BT 2015 Annual Report Download - page 74

72 BT Group plc
Annual Report 2015
e do not sell our products directl to the public. e wor on behalf of
counications providers. ur networ and services are available to
all of the and in turn the copete to provide phone and internet
services to consuers and businesses.  recent uropean Union report
stated that he UK now oers the ost aordable broadband in
urope.
e oer our ain products on the sae ters to all s includin
other  lines of business in line with our coitents under s
Undertains ore on pae . s a result penreachs operational
enineerin and sstes capabilities are separate fro the rest of .
ore than 99 of penreach revenue is subect to these Undertains.
Markets and customers
penreach alon with  holesale serves wholesale telecos
custoers in reat ritain. holesale custoers in orthern reland
andthe epublic of reland are served b  reland.
e have around 0  custoers the larest of which are  and
alal and other  lines of business particularl  onsuer and 
usiness.
e are seein continued deand for data and bandwidth which is
drivin rowth in tae-up of our products.
he overall nuber of fied-lines in the UK is rowin helped b new
hoes bein built as well as the trend for custoers to connect their
obile devices to fied broadband lines via wi-fi.
ur ain copetitor for consuer services is irin edia. ts
proprietar cable networ covers around half of UK hoes althouh it
announced this ear sinificant epansion plans to reach an additional
 preises b 00.
e also saw other copanies investin in their own fibre access
networs reectin the copetitive nature of the aret. itibre
peroptic and  all epanded their footprint deploin fibre to the
buildin to address dierent aret deands for superfast broadband.
itibres oint venture proect with alal and  is at an earl stae
of developent but has the potential to pose a copetitive threat
oinforward.
he aret for thernet and optical service products providin
business-ualit connectivit is particularl buoant ore than
doublin in sie between 011 and 01. his is due to businesses
need for reater speeds capacit and reliabilit and also theiration
fro old stle private circuits.
ur an copetitors in the business aret include irin edia olt
roup and odafone. ricin service deliver and product innovation
have been the e copetitive thees over the past ear. he price per
bit is bein driven down b intense copetition particularl in etro
areas. uoant aret deand for thernet has placed pressure on the
deliver of circuits for all those copetin in this aret.
Products and services
e oer four principal products and services fibre broadband copper-
based services infrastructure and thernet.
Fibre broadband
ur wholesale fibre broadband product is called eneric thernet ccess.
e oer a nuber of dierent services
 Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) taes fibre fro the echane to the
street cabinet and uses the eistin copper networ for the final lin
to the custoer. t provides speeds of up to 0bps and has proved
to be a hihl eective wa of rollin out superfast broadband at scale
and pace. hen s connect a new custoer the can either choose
to have an penreach enineer visit a hoe or business site or use a
self-install option.  is our ost widel-used service.
 Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) provides faster speeds of up to
0bps. his is achieved b lain fibre all the wa to the custoer
preises. s can oer voice services over  which are siilar in
functionalit to copper-based voice services.
 FTTP-on-Demand lets end custoers in areas served b 
obtain an  connection if the are prepared to pa for the cost of
installation. his is in the process of bein rolled out and is currentl
available to nearl 9 preises.
ur fibre broadband networ can carr broadcast and on-deand
internet protocol television  services. e provide a ulticast
service which cuts the cost of deliverin broadcast  over our networ
and eans s can choose to prioritise  over other web trac.
opper-based services
 Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) lets s oer own-brand phone services
with their own pricin and billin usin our euipent and networ.
he pa to use the copper lines between our echanes and the
custoer preises but do not need to invest in their own networ
euipent or infrastructure. urin the ear we iproved our
preiu  product aied at businesses. e added new features
includin a new service level providin prioritised repair a dedicated
UK-based specialist helpdes and call diversion to an alternative
nuber. s can also choose fro a rane of options such as shorter
appointent windows and visits b a naed enineer which is helpful
when secure or sensitive sites are involved.
 Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) ives s a choice of was to invest in a
broadband networ. U involves s installin their own euipent
in our echanes and rentin the copper line to the custoer
preises. s can use our shared etallic path facilit  product
to oer broadband over a  line or our etallic path facilit 
product to oer both phone and broadband services usin ust their
euipent.
Infrastructure
 Passive Infrastructure Access (PIA) products oer all s access to
penreachs basic infrastructure. or eaple the can rent space
in our ducts or on our telephone poles. s can use  to help the
build their own fibre networs instead of buin fibre broadband
services directl fro us.
 0RELOH,QƬOO,QIUDVWUXFWXUH6ROXWLRQ0LL6 enables s to
iprove localised obile coverae. e install antennas on selected
telephone poles lined to a special street cabinet to which we provide
power and bachaul. obile operators can then install their radio
euipent and use their spectru to help reduce obile sinal blac
spots.
e also oer specialist products to connect s networs to our
echanes.