BT 2004 Annual Report Download - page 6

consumer mobile markets. Our customers will benefit
from being able to communicate and access the same
information and services however and wherever they
want; whether they are connected to a fixed network
or on the move.
For our larger business customers we also offer
convergence, managing their fixed and mobile
communications seamlessly.
And the growth of Wi-Fi (wireless broadband)
suggests that it could well be one of those
technologies which rapidly becomes a part of our
customers’ lives. Once they’ve experienced it, they
find it hard to imagine life without it.
Traditional business
Given the impact of new technology and increasing
competition, voice call volumes may no longer be the
absolute guide to the health of the company that they
once were, but they remain a fundamental part of our
business and we are bringing an innovative approach
to product development, sales and marketing in the
voice calls business. Robust defence doesn’t mean
retreat, it means seizing new opportunities.
BT Together, for example, has been a major
success with around nine million customers. During the
year, we announced that we will be abolishing the
standard rate for our existing customers from 1 July
2004, and launched an enhanced range of option
packages. In the business calls market BT Business
Plan has had similar success – customer numbers were
up from 20,000 to 175,000 in the year. And BT Local
Business is demonstrating that getting close to our
customers can deliver significant revenue benefits.
Cost leadership
Cost leadership is vital to the accelerating
transformation of BT.
We can and must operate as efficiently and
effectively as possible, benchmarking our costs against
those of other European telecommunications
companies. Most recently, these comparisons showed
that our costs are better than average for large
telecommunications companies but that we still have
some way to go to achieve best-in-class costs.
In the last three years, we’ve made major reductions in
the costs of our operations and we’ve identified a
further £1 billion that can be achieved.
Our Hands Off Access Network (HOAN) project,
for example, is helping to improve network efficiency
by minimising manual network intervention and
reducing the need for exchange visits.
This is not about cutting corners or compromising
on service, but about finding innovative, cost-effective
new ways to meet customers’ needs.
And, over the next few years, we’ll be creating the
21st century network. We are transforming our
networks, converging them on to a modern, single,
multi-purpose platform that will enable us to reduce
costs, meet customers’ changing needs and improve
customer satisfaction. The 21st century network will
offer higher performance in return for lower operating
costs.
Our people
Of course, without the commitment and hard work of
BT people, our strategy would be nothing more than
words on the page.
A year ago, we introduced our new values –
trustworthy, helpful, inspiring, straightforward, heart.
Since then, our people have translated those values
into action, driving down customer dissatisfaction,
defending the traditional business and winning
business in new markets.
We’re very proud of what they’ve done and of
what they are continuing to do.
Ben Verwaayen
Chief Executive
19 May 2004
5Chief Executive’s statement BT Annual Report and Form 20-F 2004