The High Court has ruled the government will take responsibility for BT's pension scheme in the event of the company going bust.
The long-awaited verdict clarifies uncertainty around a guarantee, put in place when the firm was privatised, that the government would step in and provide protection for members of the BT Pension Scheme it it went insolvent.
Andy Kerr, deputy general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, said: "This ruling is a huge relief for our members in the BT Pension Scheme. Years of uncertainty have finally come to an end with this ruling which gives maximum protection in the unlikely event of BT going bust.
"There are a few outstanding issues to clear up and we hope the government will not appeal the High Court's ruling as this would cause worry among staff who have loyally paid their pension contributions for decades."
For more on the protection of pension benefits