Managed Security Services in North America

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (August 16, 2007) -- BT today announced that it has been named to the Leaders Quadrant in the Managed Security Services Provider Magic Quadrant by leading research and analyst firm, Gartner, Inc.*

Gartner evaluates only those managed security service providers who have more than 500 firewall and intrusion detection/prevention devices, or at least 200 external customers under management/monitoring. Service providers are rated based on two major criteria - completeness of vision and ability to execute.

According to the Gartner report, Leaders have "significant 'mind share' among enterprises looking to buy an MSS from pure-play security vendors, and they generally receive positive reports on service and performance from Gartner clients. Vendors in the Leaders quadrant are typically appropriate options for enterprises requiring frequent interaction with the MSSP for analyst expertise and advice, portal-based correlation and workflow support, and flexible reporting options."

Michael Boustridge, President, BT Americas, said: "We're particularly pleased that Gartner has placed BT Counterpane, which we believe is recognition for our increased ability to execute its services and deliver value to our customers. The on-going integration of BT Counterpane and INS into BT, and the addition of their capabilities into the significant security practice BT already had in place, has created a security team that positions us better than ever to help customers stay ahead of the game with best-in-class security services."

BT, with a rich heritage in designing, building and managing secure global networks, offers a range of resilient communications solutions. BT has more than 1400 security practitioners and currently monitors more than 340,000 devices and serves 860 global MSSP customers with eight Security Operations Centers located around the world. BT INS' Ethical Hacking Center of Excellence includes a 30-strong team of ethical hacking experts, with more than seven years of experience per member.

BT Counterpane offers its customers the widest range of support with over 1 million event signatures in its correlation engine. It is still the only MSSP to support OS/390 and AS.400 and starts customers off on the right foot by beginning active monitoring the moment the contract is signed and including a 90-day Integration period to tune devices and minimize false positives. This commitment to customer service has driven the recent announcement of our ability to provide a range of compliance reports to customers based on their discrete security and compliance requirements, including Sarbanes-Oxley and PCI.

About BT

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include networked IT services; local, national and international telecommunications services; higher-value broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the year ended 31 March 2007, BT Group plc's revenue was £20,223 million with profit before taxation of £2,484 million. British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt.

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2007 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

* Gartner, Inc., "Magic Quadrant for MSSPs, North America, 1H07" by Kelly M. Kavanagh and John Pescatore, August 1, 2007.

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Contact:
Eileen Connolly
908.410.1419
Eileen.connolly@bt.com

Barbara Cattolica
415-309-2485
bcattolica@yahoo.com