BT 2003 Annual Report Download - page 8

BT Annual Report and Form 20-F 2003 7
&two-thirds of the UK population is now connected
to an ADSL-enabled exchange, and our development
of new business models, coupled with technological
breakthroughs, could put 90% of the UK’s homes and
small businesses within reach of broadband services
within the next few years.
And as well as signing up customers, we are
moving quickly to offer them inspiring new services.
Our understanding of what customers want is growing
every day and we are making sure that the company
is able to provide it. For example, new broadband
services were launched, offering music – Dotmusic on
Demand, sport – Sportal on Demand, and education –
the BT Learning Centre.
Our third key priority is financial discipline. We put
our heart into customer service, but also into a
rigorous approach to finance.
As the broadband record shows, we have to meet
the demands of our customers in a way that also serves
the interests of shareholders – in other words, it has
to be financially responsible and sustainable.
Financial discipline is not the same thing as cost
savings. It’s about doing things smarter, raising the
bar, proving that it is possible to do more with less.
We did substantially reduce operating costs and,
in addition, we very carefully targeted our capital
expenditure, which was £2.4 billion during the 2003
financial year, a 21% reduction on the previous year,
on a like-for-like basis.
We are investing to transform our network.
Equipment designed for 20th century services is
making way for a true 21st century network, delivering
the broadband, multimedia services that today’s
customers require. It will also deliver these services
in the way many of today’s customers now demand
them – for example enabling customers to configure
and adjust their services themselves.
In this network, we are creating a new engine for
growth; simultaneously offering lower operating costs
and higher performance.
These then are the priorities that we have been
focused on in the past year and that we will remain
focused on in the year ahead.
Our success will depend not just on making our
strategy work but on the way in which we make it work.
The new corporate identity that we unveiled at the
beginning of April 2003 defines the kind of company
we are now and need to be in the future.
Central to that new identity is a commitment to
be simple and complete in all we do. And that, in turn,
means living our brand values.
Being trustworthy means consistently delivering on
our promises. Helpful means listening and responding.
Being straightforward means keeping things simple
and clear, and inspiring means constantly working
to create new communications possibilities. And we
have to do everything with real heart – showing passion
and conviction.
Those values, of course, can only be lived through
people – and, of course, our strategy can only be
delivered by the teams of motivated people throughout
the business. It simply couldn’t happen without them.
They breathe life into it. They make it work. And I’d
like to thank them for their loyalty and their hard work.
Ben Verwaayen
Chief Executive
21 May 2003