SHARES in BT remained largely undisturbed despite the telecoms giant's entanglement in a spat with TalkTalk over its growing fibre broadband network and with Sky over airing adverts for BT's football coverage.

Ian Livingston, the Scot who runs BT, criticised rivals as "copper Luddites" after claims it is building a monopoly in fibre broadband through its Openreach business.

Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk, has called for Government intervention because BT is poised to benefit from public money to support the roll-out of superfast broadband to remote areas.

Following the comment from Mr Livingston, a BT spokesman said: "If regulation was to increase Openreach prices, it would impede take-up. If regulation were to reduce Openreach prices, it would undermine the case for investment."

BT says it charges its rivals the same for access to the broadband network as its own BT Retail business. BT and Virgin account for 95% of the superfast broadband market.

Meanwhile, BSkyB has refused to screen adverts for two sports channels BT is to launch in July on its sports stations. John Petter, managing director for the BT retail consumer division, said: "It is like a rottweiler running away from a new born puppy".

BT spent £738 million on rights to show 38 Premier League matches a season. It will also screen 30 games from the SPL.

Ofcom has opened an investigation into the issue following a complaint from BT.

A Sky spokesman said: "There are many other avenues for BT to advertise its sports channels without seeking to take advantage of the investments we've made to build Sky Sports."

BT's shares closed down 0.1p or 0.04% at 265.7p.