Monster telco, BT, might have enough debt to sink a battleship, but that doesn't stop it celebrating key milestones in its commercial life.

Word has reached El Reg that to celebrate BTinternet recruiting one million customers to its narrowband ISP (BTinternet) - it gave its employees...lollipops.

That's right - employees were asked to help themselves to tens of thousands of boiled confectionery on a stick.

One wag at BT explained the giveaway was part of an internal marketing exercise designed to show that BT was "licking the competition".

He denied it was because BT sucks. Sweet.

Of course, BT has a thing for lollipops. In 1999, faced with mounting criticism from ISPs and telcos about high Internet charges and the roll-out of ADSL, BT chairman, Sir Iain Vallance (pictured), famously described BT as a "lollipop man trying to restrain the over-exuberant children".

Some things never changed. ®