Communicate EU
BT European Affairs Newsletter • April 2012 • www.bt.com/europeanaffairs
Fibre technology deployment for next
generation broadband
several points of concern on the suggested
policy approach:
BT is deploying high speed broadband at
scale and pace, and at one of the fastest
rates in Europe. We are investing £2.5bn
(c. €3bn) to reach two-thirds of the UK
population in 2014. A further £830M
(c. €1 bn) of UK Government money, plus
local council funds, for which BT and other
operators will compete, should extend
coverage to about 90 per cent. We are
trialing alternative technologies to reach
the last 10 per cent such as TV White
Space and LTE. We have also worked with
EU ‘matched’ funding and local partners
to bring these services early to Northern
Ireland and Cornwall. Most of our
customers will be on fibre to the cabinet
(FTTC), with speeds up to 80Mbps in 2012,
and up to 20 Mbps upstream. Our fibre to
the premises (FTTP) service will upgrade to
300Mbps in 2012, with 1Gbps in trial.
The UK approach has a number of important
characteristics which could usefully be
considered elsewhere in Europe: An
evolutionary approach to technology,
Competing networks, Active wholesale
access, Non-discrimination and the targeted
use of public funding.
There are several direct policy implications
for the EU. As well as focusing on the issues
above, we believe the Commission should,
for instance, prevent monopolies, stimulate
demand by encouraging compelling content,
and maintain a stable regulatory approach
based on established principles regarding
asset valuation and cost orientation.
Given this perspective, we responded to the
EC’s consultation[1] on costing methodologies
for high speed broadband, and stressed
•
Denying companies the appropriate
recovery of costs relating to copper
access, including on sunk and fixed
assets, will deter investment in
fibre assets.
•
The concept of conditional pricing
of different products – reducing
copper prices as a remedy to
promote fibre investment – is
contrary to the established practice
of the European framework.
•
The economic case for fibre depends
on a fair return on investment,
and our deployment in the UK
demonstrates how investment and
open competition can go hand in
hand without the need for additional
regulatory intervention.
•
We also challenge the assumptions
around effecting a transition from
copper to fibre. Technology changes
mean FTTC is increasingly able to
meet the Digital Agenda targets and
copper will have a permanent role in
the network.
Copies of BT’s detailed responses to the EC consultation
documents in 2011 on costing methodologies for key
wholesale access prices and on non-discrimination
obligations are available in PDF format on request.
[1]
BT to launch FTTP
on demand
More homes and businesses across the
UK will be able to access fibre broadband
at speeds of up to 300Mbps.
As a result of a technology breakthrough
the company is launching a new service FTTP on demand – which means its ultrafast fibre to the premises service could
be made available anywhere in BT’s fibre
footprint where a customer requires it.
Previously, FTTP speeds weren’t
possible in fibre to the cabinet (FTTC)enabled areas.
The launch of FTTP on demand
follows successful trials in St Agnes,
Cornwall – and BT says it will conduct
further trials this summer with a view
to making the service commercially
available by spring 2013.
Openreach to double
fibre speeds from April
Openreach is to double the speed of
its new Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC)
broadband for UK communications
providers (CPs) from April. The new,
faster product will deliver downstream
speeds of up to 80 Mbps and upstream
speeds of up to 20 Mbps.
Investing in the future
In this edition we turn the spotlight on progress across a range of BT services in the
UK and Globally. From April we are offering major increases in speed across our
expanding fibre network, and trials of the innovative new Fibre on demand service
could bring speeds up to 300Mbps to customers. Beyond the UK, BT Global Services is
expanding its footprint across Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, offering new network
capabilities and Cloud-based services. And looking ahead to the Olympics, BT is
preparing for the most connected games ever, with ‘London 2012’ only a few months
away. BT is committed to invest in new networks and services, and this edition of ‘EU
Communicate’ also looks at the current EU policy debate around the balance between
competition and investment, and the regulatory approach to Next Generation Access.
Adrian Whitchurch, VP European Affairs
IN THIS ISSUE: BT HOME HUB • RETAILTOPIA • GLOBAL SERVICES • LONDON 2012
BT European Affairs Newsletter • September 2011 • www.bt.com/europeanaffairs
BT first in world to achieve carbon
emission standard
BT’s Home Hub is among products given the
carbon emission seal of approval.
Carbon reduction
•
•
BT has been instrumental in setting
up an initiative to develop guidance
on how to assess the greenhouse gas
emissions of various ICT services, such as
telecoms network services and desktop
managed services.
The GHG Protocol Product Standard
ICT Sector Guidance is being developed
by a number of ICT companies and
other interested stakeholders in
collaboration with the Carbon Trust, the
World Resources Institute (WRI), the
World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD) and the Global
e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI).
•
Carbon footprinting is an important
part of BT’s pursuit of carbon reduction
opportunities, including its supply chain
and portfolio of products and services.
