BT 2006 Annual Report Download - page 6

HELPING CUSTOMERS THRIVE IN A CHANGING WORLD
We enjoy the fantastic privilege of serving around 20 million
customers in 170 countries around the world. Their needs and
expectations are constantly changing, so too is the market in
which we operate and the technology at our disposal. That’s
why an ability to embrace, and thrive on, change – developing
new products and services, new ways of working and new ways
of interacting with our customers – is essential to what we do
at BT.
When so much is changing, companies have to be crystal
clear about what they stand for. BT has a strong and trusted
brand, widely recognised around the world by shareholders,
customers, suppliers and employees. The brand captures the
essence of BT and tells existing and new customers what they
can expect from us. We have summed this up in a new vision
and mission.
Our vision is to be dedicated to helping customers thrive
in a changing world. And there’s not a wasted word in there.
Dedication to our customers is what will differentiate us in an
intensely competitive environment. Helping these customers to
thrive means enabling them to do the things they want to do,
when they want to do them and at the right price. It means
helping them to recognise that a changing world is a world of
opportunity and new experiences. And it means helping them to
seize those opportunities.
Our mission is to be the leader in delivering converged
networked services. That’s the yardstick by which we’ll
measure our success. Convergence is at the heart of everything
we do for customers.
We believe that this combination of absolute commitment to
understanding our customers and to exploring the possibilities
of convergence (blurring the distinctions between networks and
services, IT and communications, fixed and mobile,
telecommunications and visual services) is extremely powerful.
Of course, customers are not interested in vision and mission
statements. What they are interested in, however, are services
that get the job done and that are hassle-free.
THE RIGHT REGULATORY CLIMATE
We operate in a regulated industry and the right regulatory
climate is also essential if our customers are to thrive. The
regulatory climate is not, however, just something that happens
to us; we are helping to shape regulatory thinking.
In response to Ofcom’s strategic review of
telecommunications in the UK, we proposed a series of
Undertakings which we believe will result in a fair and flexible
regulatory regime, deregulation where possible and the growth
of competition through equivalence. Above all, they bring
greater regulatory certainty. These Undertakings, which Ofcom
accepted, are in our view fundamental to meeting customers’
needs and to enabling us and other service providers to invest
in the future with confidence.
A big part of meeting these Undertakings was the creation of
Openreach. This line of business manages our access and
backhaul networks and the associated portfolio of products and
services. We have established an Equality of Access Board with
a majority of independent members to oversee compliance.
Service providers are benefiting from lower prices for both
connection and rental thanks to the success of products such as
wholesale line rental and local loop unbundling.
BT is committed to meeting its obligations, and we have
made good progress so far – though much remains to be done.
OUR STRATEGY
Like our brand, our strategy for profitable growth and
transformation is subject to continuous review. There are four
parts to our strategy:
sto pursue profitable growth in new wave markets
sto maximise the return from our traditional business
sto transform our networks, systems and services for the
twenty-first century
sto create long-term partnerships with our customers.
NEW WAVE GROWTH
Around one third of BT’s revenue in the 2006 financial year was
from new wave activities – that’s up from effectively nothing a
few years ago.
By new wave activities we mean networked IT services,
broadband and mobility.
In short order, BT has established itself as a key player in the
global networked IT services market with a strong track record
of winning and delivering big, complex contracts for large
corporations and other organisations. Major wins such as the
contract with Fiat in Italy and the revised agreement with the
Department for Work and Pensions in the UK confirmed our
credentials. The total value of our networked IT services order
intake in the year was £5.4 billion.
Having hit our target of five million broadband lines in April
2005 (a year ahead of schedule), we’ve boosted that number by
more than 50% in the past financial year. For the majority of
customers, access to broadband is now a given.
But broadband is more than just another technology, it
enables broader, richer, more compelling experiences. Our
focus is increasingly on what customers can do with it. We are
delivering speeds of up to 8Mbit/s and launching innovative
consumer broadband products and services. One of these, BT
Vision, scheduled for launch in the autumn, is broadband TV
and will bring a new dimension to home entertainment as
customers choose from a huge range of on-demand film, music
and TV programming as well as interactive services.
BT is a mobile virtual network operator in both the business
and consumer markets, with more than 340,000 connections.
In a convergent world, we aim to offer customers the best of
fixed and the best of mobile. We launched BT Fusion, the
world’s first service enabling customers to switch seamlessly
Your company is ambitious. We are much more than a lines
and calls business. Our aim is to make life easier, simpler,
cheaper and more fulfilling for all our customers. We will
continue to do this by providing our business customers, large
and small, with productivity improvements and competitive
edge in their markets. We will ensure consumers enjoy a
joined-up communications experience, enabling them to
communicate anywhere, anytime, using whatever device
they choose.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S STATEMENT
BT Group plc Annual Report and Form 20-F 2006 Chief Executive’s statement4