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In a convergent world, individuals and businesses increasingly need to connect and communicate whenever and wherever they happen to be, using whatever devices they choose.
Our aim is to offer all our customers the right combination of the quality, reliability, cost advantages and bandwidth associated with fixed-line communications, and the convenience, personalisation and mobility associated with mobile communications.
In the 2005 financial year, we launched BT Mobile as an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) running over the Vodafone network. Becoming an MVNO is fundamental to building our mobility customer base, driving the wireless broadband market and developing and delivering compelling
convergence propositions and one converged customer experience.
Project Bluephone is a converged mobile service, enabling customers to use a single device that can switch seamlessly between fixed and mobile networks. This will provide customers with the convenience of mobile combined with the cost and quality advantages of a fixed-line phone. We plan to launch
Project Bluephone shortly.
We believe that a partnership strategy is fundamental to our success and we are working hard through the FMCA (Fixed Mobile Convergence Alliance) to develop open industry standards and through the WBA (Wireless Broadband Alliance) to drive Wi-Fi (public wireless broadband) hotspot proliferation,
global roaming and user satisfaction.
Revenue in the mobility market in the 2005 financial year was £205 million, an increase of 107% on the 2004 financial year.
As at 31 March 2005, BT Mobile had over 372,000 business and consumer connections.
In the consumer mobility market our strategy is to build a foundation for the delivery of added-value, fixed/mobile convergent solutions.
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In January 2005, we launched BT Mobile as an MVNO with Vodafone in the consumer market. BT Mobile is cost-effective for families, offering up to five additional handsets. Other benefits include free short calls from a BT Mobile phone to a designated home number and a single consolidated mobile bill. |
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Mobility for business customers |
BT is a service provider in the business mobility market with more than 185,000 business connections at 31 March 2005. We provide a range of managed mobile services to UK and global customers who either outsource their mobile communications entirely or rely on BT to provide specific managed
services.
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In November 2004, we launched our BT Mobile MVNO business in the SME and corporate market, offering a range of mobile services including a mobile VPN service (BT Business Circle) and mobile conferencing. |
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We are a leading UK provider of Wi-Fi services. BT Openzone offers customers a high-speed, wireless broadband connection over which they can access the internet, send and receive emails with attachments and connect to a corporate network. As at 31 March 2005, our customers had access to more
than 7,500 hotspots throughout the UK and more than 20,000 globally. |
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Mobility for wholesale customers |
In the 2005 financial year, we continued to implement our strategy in the UK wholesale mobile arena to maximise the volume and value of wireless traffic by developing and launching innovative products and services.
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For example, we launched Fixed Line Text a fully managed service that enables the exchange of SMS messages between fixed line and fixed line, fixed line and mobile and mobile and fixed line. |
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In March 2005 we launched a mobile managed bulk SMS, which enables customers to send and receive multiple text messages via the internet to and from their customers mobile telephones. |
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