BT 1999 Annual Report Download - page 7

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6
Chief Executive’s statement
BT is a company experiencing major change, in an
industry that is changing the way people live and
work around the world.
Transformation
With your support, BT is transforming itself from
aUK telecommunications company into a global
communications company.
This may seem to be a small change linguistically, but it
represents a huge leap strategically.
“Telecommunications” is now, we believe, too narrow a
word to sum up the wide range of things we do and want
to do.
We have grown from a national telecommunications
operator, dealing mainly in fixed-voice telephone calls, to a
global communications company with operations that span
the world, and services that, in addition to fixed-voice
telephony, include the Internet, mobile and data
communications, and business systems and solutions.
Our strategy
And the strategy which underpins this transformation and
these successes is a simple one – to seize the
opportunities for growth in our chosen communications
markets worldwide.
I hope that this report will give you some indication of
how we are translating our strategy into action.
Data
Data communications, which covers almost all network
traffic that is not voice – including e-mail, the Internet,
electronic commerce, and files sent from computer to
computer – is growing at more than 30 per cent per year.
Data has overtaken voice communication over BT’s
networks, a phenomenon often referred to as
the “datawave”.
Investment in our networks
In 1998/99, we launched the UK’s largest and most
advanced data network. And we have earmarked £5 billion
for future investment in data and multimedia services.
And, with our partners in mainland Europe, we launched a
state-of-the-art pan-European optical fibre network
connecting 200 cities.
Concert
BT is already a world-leader in the growth area of global
managed services through Concert Communications,
which has 40 per cent of the Fortune top 500 companies
as customers. And Concert is to become a key part of
BT’s contribution to the global venture we are forming
with AT&T.
Liberalised markets worldwide
Our growth in the recently-liberalised markets worldwide
has continued. In the European market, which is growing
by ten per cent per year, we currently have more licences
than any other operator. In 1998/99, our European
ventures increased their customer numbers by more
than 150 per cent to over nine million.
In Asia Pacific, we have made carefully targeted
investments in high-growth companies, such as Binariang
of Malaysia, LG Telecom of the Republic of Korea
and SmarTone of Hong Kong. And, in April 1999, we