•
BT is committed to a number of
major initiatives to lower its energy
consumption, like integrated energy
management, to reduce its carbon
intensity by 80 per cent by 2020,
compared with 1997 levels.
BT has become the first company in the
world to test its products to ensure they
measure up to a carbon emission standard.
BT’s top consumer products - the BT Home
Hub, the BT Vision+ digital set-top box, and
the BT Graphite 2500 DECT phone – have
had their carbon footprints independently
verified by the Carbon Trust to the new GHG
Protocol Product Standard.
It enabled BT to understand the full-lifecycle
emissions for these products, according
to Gabrielle Ginér, BT’s environmental
sustainability manager.
She said: “We are really proud to be the first
company to achieve this.
“It has helped to give us a sense of the size
and scale of the carbon impact and will allow
us to focus our carbon reduction activities on
where they will make the most difference.”
Game on
BT is helping to bring a revolution in
video gaming to the UK. Thanks to
its partnership with US-based cloud
gaming pioneers OnLive, BT is the first
UK internet service provider to offer
customers the chance to play on-demand
video games from their HDTV, PC, Mac
and tablet, powered by BT broadband.
Cloud gaming is the latest trend in the
gaming industry. It allows gamers to
instantly access the games they want –
wherever they want – without the need for
expensive hardware or downloads. Video
games are run on remote servers and
streamed across the internet to gamers
with broadband connections faster than
2Mbps.
There’s also a range of social features you’d
expect playing online such as watching
thousands of other people play games live,
with voice chat and Facebook integration.
John Petter, BT Retail’s Consumer
managing director, said: “This is a great
new service for the UK.
“It’s yet another reason for customers to
choose BT for their broadband – and our
super-fast, up to 40Mbps BT Infinity fibre
broadband is ideal for OnLive gaming.”
Star wars & BT tower
STAR Wars came to the BT Tower in
London as the iconic landmark was
transformed into the world’s biggest
lightsaber. A 700m-high solid blue
beam – created by BT engineers
using 15 4,500-watt lights, and
designed to look like the famous
Jedi energy sword used by Luke
Skywalker – could be seen rising
from the tower to mark the release
of the sci-fi series on Blu-Ray. Jared
Ruddy from the BT brand team
said: “It’s only fitting that BT Tower,
one of the world’s most iconic
landmarks, should play such an
important part in helping London to
celebrate one of the world’s bestloved film sagas.”
BT European Affairs Newsletter • September 2011 • www.bt.com/europeanaffairs
BT puts future shopping experience in
the spotlight
•
Physical stores will still have a
vital role, increasingly focused on
complementing digital channels.
•
Retail experiences will become more
customised, personal and interactive.
•
The most successful retailers will have
slashed customer waiting times both
in-store and for online delivery.
•
Wireless enabled in-store
environments will help retailers
connect in helpful ways with
customers while shopping, releasing
staff from tills and empowering
customers to actively use personal
mobile devices.
•
Retailers will use on-demand cloudbased services to reduce operating
costs, enable staff to be more
effective and delight customers.
A panel of retail, payment and consumer
experts – led by London Business School
Professor Patrick Barwise, Chairman of
Which? – has unveiled a vision for British
retailing in 2020.
Professor Patrick Barwise, chair of the
Retailtopia panel 1, said: “The UK is already
a global leader in online shopping, with
nearly £30 billion of sales coming through
this channel in 20112. But retailers face
tough challenges in the current economy.
There’s a danger that a focus on shortterm profitability and reduced investment
in innovation could damage our longterm ability to create the best shopping
experience in the world and ensure that
we’re still a global leader in 2020.”
Emer Timmons, President of BT Global
Services UK, said: “Networked technology
has a huge role to play in delivering
the next generation of retail - from the
warehouse and stockroom, to the store,
home and mobile device. The ability to
shop for anything, anytime, anywhere
will mean retailers demand significantly
more from their IT infrastructure and that
will show the true potential of superfast
broadband in powering business success.”
World communications
awards
BTGS continues to enhance its global
reputation by winning awards and
positive analyst coverage around the
world. The highlight was winning the
Best Global Operator prize at the World
Communications Awards for the second
year running. Global Government
president Neil Rogers accepted the
award at the London ceremony. Chief
executive Jeff Kelly said: “It’s a tribute
to the hard work and dedication of
everyone in BT.” Other awards won in
2011 included:
•
Best Managed Service Provider,
Telecom Asia Awards (also for the
second successive year)
•
Cloud Computing Innovation of
the Year for BT Radianz, Financial
Sector Technology Awards
•
Sustainability award for health
network N3, Guardian Public
Service Awards.
The year 2011 was also a good year for
recognition from industry analysts.
