34 01732 759725 Q&A important to be honest about that. But we do always listen. So where are they asking for support? Integrating with APIs, as I’ve mentioned, and commercials. It’s difficult to have indirect-indirect-end-user in the supply chain and have an attractive commercial proposition for an end user. That’s why being efficient is so important. They’re also asking us about how they should be using AI to enable their businesses, for example, in how their salespeople engage with customers. We help partners with that by providing proposition materials that they can white-label and put their own logo on; we provide bid support; and we provide marketing support as well. Those are just a few examples. Ultimately, everyone in this space is looking at how they can run their business more efficiently. Partners want to know how to manage their businesses more effectively, whether that means improving service operations or making the commercials stack up more competitively in high-demand areas of connectivity. TR: What are your priorities for the next 12 months? TS: The software layer that’s going to sit on top of the products; high bandwidth FTTP, above 1 Gig; investment in the digital voice portfolio; investment in APIs; and, from a cultural perspective, always listening, always responding to feedback. Essentially, a continuation of the things we’re doing already. Probably not in the next 12 months, but after that, network-as-a-service will be a big development for us. TR: Can you tell me a bit more about that at this stage? TS: It’s an always-on network where you can flex bandwidth up and down without a commercial commitment at the beginning, so a business can say: ‘I want to change my 100 Meg to 1 Gig’ and they don’t need to wait for an engineer to visit, it changes instantly. It’s that continuation of software-based networking. Through that software layer, we will also be able to offer an ecosystem of additional products, including IP voice and a broader suite of software-based solutions. We’re still at the design phase, we’re still defining the requirements of the solution, so nothing is yet set in stone, but I’m really very excited about it. I don’t think anyone else in the UK will be able to get to where we are with that. addressing the need for collaboration when customers are on the move. We’re also seeing good demand for FTTP: demand for above 1Gb connectivity is growing quite fast, and there’s some substitution from Ethernet. Our approach to connectivity is to help partners design networking solutions rather than compete solely on price. Where FTTP is available, we take an FTTP-first approach, rather than positioning Ethernet as the default higher-cost option. In the next 24 months, we expect to see growing demand for APIs, for ordering and interactions from fault to repair, and growth in the network-as-a-service space – the ability to deliver secure, scalable and future-ready solutions very quickly. Those are the areas we’re investing in. TR: One thing BT Business has launched recently is its UK sovereignty platform. Do you see a lot of potential in that offering? TS: I do, and that’s obviously something my team on the network infrastructure side and I have been deeply involved with. We’re not yet going to market with that in Wholesale, but I find it hard to imagine a world in which businesses aren’t soon demanding that their data remains in the UK. I expect it to become part of our Wholesale proposition. TR: In what areas are partners challenged and asking for more support? TS: Partners are facing a range of challenges. To be completely direct, we don’t always get it right. I think it’s At the same time, that progress also underlines how much more there is still to do, and we’re determined to keep building on that momentum. TR: You mention APIs, which should help reduce the cost to serve. What are some of the other main challenges that BT Wholesale faces as a business? TS: There are several major challenges shaping the market. They include broader industry headwinds, the move away from legacy infrastructure, the removal of copper from networks, and the introduction of AI. A key question for us is how customers want to use AI, and our infrastructure can enable it. Another important challenge is driving API adoption and supporting customers and partners to use those APIs in a way that reduces their cost to serve with minimal investment. One partner recently told us they had managed to significantly reduce their operational costs by using one of our APIs for repair journeys. Because everything was visible through the integrated API, they no longer needed to contact our service team, who would previously have had to liaise with Openreach. TR: What are the key growth areas in your product offering? TS: We are seeing very good growth in mobile, driven by hybrid working and the need to have connectivity outside the office. Our Complete Mobile proposition from EE is performing strongly, and Teams for Mobile is also seeing strong demand, ...continued
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