Table:
| Consumer |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Adjusteda revenue £10,695m |  | Adjusteda operating profit £1,510m |  |  |
|  | 2019 (IFRS 15) | 2018 (IAS 18) | Change |  |
| Year to 31 March | £m | £m | £m | % |
| Adjusteda revenue | 10,695 | 10,360 | 335 | 3 |
| Adjusteda operating costs | 8,161 | 7,984 | 177 | 2 |
| Adjusteda EBITDA | 2,534 | 2,376 | 158 | 7 |
| Depreciation & amortisation | 1,024 | 992 | 32 | 3 |
| Adjusted a operating profit | 1,510 | 1,384 | 126 | 9 |
| Capital expenditure | 994 | 919 | 75 | 8 |
| Normalised free cash flowb | 1,323 | 1,389 | (66) | (5 |
Paragraphs:
We continue to experience challenging trends in both the high-end smartphone market and in the broadband market. However, with leading mobile and fixed networks, improving customer experience, three strong brands and further enhancements to BT Plus, with 5G coming imminently, we are well placed for the future.
Adjusteda revenue growth of 3% for the year was driven by the continued increase in handset costs for customers, growth in the SIMonly base across all brands and the impact of price increases, partially offset by solus voice price reductions.
Adjusteda EBITDA grew 7% for the year as the revenue growth was partially offset by increased trading costs.
Capital expenditure growth of 8% was driven by increased network spend as preparations were made for the EE 5G launch in 2019. Normalised free cash flowb was £1,323m, down 5% on last year as the increase in EBITDA was offset by the settlement at the start of the year of the Phones4U dispute relating to the retail trading agreement, and increased capital expenditure.
Mobile churnc was stable at 1.2% for the year, whilst fixed churnc was up from 1.3% to 1.4% reflecting the impact of price increases in the year.
a Adjusted measures exclude specific items, as explained in the Additional Information on page 185. b Free cash flow after net interest paid, before pension deficit payments (including the cash tax benefit of pension deficit payments) and specific items.
Question:
What was the reason for capital expenditure growth?
Answer: driven by increased network spend as preparations were made for the EE 5G launch in 2019.