BT 2004 Annual Report Download - page 12

&We also announced that we will be adjusting the
price of Datastream products to ensure there are
adequate margins between Datastream and
IPStream Home 500. The details will be
announced by the end of May 2004.
BT Wholesale DSL volumes (thousands)
2002
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1Q2Q3Q4
2003 2004
66 87
124
167
277
391
555
800
1,058
1,339
1,753
2,215
Broadband for consumers
During the year, we focused on improving sales
processes, reduced the cost of our broadband help-
desk operations and increased the number of orders
placed online. We also launched several additions to
our family of products and announced trials and
launches of a new set of value-added products and
services.
&In September 2003, BT and Yahoo! relaunched
the Openworld consumer internet service as BT
Yahoo! Broadband, a broadband internet service
combining high-quality access and a wide range of
content and services, for the same price as the
existing BT Openworld Broadband offering. The
service combines high-quality access with
compelling content and services such as intelligent
personalisation (to help understand our customers’
needs and tailor content accordingly),
LAUNCHcast (a personalised radio station),
advanced security services – including anti-spam,
e-mail anti-virus and a free firewall – news, sport
and entertainment.
&In October 2003, we launched a broadband access
product for gamers – Broadband from BT for
Online Console Gaming.
&December 2003 saw the launch of our BT
Broadband Voice package, which enables cable
broadband customers to make voice calls over the
internet. This was the first move by a major UK
player into the consumer VOIP (voice over IP)
market.
&In January 2004, we offered our fastest-ever
consumer internet service, a 1Mbit/s broadband
service through BT Yahoo! Broadband and BT
Broadband. This is twice the speed of ordinary
broadband and up to 20 times faster than
traditional dial-up internet. The service is available
to customers living within approximately
3.5 kilometres of a broadband-enabled exchange –
around 75% of existing broadband users.
&In March 2004, we launched BT Broadband Basic,
a simple to use, 0.5Mbit/s broadband entry level
service, for under £20 a month.
&From March 2004, our broadband advertising
changed to focus on the range of our broadband
portfolio – a set of broadband products which give
the consumer choice.
&In March 2004, we announced a set of broadband
products and services for consumers that will be at
the heart of our broadband lifestyle strategy, as
the priorities in the market switch from access to
content, applications, flexibility and managed
services. Flexible Bandwidth, which began trials in
April 2004, enables users to increase bandwidth –
up to 2Mbit/s – temporarily or permanently. BT
Rich Media, launched in April 2004, is a platform
that enables content providers to make content
easily available to users. BT Communicator
enables consumers to use a home PC for VOIP,
instant messaging, text messaging and other
related services. Trials will begin later this year.
Broadband for business customers
&In January 2004, we rebranded our business
broadband products and business broadband
information portal, in order to simplify our
offerings. BT Openworld Broadband products
became BT Business Broadband products and our
revamped business information portal became BT
Broadband Office. BT Business Broadband
remained the leading ISP for SMEs in the UK. As
at March 2004, we had over 240,000 business
customers. Around 40% of these customers use
value-added services such as the Internet Security
Pack and the Internet Business Pack.
&During the financial year, BT Business Broadband
joined forces with a number of companies to
enhance its networking and value-added services.
These companies include: Siebel e.pages,
Worldpay, Interland, learndirect, 2Wire and Lexis
Nexis.
&As part of our drive to break down perceived
barriers to broadband adoption and to accelerate
take-up rates, we offered SME customers savings
and activation deals worth up to £260 during the
summer of 2003 on a range of broadband
products (BT Business Broadband, 500 PLUS,
1,000 PLUS and 2,000 PLUS).
&At the end of the 2004 financial year, we were
connecting around 500 business customers to
broadband every day.
&In April 2004, we announced that we had joined
forces with Microsoft to launch a one-stop shop IT
and broadband solution. BT Connected &
Complete, featuring Microsoft technology, gives
small businesses access to regularly updated and
individually tailored IT software and support –
previously available only to large companies.
BT Connected & Complete will, for the first time,
provide small businesses with secure broadband
11 Operating and financial review BT Annual Report and Form 20-F 2004