BT 2015 Annual Report Download - page 36

34 BT Group plc
Annual Report 2015
n the UK we continue to drive our prorae of disposin of oce
and operational buildins we no loner need while consolidatin
oce space in the reainin properties. his ear we copleted the
closure of Kebride ouse a forer international telephone and
tele echane in ondon. e sold this surplus buildin to ount nvil
for 9 in ebruar 01 realisin a profit of . n addition
wehavereconised a  chare in specific ites for onerous leases
as a propert rationalisation cost see pae .
utside the UK 91 of our buildins are operational housin our
hostin and telecos euipent. he reainin 9 are oces.
hisear we opened new oces in uraon analore and Kolata
as part of our strate to invest in hih-rowth reions and support
leadin lobal copanies. e also closed  oces around the world
that we no loner need and delivered a net reduction of 1 operational
sites which helped our cost transforation.
Research and development
 has a lon histor of innovation startin fro our roots as
helectric eleraph opan the worlds oldest telecounications
copan in 1.
or eaple in 19 we held the worlds first two-wa trans-tlantic
conversation b radio telephone fro our wireless station near ub.
nd in 19 o lowers worin in the telecounications
division of the eneral ost ce developed the worlds first
proraable electronic coputer olossus. n 19 we installed
the worlds first diital telephone echane. nd we laid the worlds
first purpose-desined optical fibre subarine cable in och ne
cotlandin 190.
n the 0 ears since our privatisation in eceber 19 we pioneered
an of the technoloies that our business now relies on. or eaple
we were at the forefront of definin the lobal  and broadband
standards which ean our networs are capable of supportin the
advanced video business and internet services we have toda. e were
the first copan to coerciall launch sinle-ode fibre optics 
the technolo that underpins todas hih-speed networs. nd we
pioneered a technolo that uses copressed air to blow fibre optic
cables throuh conduits which speeds up networ installation.
nnovation supported b our lobal research and developent 
enables us to oer the new services that custoers want and to find
was of doin thins ore ecientl and at lower cost. his ear we
invested 0 011 0 in research and developent.
eare one of the larest investors in  of an copan in the UK
and loball in the telecos sectora.
ince privatisation we have had over 1000 patents ranted and in
011 we filed patent applications for 9 inventions 011 9.
e routinel see patent protection in dierent countries and at
1 arch 01 we had a worldwide portfolio of ore than 00
patents and applications.
e brin toether epertise and resources both our own and third-
part at our si lobal developent centres. dastral ar our
technolo headuarters is hoe to over  hih-tech copanies. t is
a world-leadin innovation capus eploin around 00 people.
his ear we have continued to row our developent centres in Kuala
upur and analore. hese ive us local technical epertise and
spread our developent ore evenl around the world.
e are een to wor with people outside  fro sall start-up
copanies to soe of the best universities around the world. e
have etensive lon-standin oint-research proraes with
abride Universit UK assachusetts nstitute of echnolo
U sinhua Universit hina Khalifa Universit U and over 0
other universities loball. e continue to support a prorae of
co-innovation with start-ups in ondons ech it. nd our teas wor
with custoers and other copanies in the U sia urope and the
iddle ast. he help us trac the ver latest lobal developents in
new technoloies business propositions and aret trends.
ur people help us innovate and iprove our service to custoers.
his ear our award-winnin internal ew deas chee had ore than
000 subissions. s a result we have identified ore than 0
of benefit throuh new revenues and lower costs and it is helpin us
provide a better service to our custoers.
e run innovation showcases for our aor custoers where the can
discuss applications and solutions with our eperts. nd we et to hear
first-hand what the need.
Under the brand of nenious we are sharin s innovation stor with
thouht leaders overnents and the edia. ou can read ore about
nenious on pae .
aples of our activities this ear include
 orin on how to iprove the future  obile eperience for our
custoers throuh the use of fetocells. hese are low-cost eas-
to-install low-powered devices that could be placed in custoers
hoes or oces and in soe cases oer a viable alternative to
traditional obile asts.
 erforin etensive lab evaluations and field trials in the access
networ. his will help us provide hiher broadband speeds even
further fro the echane. e have been instruental in the
ratification of the U .fast standard that paves the wa for the net
eneration of ultrafast broadband over copper.
 nvestiatin new was to deliver  services over our broadband
networ. ur trial of Ultra  streain the 01  orld up
was a world first.
 ocusin on an aspects of custoer service such as increasin
the nuber of ualit of eperience nodes in the networ where
we onitor service perforance. hese help us ae sure that
services lie eti  ilaer and ouube are perforin well
onournetwor.
 ainin how we can use our technolo in new was. e are a
aor partner in Kart a UK-based nternet of hins o
prorae in ilton Kenes. t is addressin the challene of
supportin econoic rowth without eceedin the capacit of urban
infrastructure. or eaple b usin sensors that assist cit centre
vehicle parin and reduce trac conestion.
Brand and reputation
nnovation is an iportant part of our histor and an essential inredient
for our future. t is also e to our brand  one of our ost iportant
assets and a vital source of copetitive advantae. e believe that well-
anaed brands drive business perforance because the stand out in
crowded arets.
ur brand proise is about creatin
possibilities for custoers. t is rooted in
our copan purpose of usin the power
ofcounications to ae a better world.
aluation consultanc rand inance
reported in ebruar 01 that the 
brand is now worth U1.bn. hisis
a  iproveent on a ear earlier
and aes us the eihth ost valuable
telecosbrand in the world.
ur own brand tracin analsis provided
b the research aenc opulus also shows
ood proress. on opinion leaders
for eaple ore than two-thirds aree
that  is a copan that is headin in the
rihtdirection.
he aretin industr is also
acnowledin our brand transforation.
or eaple  port was the outriht
winner in the aretin ociets
01 rand evitalisation and rand
tensionawards.
bn
2/
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R&D Investment Scoreboard, http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/scoreboard.html