BT 2003 Annual Report Download - page 13

Business review
12 BT Annual Report and Form 20-F 2003
time, speeds up to ten times faster than a normal
connection, and access to a range of content and
service providers, including a range of e-mail choices.
Free connection special offers and reduced modem
prices for customers ordering online helped to drive
demand and, as at 31 March 2003, BT Broadband
had 137,000 customers.
&BT Retail launched two new ventures in the second
half of 2002, both designed to provide new revenue
streams, and to promote the uptake of broadband.
BT Click&Buy is an on-line payment service,
particularly suited to small transactions. BT Home
Computing is a complete package, covering choice
of broadband-ready PC, installation by a BT engineer
and ongoing support.
&We announced a number of initiatives under
the ‘‘Home of Possibilities’’ banner, which extend
the benefits of broadband further into the home.
These include home networking products (which
enable multiple devices to share a single broadband
connection), home monitoring services (which provide
customer alerts via text, voice or e-mail) and home
entertainment services.
&We continued to bring the internet to the high
street with a programme to increase the number of
e-payphones from 500 to 20,000 by 2007. The new
kiosks enable customers to surf the internet, send web-
based and instant e-mails, and send text messages to
mobile phones, as well as make payphone calls. During
the 2003 financial year, we installed 1,200 new kiosks.
&During the year, BT Retail returned to the
consumer mobile market with Mobile Sense, a service
enabling customers to select their own call charge
package online. In February 2003, BT and T-Mobile
(UK) formed a partnership with the aim of delivering
a consumer-led mobile service in the summer of 2003.
&BT Openworld achievements during the 2003
financial year included the launch: in December 2002
of the Dotmusic on Demand service, offering
downloads of more than 150,000 music tracks;
in partnership with ukbetting plc, Sportev Ltd and
InTheBox Media, of Sportal on Demand, the UK’s first
broadband sports network; in March 2003 the BT
Learning Centre, which aims to enable parents and
children to learn more effectively online. In addition,
BT Openworld introduced a number of new, value-
added services during the year, including anti-spam
functionality and virus protection and was approved
as an ADSL supplier for Microsoft’s Xbox Live and
Sony’s PlayStation 2 online games services.
Major business
Our ICT objective is to grow our share of selected
growth markets. These are the markets in which
communication and network skills are significant,
migration is from our core markets, our brand has
value and in which partnerships profitably supplement
our capability.
&Major outsourcing deals signed by BT Retail in
conjunction with BT Global Services during the year
include a £125 million deal with Abbey National to
install and manage a consolidated company-wide
integrated voice and data telecommunications solution;
an £83 million five-year extension to a current contract
with the National Australia Group to manage its
information and communications technology services;
a £168 million agreement with the NHS Information
Authority, to upgrade the existing NHSnet
infrastructure to a broadband platform, linking more
than 7,000 NHS sites in England; and a £136 million
contract over ten years with Bradford & Bingley to
install wide and local area networks to connect more
than 550 sites across the UK. In May 2003, BT was
part of a consortium which was awarded a multi-million
pound outsourcing agreement with Royal Mail to
manage business and IT services.
&During the 2003 financial year, year-on-year
growth of 8% was achieved in the outsourcing
business; 58% in IP (internet protocol) infrastructure;
and 416% in broadband. New businesses revenues
grew significantly during the 2003 financial year,
e.g. revenues from mobility were £41 million.
There was also significant revenue growth from
BT Broadband, managed desktop solutions and
CRM (customer relationship management) activity.
&Under the theme of ‘‘Connecting your world.
Completely’’, we launched a suite of mobile solutions
during the financial year, to support corporate
customers in meeting their business requirements,
not just in the office or the regular place of work,
but also on the move. Mobile Office, for example,
offers customers secure, managed connections to
their corporate infrastructure, including internet
and intranet, e-mail and back office systems.
&The installation of 122 live BT Openzone-enabled
areas in stations, airports, hotels and motorway service
stations in the 2003 financial year helped BT maintain
a competitive position in the UK market for public
wireless LAN (local area network). BT Openzone offers
the opportunity to conduct high-speed transactions
while on the move. The target is to install 400 hotspots
by summer 2003, and 4,000 by summer 2004.
&CRM developments included a strategic alliance
with Eckoh Technologies, to provide speech recognition
technology and the first ‘‘pay as you go’’ contact
centre service.
&Closer collaboration with strategic partner Siebel
Systems Inc, on solutions for local government, should
now make it possible for citizens to deal with their local
authority using a range of media – post, e-mail,
internet, telephone or text message.
Business
&BT Openworld remained the leading ISP (internet
service provider) for SMEs and, in an extremely
competitive market, increased market share to 31%
in the 2003 financial year (source: Oftel – share
of ISP market for one to 250 employee businesses).
BT Openworld grew its broadband SME customer base
by 215% to over 132,000 by the end of March 2003.
More than 80,000 business customers now use a BT
Openworld value-added service, such as the Internet
Business Pack, which helps SMEs establish a
professional online business presence. BT Openworld’s
broadband portfolio continues to develop. SMEs can
choose from a wide range of different products and