The BT (LSE: BT.A) share price has shown signs of life lately. Under chief executive Allison Kirkby, BT Group has been earning its place in investors’ hearts and portfolios again. So I was fascinated to check its long-term performance chart and see just how volatile things have been.

Dear old BT got swept up in the dotcom boom of the late 1990s, with the shares hitting an all-time high of 1,500p before crashing back to earth. In 2003, they slumped as low as 185p. Today, they’re at 200p.

Things got exciting again. By December 2015, the shares were pressing towards 250p as investors welcomed BT’s strong cash generation, broadband business and exciting £12.5bn acquisition of EE. That added Britain’s biggest mobile network to its fixed-line business.

How did the telecoms stock lose its way?

Then BT unravelled again. Its BT Sport venture swallowed huge sums on broadcasting rights and dragged the group far beyond its comfort zone, while the Openreach network demanded enormous investment in fibre. The international business then became a costly headache, most notoriously with the BT Italia accounting scandal, which led to a £530m writedown.

The shares have had their moments lately. They’re up a modest 27% over five years although, sadly, they’re tailing off again.

All shares have their ups and downs, and BT has shown it’s a survivor. It’s a grand old name in a fast-moving sector, but like fellow FTSE 100 telecom stock Vodafone, the 21st century has been tough.

BT faces fierce competition from smaller, nippier rivals, while having to invest huge sums in technology. The group still makes plenty of money. Latest full-year results showed revenue falling 3% to £19.7bn, although profit before tax rose 8% to £1.4bn.

Can Kirkby turn it around?

First quarter results (23 July) showed adjusted revenue flat at £4.3bn. Openreach added a record 574,000 net new full-fibre customers, taking connected premises to 9.4m. But it faces massive challenges here too, losing 192,000 broadband lines to competitors. In a brutally competitive market, BT needs to fight for every connection.

Kirkby has big plans. She hopes to generate around £3bn of normalised free cash flow by the end of the decade, while cutting 40,000-55,000 jobs by 2030. Openreach’s full-fibre capex has now passed its peak.

With a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.9 and a trailing yield of 4.16%, the numbers look attractive.

I’ve been repeatedly tempted by BT, but ultimately I’ve been put off by the scale of the problems it still faces, including that legacy pension scheme and £20bn of net debt. That’s almost exactly the same as its market-cap.

BT’s worth considering, but I’d rather buy on a dip than chase the shares during one of their better spells. It’s still carries a lot of baggage though and, overall, I think there are more exciting dividend and growth opportunities on the FTSE 100 today.

Should you invest £5,000 in Bt Group Plc right now?

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Harvey Jones does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.