Stephen Stokols of BT speaking at Future of Web Apps in London, February 2007.

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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

8. THANK YOU