BT 2008 Annual Report Download - page 19

18 BT Group plc Annual Report & Form 20-F
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BT Total Broadband Anywhere, launched in May 2008, is the UK’s
most complete broadband package. It offers our customers the
same BT Total Broadband experience that they receive in the home
while they are out and about with a BT ToGo phone. BT Total
Broadband Anywhere customers can enjoy their home broadband
services on the move – exchanging emails, making VoIP (voice over
IP) calls and accessing social networking, shopping and
entertainment sites.
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We have joined forces with FON to develop a global wireless
broadband access service at no extra cost to our customers. BT FON
gives every BT Total Broadband customer who agrees to share a
small, secure section of their home broadband connection the
chance to benefit outside the home from sharing the connection of
another BT FON member, as well as using Openzone Wi-Fi
hotspots. We now have more than 90,000 BT FON members.
We have recently won a number of broadband awards,
including:
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in March 2007, BT was voted most trusted ISP by Readers’
Digest;
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in October 2007, BT won ISP of the year at the MAC User
awards; and
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in March 2008, bt.yahoo was named best portal at the
Internet Industry Awards.
We are also playing a leading role in the development of
internet telephony or VoIP. At 31 March 2008, we had around
two million registered consumer customers for our VoIP services
– BT Broadband Talk and BT Softphone.
New entertainment services
Television on your terms
The roll out of our next generation television service accelerated
during the financial year – at 31 March 2008, we had 214,000
active BT Vision customers. Usage is growing and our subscribers
are watching on average one on-demand programme a day.
BT Vision – ‘Television on your terms’ – does not require a
regular monthly subscription. It provides a ‘pay as you watch’
option. The service is delivered via a set-top box – the V-box –
through which customers can access up to 40 free digital TV and
30 free radio channels and pay-per-view services from our
content providers. These include some of the industry’s top
names and, in 2008, we signed an agreement with CBS
Paramount International TV to access their extensive
entertainment archive. Since the beginning of the 2007/08
season, BT Vision customers have also had access to live FA
Premiership and Scottish Premier League football and to a
selection of terrestrial programmes released in the previous
week. In March 2008, BT Vision was offering more hours of on-
demand programmes than any other UK digital TV provider.
Go!Messenger
In February 2008, in partnership with Sony Computer
Entertainment Europe, we launched Go!Messenger, a wireless
communications package for the PSP (PlayStation Portable)
gaming device. Go!Messenger is based on technology invented in
our research labs. It enables PSP users to send video and voice calls
and instant messages to each other using a new and intuitive
screen keyboard when connected to wireless broadband at home,
or to a public Wi-Fi hotspot, including BT Openzone, when on the
move. More than 310,000 users have now registered for this
service.
Support and security
Because we believe that customers want hassle-free access to
new services, we are increasingly offering a range of value-
added services designed to make new technology easier to use
and more secure. These include:
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BT Home IT Support, which offers broadband customers
straightforward, jargon-free advice and support over the phone and
in the home for a wide range of computer issues. Launched less
than two years ago, the service has already provided more than
ten million minutes of advice;
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BT Net Protect, which offers anti-virus and firewall security
products; and
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BT Digital Vault, which enables users to store their digital valuables
– photos, personal files – in an online data back-up and storage
facility. At 31 March 2008, there were more than 594,000 BT
Digital Vault customers.
Traditional services for consumers
58% of the UK’s 26 million households receive our traditional
calls service. Our call pricing packages are designed to give our
customers value for money and greater certainty about their
communications spend.
In February 2008, we made UK weekend fixed line call
charges a thing of the past by extending free weekend calls to
all our Option 1 customers. For the first time, all 15 million BT
households – the majority of British households – no longer
have to pay for weekend calls.
The new ‘Unlimited Weekend’ plan means customers can now
get free evening and weekend calls included in the price of line
rental with a renewable contract. Our other two plans have been
substantially reduced in price – the monthly cost of our
‘Unlimited Anytime’ plan is now 60% lower than two years ago.
In addition, we challenged other companies to follow our lead
when we made calls to our customer service and helpdesks free.
At 1 April 2008, 99% of the numbers to our customer service
and helpdesks with an 0845 or 0870 prefix were switched to
free 0800 numbers. The other numbers will be changed over the
coming months.
Report of the Directors Business review
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The UK’s top five consumer broadband providers in the 2007 calendar year
Q3 & Q4
Overall ranking Q1 Q2 (combined)
1 BT BT BT
2 PlusNetDemonDemon
3 O2AOL
4 TiscaliPipex Pipex
5 OrangePlusNetTalkTalk
Source: Epitiro (February 2008)
Note: these figures are as presented by global benchmarking company, Epitiro
PlusNet is part of BT’s broadband portfolio
Tiscali
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