BT (NYSE: BT) is back with another attempt in the mobile market. The UK’s largest fixed line operator and former incumbent launched a new mobile package today, BT Total Broadband Anywhere, which gives customers broadband at home and on their mobile, as well as a choice of two Blackberry-style smartphones from Taiwanese handset maker HTC starting at ?23.99 ($27) per month. The service allows consumers to make mobile calls off Wi-Fi connections at home and at BT hotspots around the country. It switches to Vodafone’s network when neither of these two options is possible. In 2001, BT was forced to spin off its mobile division BT Cellnet (later rebranded as O2 and acquired by Telefonica) to satisfy the regulators, and tried to re-enter the market with its BT Fusion product. But the service was a disappointment, attracting only 45,000 subscribers in three years. Meanwhile, BT has watched as mobile networks have begun entering their market, with Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Orange and O2 all offering a home broadband product. [release].

British Telecom today announced a 50:50 joint venture with Japanese operator KDDI to sell managed services to Japanese multi-nationals.

Industry analyst Gartner estimates the current size of the outsourcing market in Japan at around $90bn (ВЈ49bn) – twice the size of the rest of Asia Pacific markets combined.

Upon launch, the joint venture will have approximately 100 employees backed by the full corporate resources of BT and KDDI including R&D, IP-based services and financing. Existing customers of BT Japan and BT Infonet Japan will be serviced by the new company.

Andy Green, chief executive officer of BT Global Services said: “As the world’s second largest corporate market, Japan is high on BT’s priority list…the challenges of managing global networking technology, coupled with greater demands on performance, reliability and security, are projected to drive significant growth for network outsourcing.”

While the majority of BT’s business and resources in Japan will be transferred to the new entity, the company will continue to provide carrier, financial and technology services directly.

Loveable ogre Shrek and the escaped zoo animals from hit movie Madagascar will be among content piped direct to the home when British Telecom launches its broadband TV service this autumn.

The UK carrier today announced that it has signed a video-on-demand film deal with DreamWorks SKG, to provide content for its IP TV service, BT Vision.

This agreement will bring DreamWorks current movies to BT’s video-on-demand service, including Steven Spielberg’s Munich; Madagascar; Just Like Heaven, Red Eye and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

DreamWorks movies will be available on a pay per view basis and will complement existing agreements BT Vision has with BBC Worldwide, Paramount, Warner Music Group, National Geographic Channel, HIT Entertainment, Nelvana and Turner Broadcasting.

BT is recording strong growth in the broadband space, with the company today announcing that it had 7.9 million wholesale broadband connections as of the end of March, including 356,000 local loop unbundled lines, marking an increase of 2.9 million connections year on year.

The carrier also began offering DSL Max, which offers speeds of up to 8Mbps across the UK, at the end of March and is offering its wholesale customers DSL Max at no extra cost to their existing 2Mbps service.

“New wave” revenue, which is mainly generated from networked IT services, broadband and mobility, increased 28 per cent year on year to ВЈ1.85bn. Broadband revenue alone increased by 44 per cent to ВЈ421m, while mobility revenue increased by 41 per cent to ВЈ82m.

New wave revenue managed to offset the decline in traditional revenues, which declined by 3 per cent year on year continuing recent trends. Overall revenue was 7 per cent higher than last year at ВЈ5.13bn, while EBITDA before specific items was flat year on year at ВЈ1.4bn.