London, March 10: British Telecommunications Plc roared back into favour with the stock market on Thursday as it announced plans to take the mobile Internet to the masses. The company said it would offer wireless Web phones for 99.99 pounds ($158) up front plus 10 pounds a month and expected to sell 500,000 of the wireless application protocol handsets between April and June.The news, which coincided with a "strong buy" recommendation from Deutsche Bank, took shares up 20 per cent at one stage, putting them back above their level before they plunged following disappointing results on February 2. They ended the day with a gain of just over 12 per cent at 13.15 pounds. Analysts said the mobile Internet plans, the first mass roll-out in the UK, underpinned the change in sentiment on the stock.
"This is a positive indicator. It shows a level of aggression in a new technology area that is not usual for BT. People are used to BT being a follower," said ABN AMRO Telecoms analyst James Ross.
-- Reuters
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