Gartner gave positive vendor ratings to
both BT and BTGS. They also positioned
BTGS as leader in their influential
2011 Magic Quadrant reports on
global providers of communications
outsourcing and professional services,
and of pan-European, Asia Pacific and
global network services.
The ‘Retailtopia’ vision looks beyond the
huge short-term challenges facing the
retail sector and suggests a positive future
for British shopping in an increasingly
internet-connected and mobile society.
BT Global Services announces
major expansions
BT is to expand operations across Turkey,
the Middle East and Africa with the aim of
doubling its business in these regions and
creating 170 new jobs. The Prosperity for
the Middle East and Africa programme has
been announced in Dubai.
BT Global Services chief executive, Jeff
Kelly, said: “The Middle East already hosts
some of the world’s main business hubs,
and is a crucial region for many of our
customers. “New opportunities are rapidly
emerging in the region, and we are now
expanding from our thriving base in the
United Arab Emirates.
“Turkey is a key business bridge between
Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is
growing rapidly. “Sub-Saharan Africa
remains largely a new frontier for ambitious
businesses and is currently showing strong
growth rates in a number of countries. “We
are extending our network capabilities
in that region beyond our strong South
African operation, with the ambition of
serving our customers wherever they seek
new opportunities. “We are also seeing
the emergence of a new generation of
local companies in these regions, eager to
expand globally.”
BT already serves around 600 large
organisations in the regions, including many
of the world’s leading global companies.
It builds on similar growth initiatives that
were announced for Asia and Latin America,
where BT is going to doubling its business
in key countries over the next three years.
There will be 250 new staff, new centres of
excellence and a wide range of network and
customer service improvements.
BT European Affairs Newsletter • September 2011 • www.bt.com/europeanaffairs
BT trials access to its customer
services in British Sign Language (BSL)
BT has long advocated that business
should provide different methods by
which their customers can contact
them in a way that suits them. BT
already provides a range of options:
email, textphone, live chat as well as
the traditional phone and letter. We
extended the options and launched a
trial to enable customers who prefer
to communicate in BSL to contact us
in BSL.
The technology behind the trial is
provided by southeast London-based
social business, SignVideo, which is led
and run by deaf people. Access to BT
customer services from anywhere in the
UK has been made available through
SignVideo’s web-based solution – BSL
LIVE. SignVideo believes that this is
the first time a FTSE 100 company has
offered sign-language relay.
Customers need to have a computer with
video capability and broadband. Calls
are free of charge, as it is to call any BT
customer-service number.
Communications Minister Ed Vaizey,
said: “This trial will offer people who
are deaf and hard of hearing a greater
choice in how they contact BT. I hope
other organisations will recognise the
importance of BSL and offer it as a way
to communicate with them.”
BT supports national telehealth and
telecare campaign
Paul Burstow, recently announced
that the Department of Health would
be working with four leading trade
associations to make the 3millionlives
vision a reality.
BT’s telehealth lead, Angela Single, is
chair of the ‘3millionlives’ Working Group,
which is working with the Department of
Health on the 3millionlives campaign.
BT is supporting a national campaign to
rollout telehealth and telecare services
to more than three million people over
the next five years. The ‘3millionlives’
campaign will extend the reach of
telehealth and telecare to improve the
lives of people with long term conditions
and social care needs. Health Minister,
Communications will be
key for London 2012
The four industry trade associations taking
part in the 3millionlives campaign are the
Telecare Services Association, the largest
telecare and telehealth specific industry
body in Europe, representing over 340
organisations; Intellect, representing the
IT sector; Association of British Healthcare
Industries, the industry association for
the UK medical technology sector; and
Medilink UK, the life sciences industry
organisation with specific interest in
telehealth and telecare.
London 2012 will be the first post i-Phone
launch Games, and be the most connected
Games ever. BT chairman Mike Rake spoke
at a session of the World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland. The topic for the session
was: The Olympic Games: More than a Medal,
and other speakers included Sebastian
Coe, chairman of the London Organising
Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic
Games (LOCOG), Mayor of London Boris
Johnson, and Jacques Rogge, president of
the International Olympic Committee.
Mike said: “The Games presents a set of
unique challenges - the ultimate right first
time project with a global audience of four
billion people. “BT has a critical role to play
in the Games’ success - every image from
the Games, every sports report, every visit
to the London 2012 website and millions of
calls, emails and texts will be delivered over
BT networks. “We are enormously proud to
be involved, but of course our commitment
as a tier-one partner was made for sound
commercial reasons.”
How to contact us
Adrian Whitchurch
VP European Afairs
+ 32 2 237 1718
adrian.whitchurch@bt.com
Till Kupfer
VP Trade and International Affairs
+33 2 237 1713
tilmann.kupfer@bt.com
Henk Mannekens
European Regulatory Manager
+ 32 2 237 1757
henk.mannekens@bt.com
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