All BT Group articles – Page 55
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Network & Infrastructure
EE spins up spectrum to further 5G ambitions
New licences put to use minutes after being issued, in partnership with Nokia. BT pays an additional £23m after initial low-ball auction, but Group still bagged “an excellent price”, says Consumer CEO Marc Allera. EE open to future spectrum trades as O2 and Vodafone sign their own deal.
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Innovation (R&D)
UK access to Horizon Europe unclear
Government offers to pay some of the costs, but not all, to access EU’s Horizon Europe scientific funding initiative. The successor to Horizon 2020, which BT has tapped into, Horizon Europe has an R&D budget of €95.5bn.
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Premium
BT people moves: strategic appointments in health and banking
BT continues its effort to grow into the healthcare industry with accounts leaders named at Enterprise. Unilever CISO joins Group as cybersecurity VP. BT Global’s Rycx targets Simplify programme expansion for MNCs. Board changes at soon-to-be subsumed OnePhone.
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Content & TV
Ex-BT chief Patterson tipped for Super League top-spot
Former BT CEO Patterson said to be among those considered for controversial European Super League stewardship. Former employer BT stands against the breakaway league proposals.
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People
Openreach’s Milligan on importance of rural fibre
Openreach executive sees fibre deployment as key to reversing rural to urban migration. Building broadband is not enough: more education is required to ensure higher take-up. Need to ‘join the dots’ to ensure infrastructure and economic programmes are properly implemented.
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Innovation (R&D)
BT wants SIM-fitted drones as standard
Head of BT’s Drone Solutions keen on developing out-of-the-box SIM card solution. Telco wants Project Xcelerate to showcase EE network’s suitability for BVLOS flights. Scaling drone-flight volumes in BVLOS environment a pressing challenge. Collaboration with US-based TEOCO in the pipeline to optimise flightpaths.
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Network & Infrastructure
BT completes EE Digital Platform Services migration
Multiple EE services now based in Kubernetes-powered environment. New system “more flexible and ultimately cheaper”.
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Partnerships & Alliances
BT buys in to Enjoy personal service
“Commerce-at-home” service provider earns four-year contract renewal. BT now an investor in the company as it weighs up a SPAC-delivered listing.
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Premium
BT “disappointed” as government tweaks voucher scheme
Government kicks off first phase of £1.2bn Project Gigabit. £210m for rural voucher scheme, but fewer communities are eligible; £110m for connecting rural doctors’ surgeries, libraries, and schools. DCMS Delivery Plan suggests considerable uncertainty on most effective way to target government spending.
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Suppliers & SCM
BT taps Blackbird for in-cloud video editing
Content operations team to adopt new editing software, with Group seemingly keen to retain some form of remote working model post-COVID-19. Blackbird CEO says BT’s green credentials chime with its own. Eleven Sports and Liverpool Football Club join BT in vendor’s expanding client ecosystem.
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Premium
BT Cloud Work seeks to allay Zoom security concerns
BT Enterprise cloud communications offering from RingCentral uses Zoom technology for video conferencing. Zoom’s widely publicised security incidents might put off business customers, but BT assures that its platform is designed to avoid such risks.
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Suppliers & SCM
Rest of BT contact centres to adopt NICE tech
BT deploys solutions from longstanding partner across “additional lines of business” to optimise processes and boost customer retention.
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Premium
Elsewhere in BT Consumer: Extreme E rights nabbed
BT Sport takes racing rights and targets Ashes renewal.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Openreach: R100 gets prepped in Highlands & Islands
Openreach readies for Scottish R100 subsea surveys; wholesale price increases take effect.
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Strategy & Change
Selley “driving two trains” as fibre provisioning speeds up
Increasing Openreach resources are being funnelled towards ensuring customers are connected to full fibre — and revenue keeps coming in — while the rollout builds momentum. No firm date set to reach 20 million homes target, but annual goals to be flagged. As competition builds among fibre altnets, Openreach ...
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Innovation (R&D)
Machine safety startup nets grant to join BT-backed Belfast Smart Port
AI-powered safety startup Machine Eye wins £75,000 proof-of-concept competition from Techstart. Business wins grant for access to BT’s private 5G network at Belfast Harbour’s Smart Port development.
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Suppliers & SCM
BT Sourced adopts Globality’s smart purchasing tech
Pourrat’s new ProcureCo leveraging AI to “transform” buying processes. Globality platform to enable simpler, speedier way of doing business. Tie-up of importance to ECG compliance strategy.
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M&A
BT absorbs Local Business agent Fourfront
Reseller relationship brought in-house in small transaction. BT says no shift in strategy for SME go-to-market.
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Digital Reports
BTwatch Report #322 – March-April 2021
Key stories include: Free rein on fibre | BT claims AI thought leadership | Open RAN to scale in 2027 | BT to brings 5G x-haul to MNOs | Hybrid to trump ‘cloud-first’.
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Premium
BT people moves: Karonis replacement named at Enterprise
Following the launch of BT Digital and BT Networks, Dave Matthews was appointed BT Enterprise CTIO to fill Karonis’ shoes. BT Non-Executive Director Cheshire takes a Chairman role at Spire Healthcare. BT Global SVP Roger Woodend departs for AWS.