The Hindu Business Line : BT commits £10 b for R&D

Mumbai, Feb. 15 Rapid pace of technological changes is impacting businesses, calling for rapid transformation in business models to explore new revenues options, according to Mr Kevin Taylor, Chief Operating Officer of Asia Pacific for British Telecom.

Roaming charges are set to disappear, mobile phones and land lines are likely to have one number, all aimed at simplifying telephony. The momentum is such that most of the services offered are veering towards being free. In fact, BT too is offering free calls during week-ends in the UK, necessitating more innovation and value-added services as new revenue stream, he said.

To stay ahead, BT has committed an investment of about £10 billion for research and development for next generation technology platforms and architecture and has brought out about 1,200 technological innovations, across centres in Korea, Japan, the US and the UK, all aimed at staying ahead.

Technology impact

Speaking at the Nasscom Leadership Forum, Mr Taylor said that the implications of technological changes in the digital world are far too encompassing. Unless enterprises embrace these changes, they will lose out. The connected community is estimated at about 1.23 billion now and is poised to go up and by 2010, it is predicted that 55 billion video streams would be generated per year.

There is too much happening simultaneously leading to new business models such as utility-based computing for software and hardware and end-to-end management which financial services companies are embracing. Major vendors such as IBM, HP, Sun, are considering how they could offer services differently, he said.

“The hosted model is set to change the way we do business with enterprises. BT helps large financial services players with infrastructure support and extends similar services to Unilever and Reuters,” he said.

Asked about the current trend of offering several services free, and how it impacts BT revenues, Mr Taylor said “the only way out is stay ahead, innovate and offer value-added services and tap new areas of business. We are confident that value-added services will bring more revenues.”

Mr Taylor said the youth are growing up with exposure to gadgets and services that call for innovative ways of delivery. The impact is so profound that, for example, if Google were to start a bank, the chances are a youngster may open an account there rather than an established bank, he said.

On India plans, Mr. Taylor said that BT sees its growth through alliances and partners rather than through direct presence.

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