BTwatch Report #353 - April 2024

Executive Brief

GROUP: BT’s Chief Security & Networks Officer Howard Watsonhascalled for investment discipline and investor patience as the industry begins to see the “light at the end of the tunnel” for costly cyclical network upgrades and expansion projects. He went on to urge operators to hold off on launch of 6G until use‑cases and customer demand require it, to avoid falling foul of the “over‑provision paradox”. [pp.6 –9.]

Reports indicate that BT Ireland may be up for sale after BT appointed Citi to advise on a potential transaction. The Group attempted to sell the business in 2019 as part of a wider BT Global slim‑down — an effort that ultimately came to nothing but was followed by exits from several local operations across Europe and Latin America. [pp.10 –11.]

Elsewhere, BT Tower has been sold to experiential hotel operator MCR and is set for a radical change of use. The site, which BT has occupied for decades, no longer plays a central role in the Group’s broadcast services provision thanks to the deployment of cloud‑based and digital networks, and is the latest in a series of under‑utilised real estate assets that BT has sold off in its cost rationalisation effort. [pp.12 –14.]

In an interview with BTwatch, Netomnia CEO Jeremy Chelotaccused BT of ‘hijacking’ the One Touch Switch scheme and participating in its delay. Chelot said he would “take the power away” from BT and peer Virgin Media if he were in charge. He has since been added to The One Touch Switch Company board. [pp.15 –17.]

TECHNOLOGY: Incubation arm Etc. has teamed up with financial technology platform Adyen to develop a Tap to Pay application for small businesses. BT said it has “an ambitious roadmap” for the app and that it will expand on it over the next twelve months, working with Adyen. [pp.24 –25.]

Changes at Adastral Park have seen the Network Services team take on an even greater role, said to better reflect its presence at the Suffolk site. This comes amid a series of other changes at the park, including a two‑year rationalisation programme announced in 2023, but BT has sought to assure that Adastral remains “critical” to Group operations, with a particular focus on networks R&D. [pp.26 –27.]

Howard Watson has predicted a 5G standalone launch later this year, but with the Group unwilling to rush a go‑live despite falling behind its rivals. Speaking at MWC, Watson said that BT is “ready”, but waiting for the “right device ecosystem” and “some great services with slicing”. Rivals Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone UK have set limited commercial 5G SA networks live and are preparing to expand reach, meaning BT may have some catching up to do when it finally flicks the switch. [pp.28 –30.]

CONSUMER: In conversation at MWC, BT Consumer CEO Marc Allera said EE, along with the rest of the mobile sector, needs to fight more to remain “relevant”. Allera is focused on building a brand that “resonates” with the public through prioritising connectivity‑ adjacent services, before leveraging BT’s network strengths once relationships are built. Partnerships and investments in high street stores are part of a ploy to drive customers towards the EE ID platform and into the operator’s clutches. [pp.35 –37.]

BUSINESS: A handful of changes in the evolving BT Local Business partnership roster reflects an apparent willingness for BT to shake up its SME IT services delivery model. BT Business has redrawn the map in some areas to give preferred partners a wider remit, which in turn has pushed other partners out of the picture altogether. While some reports suggest that the evolution may reflect more changes to come, BT has reiterated that the Local Business model still holds value to the Group. [pp.41 –43.]

BT used MWC to promote the Global Fabric, launched in 2023 and set to go live in the latter half of 2024. While Sustainability Director Sarwar Khan took to the stage to speak of the platform’s green credentials and BT Business CEO Bas Burger highlighted its reliability and stability for enterprise customers, Business CTO Colin Bannon spoke to TelcoTitans about the technology that underpins Global Fabric, and the reason he sees it as a “generational shift”. Bannon pitched the product as a “re‑platforming”. [pp.44 –46.]

OPENREACH: The UK government is grappling with the problem of connecting the 100,000 or so ultra-remote premises that are beyond the scope of commercial fibre build plans and existing rural subsidy programmes, including Project Gigabit. BT shared its position at a Westminster eForum policy conference, urging the government to consider additional public funding and changes to the broadband Universal Service Obligation. [pp.53 –55.]