117075: BT Group

The BT Group (formerly British Telecom) is a British telecommunications company.

Its origins date back to the founding in 1846 of the Electric Telegraph Company which developed a nationwide communications network. In 1912 the General Post Office, a government department, took over the National Telephone Company, becoming the monopoly telecoms supplier in the United Kingdom The Post Office Act of 1969 led to the General Post Office becoming a public corporation. The British Telecom brand was launched in 1980, becoming independent of the Post Office in 1981, and trading under the name British Telecommunications.