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BT has unveiled a new “sovereign platform” designed to give UK businesses and public bodies greater control over their networks, data, and emerging services such as cloud-hosted applications and AI.
The platform, announced on Monday, consolidates a suite of services that BT says will be delivered from UK-based infrastructure and supported only by staff located in the UK.
The company frames the move as a response to growing geopolitical uncertainty and a rising demand from organisations for stronger assurances over where their systems, operations, and data are controlled.
Jon James, chief executive of BT Business, described the initiative as central to adoption of new technologies.
“Sovereignty isn’t simply a matter of compliance or risk management – it’s key to unleashing the potential of AI, and ensuring resilient operations in an increasingly uncertain world,” he said. “Our pioneering launch reflects BT’s unique position as the digital backbone of the UK, and the only provider with the scale, capabilities and experience to enable true UK sovereign solutions.”
BT said the platform will underpin the phased rollout of new sovereign-branded voice, cloud and AI services “over the coming months” and that a sovereign option for a range of existing core products will be available through BT Business in the first half of 2026. The company emphasised its existing experience delivering secure services to critical public and private sector organisations and positioned the platform as a way for customers to choose levels of “sovereignty” appropriate to their needs.
The announcement comes as the UK government pushes an AI strategy focussed on the rapid growth of the country’s domestic data centre industry. BT is notably a founding member of the UK Sovereign AI Industry Forum helping to align the UK telecoms industy with this national objectives.
Industry observers say sovereign offerings are increasingly common as firms and governments seek to reduce exposure to foreign jurisdictional risk, protect sensitive information and meet tightening regulatory expectations. Critics, however, warn that claims of “sovereignty” can mask practical trade-offs , such as higher costs, reduced choice of suppliers and potential delays in accessing the latest global technologies , and that true technological independence is difficult to achieve in an interconnected global market.
BT has not published detailed technical specifications or pricing for the new platform. Customers and procurement teams will be watching for clarifications on data residency guarantees, auditability, third-party software components and whether services will be certified to government security standards such as Cyber Essentials or the UK’s upcoming standards for sovereign AI.
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