Online Communications
Stephen Stokols
VP, Strategy & Business Development
BT Retail
© copyright of British Telecommunications plc 2006

Four online trends driving shift in the telecoms arena
Traditional industry lines being blurred: online
1.
companies expanding rapidly into
telecommunication (e.g. Yahoo Voice, AOL, etc.)
Use of real-time PC based communications has
ν
exploded and will “cross the chasm” to masses within
chasm”
year
P2P technology proliferating – may pose significant
2.
cost pressures on the network sides, but
opportunities to those telecoms that embrace it
Advertising is a viable mechanism to fund “free
3.
models” – user experience becomes even more
paramount when pricing is not a lever to compete
Free voice is a given online – the competitive
ν
battleground moves to the premium services offered
on top of it
1:1 voice communication no longer sufficient as we
4.
move to 1:many collaboration

These trends point to deeper structural shifts for
telecommunication companies…
“The prevailing technology trends point to a new reality in which
communications move from network based to software based. In this new
world, Telecoms need to transition fast or risk viability.”
- Al-Noor Ramji, BT Group CIO

Progressive telecoms need to embrace the shifting landscape and
turning threats into opportunities
Masses are transitioning towards
multiple online communication
BT does not yet have a
tools:
significant position in any of
them but opportunity window
exists still
Most “mass customers” have yet to
ν
migrate majority of comms online
leaving window for BT to facilitate
VoIP migration
ν32 billion minutes of calls made in 2006
over Skype ($66m in Q406 revenues)
Only a telecom can bridge the gap
ν
ν20% of IM users report using VoIP
between online and offline
features regularly communications with seamless
νOver 25 new software based VOIP integration across both platforms
clients launched in last 2 years
BT has brand recognition in
ν
Instant Messaging communications space that may
transfer into online arena
νOver 12 billion IM’s sent each day
(2006)
νOver 300 million regular worldwide
users
ν38% of users send more IMs than email

BT Contact allows customers to communicate online
from one function-rich location
BT Contact: Your personal communications hub!
The best web tool for finding &
ν
managing contacts, and for
communicating
Free to all users, not just BT
ν
customers
The anchor tenant for online comms,
ν
attracting millions of users, BT
customers as well as non BT
customers
Integrates a number of other services
ν
(Skype, Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL)
under a unified experience
Build around existing user
ν
preferences
© copyright of British Telecommunications plc 2006

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