The BT group is on the process of setting up two new units BT Design and BT Operate in addition to the existing divisions. This is said to a second major change in the positive direction. The first was the shift from narrowband to broadband. Now BT is getting itself converted from a hardware company to a software-based services company
The BT group
BT Group plc is the privatised UK state telecommunications operator. Formerly the company was called as British Telecommunications plc. BT, as it is commonly identified in UK, is the dominant fixed line telecommunications and broadband Internet provider in the United Kingdom.BT operates in more than 170 countries and almost a third of its revenue now comes from its Global Services division.
BT Group is the largest communications service provider in world and mainly operates in the United Kingdom and in Europe. Most of the telephone exchanges, trunk network and local loop connections for the vast majority of British fixed-line telephones are controlled buy BT. They are responsible for approximately 28 million telephone lines in the UK. BT has the Universal Service Obligation (USO) and is obliged to provide a fixed telephone line or a public call box to any address in the UK.
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Special government regulations by the British telecoms regulator Ofcom (formerly Oftel) control BT’s businesses in UK. According to these regulations, BT is required to comply with additional obligations such as meeting reasonable requests to supply services and not to discriminate. In spite of theses constraints BT has expanded into more profitable products and services where there is less regulation in areas like . broadband internet service, telecommunications and information technology etc.
BT Group has already organised in to the following business divisions:
? BT Retail: This division looks after retail telecoms to consumers
? BT Wholesale: This division has wholesale telecoms core trunk network
? Openreach: This fenced-off wholesale division, tasked with ensuring that all rival operators have equality of access to BT’s own local network
? BT Global Services: Business services and solutions (formerly BT Ignite and BT Syntegra)
? BT Exact / One IT: consultancy and internal IT. There is some overlap with BT Global Services.
? Group operations: This division handles security, research and development, and other functions for BT Group Plc such as legal services.
New addition of service Units
It is observed that BT is entering in to a second major stage of its transformation from the 20th century style of functioning by creating two new business units. This change is effected with a view to ensure that the company can keep ahead of the competition. The man power for these units are proposed to be found from with in the organisation. About 20000 employees will be drawn from other parts of the business. The following are the proposed units and responsibilities.
BT Design
BT Design will pull together IT designers from BT Retail, BT Wholesale and BT Global Services and One IT to design services on the 21C network. This group will be headed by Andy Green and focus on the design and development of new services for BT Retail, BT Global Services, BT Wholesale, Openreach and the industry at large.
BT Operate
BT Operate will take responsibility from BT Wholesale for the roll-out and maintenance of the group’s new IP based fixed-line network, known as 21C.
The vision
Ben Verwaayen, BT’s chief executive observes, “My challenge is to help keep BT ahead of the game. Bringing together our world class capabilities in IT networks and process skills will give us unrivalled agility and renewed focus on operational excellence. This is the second phase of BT’s transformation. The first phase saw BT shift its focus from narrowband to broadband. This next stage is equally important. It will see BT advance from a 20th century hardware-based company to a 21st century software-based services company. In a software driven world, services will be available in real time and around the globe, harnessing the potential of BT’s 21st Century Network. The changes we are announcing today will drive new standards of excellence and shift power and choice decisively to customers”.
It has to be appreciated that BT has taken a bold leading step towards evolving the organisational structure. In future the companies like BT should become self supportive to meet the stiff competition in the industry. One has to wait and watch for the results , since BT has gone in for larger challenging assignments.