BT boss says costs ‘inflicted’ by UK are 10 times those faced by European sector

Allison Kirkby, chief executive of BT: ‘We’re already at peak government-inflicted costs.” Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty

The chief executive of BT has said telecoms operators in the UK pay as much as 10 times the amount in “government-inflicted costs” than those operating in comparable European countries.

Allison Kirkby said the industry had already hit the “peak” it could handle in costs imposed by the government, and warned that the November budget could be “very difficult” for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.