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In the 2004 financial year, we continued our drive
to enhance the awareness, availability and attractiveness of broadband. As at
31 March 2004, in the highly competitive retail market, BT’s share of consumer
and
business broadband connections in the UK was 42%, representing 928,000 lines.
We aim to be a major player in wholesale broadband and data services in the UK.
| Broadband
for wholesale customers |
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In February
2004, ahead of our target, BT’s installed base of broadband lines
reached two million. We achieved the second million lines in just over
eight months. As at 31 March 2004, we had 2.2 million broadband lines,
which represents growth
of 177% on the previous year, and our target is to reach five million
by 2006. In March 2004, we were taking an average of 50,000 orders a
week. In total, 2,465 exchanges had been upgraded by the end of the 2004
financial year, reaching more than 85% of the UK’s homes and businesses.
In May 2004, we announced further broadband progress. The number of broadband
lines increased to 2.45 million, 2,652 exchanges had been upgraded and
total
UK coverage
reached 90%. |
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The first step
was upgrading to broadband more than 1,100 of our exchanges where there
was a clear commercial case for doing so. In July 2002, we introduced
a demand-driven registration scheme, which enabled people in areas where
the exchange had not been upgraded to register an interest. This hugely
successful scheme attracted more than 860,000 registrations, helping
us match our investment to demand. Because the registration scheme gave
us such a clear picture of demand, we were able to announce in April
2004 the speeding up of the delivery of broadband services to rural communities.
The scheme is now closed and we intend to roll out broadband to a further
1,128 exchanges by no later than the summer of 2005. This will help bring
broadband to exchanges serving 99.6% of UK homes and businesses. |
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We continue
to explore commercially viable ways of bringing wireless broadband to
rural communities. In December 2003, for example, we launched a trial
of wireless broadband at sites throughout the UK. |
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The commercial
launch of BT DataStream Symmetric and BT IPStream Symmetric to 150 exchanges
during the year significantly strengthened our portfolio of business-class
broadband services, which service providers can offer their customers.
Based on SDSL (symmetric digital subscriber line) technology, it provides
the same rate upstream and downstream and is suitable for the SME, remote
office and teleworking access markets. |
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In November
2003, we introduced a new, faster broadband service for wholesale customers.
BT IPStream Home 1000 is a self-install product for residential customers
who want greater bandwidth than the standard 512Kbit/s available at present. |
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In
May 2004, we announced that we are to redesign and cut the
price for our LLU (local loop unbundling) product by between
15% and up to 70% in a phased series of price cuts. We believe
that this move will benefit those companies that are willing
to innovate and invest in broadband infrastructure. The new
LLU product will be closer to simpler continental European
models and we aim to bring it to the market within six months.
Immediate price cuts should ensure that there is sustainable
demand prior to launch and help potential customers plan ahead
with confidence. (See Other
market reviews).
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We also
announced that we will be adjusting the price of Datastream products to
ensure there are adequate margins between Datastream and IPStream Home 500.
The details will be announced by the end of May 2004. |
| Broadband
for consumers |
| During
the year, we focused on improving sales processes, reduced the cost of
our broadband help-desk operations and increased the number of orders
placed online. We also launched several additions to our family of products
and announced trials and launches of a new set of value-added products
and services.
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In September
2003, BT and Yahoo! relaunched the Openworld consumer internet service as
BT Yahoo! Broadband, a broadband internet service combining high-quality
access and a wide range of content and services, for the same price as the
existing BT Openworld Broadband offering. The service combines high-quality
access with compelling content and services such as intelligent personalisation
(to help understand our customers’ needs and tailor content accordingly),
LAUNCHcast (a personalised radio station), advanced security services –
including anti-spam, e-mail anti-virus and a free firewall – news,
sport and entertainment. |
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In October
2003, we launched a broadband access product for gamers – Broadband
from BT for Online Console Gaming.
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December
2003 saw the launch of our BT Broadband Voice package, which enables cable
broadband customers to make voice calls over the internet. This was the
first move by a major UK player into the consumer VOIP (voice over IP) market.
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In January
2004, we offered our fastest-ever consumer internet service, a 1Mbit/s broadband
service through BT Yahoo! Broadband and BT Broadband. This is twice the
speed of ordinary broadband and up to 20 times faster than traditional dial-up
internet. The service is available
to customers living within approximately 3.5
kilometres of a broadband-enabled exchange – around 75% of existing
broadband users. |
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In March
2004, we launched BT Broadband Basic, a simple to use, 0.5Mbit/s broadband
entry level service, for under £20 a month.
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From
March 2004, our broadband advertising changed to focus on the range of our
broadband portfolio – a set of broadband products which give the consumer
choice. |
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In March
2004, we announced a set of broadband products and services for consumers
that will be at the heart of our broadband lifestyle strategy, as the priorities
in the market switch from access to content, applications, flexibility and
managed services. Flexible Bandwidth, which began trials in April 2004,
enables users to increase bandwidth – up to 2Mbit/s – temporarily
or permanently. BT Rich Media, launched in April 2004, is a platform that
enables content providers to make content easily available to users. BT
Communicator enables consumers to use a home PC for VOIP, instant messaging,
text messaging and other related services. Trials will begin later this
year. |
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| Broadband
for business customers |
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In
January 2004, we rebranded our business broadband products and business
broadband information portal, in order to simplify our offerings. BT
Openworld Broadband products became BT Business Broadband products and
our revamped business information portal became BT Broadband Office.
BT Business Broadband remained the leading ISP for SMEs in the UK. As
at March 2004, we had over 240,000 business customers. Around 40% of
these customers use value-added services such as the Internet Security
Pack and the Internet Business Pack.
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During
the financial year, BT Business Broadband joined forces with a number
of companies to enhance its networking and value-added services. These
companies include: Siebel e.pages, Worldpay, Interland, learndirect,
2Wire and Lexis Nexis. |
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As
part of our drive to break down perceived barriers to broadband adoption
and to accelerate take-up rates, we offered SME customers savings and
activation deals worth up to £260 during the summer of 2003 on
a range of broadband products (BT Business Broadband, 500 PLUS, 1,000
PLUS and 2,000 PLUS).
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At
the end of the 2004 financial year, we were connecting around 500 business
customers to broadband every day. |
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In
April 2004, we announced that we had joined forces with Microsoft to
launch a one-stop shop IT and broadband solution. BT Connected & Complete,
featuring Microsoft technology, gives small businesses access to regularly
updated and individually tailored IT software and support – previously
available only to large companies. BT Connected & Complete will,
for the first time, provide small businesses with secure broadband access,
applications service, support and maintenance, all from a single source
and on one bill. |
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