A little like oom really from my point of view - I believe they are the favoured company within their sector and despite the markets - Oftel and the G3 nonsense they will climb back. They pay a divi and this wioll be seen to be increasingly important in the days to come. They have new management and are looking to enhance shareholder value .....

I hold and swing trade a few and not adverse to intraday trading them.

ains


BT in web-based investor relations drive

London, February 7 2003, (netimperative)



by Chris Lake

BT is launching a web-based scheme which it hopes will improve communications with its retail shareholders and help cut costs.


Dubbed 'ShareholderPlus', the system allows investors to sign up and receive BT communications - such as reports, news releases, mandates and, subject to a change in the law, electronic tax vouchers - by email, rather than by post.

BT said this will help it achieve cost savings - by not having to print and despatch reports - and pointed out that it is also good for the environment.

Furthermore, it has negotiated a number of deals with companies such as Virgin Wines, Apollo Travel, RSA and National Car Rental, to market the service and said it will add new offers in the future if it proves to be a success.

BT claims to be one of the first FTSE100 companies to launch such a programme, though it is likely that more will follow.

www.btplc.com/shareholderplus

out-performed the sector and market marginally but still down a tad

ains


LONDON (AFX) - BT Group PLC said it had signed a joint venture with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council worth 150 mln stg in turnover over 12 years.
The joint venture will take on the delivery of a number of the council's key administration services. BT will invest 30 mln stg in technology over 12 years to improve delivery of these services.

The council will benefit from 50 mln stg of efficiency savings, said BT.

All helps I guess


DINGWALL is well on the way to joining the world of Broadband, as Broadband4Dingwall is proud to announce it has passed the halfway barrier on the BT Registration scheme as of the start of March, 186 people have registered for the service.
We only need another 164 individuals or businesses in Dingwall and surrounding area to register to get the Dingwall exchange converted to provide fast internet access for the town, said Graeme Mackay, the man behind the Broadband4Dingwall initiative.
Graeme said, BT has set a trigger level for conversion of the Dingwall exchange at 350 were not that far away in meeting that target so come on Dingwall, register your interest now at www.broadband4dingwall.co.uk
Currently, people and businesses situated in and around Dingwall have to make do with accessing the Internet via a normal telephone connection.
Access is very slow and means that companies in particular are paying large sums of money to obtain an extremely poor Internet connection. The goal of the campaign is to provide the people and businesses of Dingwall with the same facilities and opportunities as in places like Central Belt Scotland and London.
This is a great opportunity for local people to put Dingwall on the Broadband map, says Graeme. They have the power to secure for the local area one of the 21st centurys most important building blocks for economic and social progress.
For further information contact: Graeme Mackay at
info@broadband4dingwall.co.uk


editor@rsjournal.co.uk

BT launches dotmusic service

London, March 6 2003, (netimperative)



by Chris Lake

BT has today launched 'dotmusic on demand', a legal music service that provides subscribers with access to more than 150,000 tracks but stops short of allowing them to burn songs onto CDs.


For 9.99 per month, users are granted unlimited access to the service, which collates recordings from major record labels including BMG, Universal, EMI and Warner, as well as hundreds of smaller independents, to provide a broad range of content. BT claims it is the first legal music service of its kind in Europe.

Subscribers can either stream tracks or download them, but aside from a promotional offer in place until the end of April, users cannot burn tracks onto a CD. BT was not immediately available to comment as to whether it will extend the service to a monthly quota of 'burns'.

The launch offer provides music fans that sign up before 30 April with 10 free permanent tracks, which can be burned, but thereafter the dotmusic on demand reverts to a download-only service.

Nevertheless, the move has given the music industry "a new cause for optimism", according to BPI executive chairman Peter Jamieson, who said: "Providing legitimate services to enable consumers to download their favourite music is pivotal to the future strategies of music companies."

The service, powered by Peter Gabriel's OD2 digital music distribution company, is also available for 4.99 per month for users that want to access up to 50 downloads and 500 streams. Additionally, there is a three-day free trial to enable people to check out dotmusic on demand at no cost.

BT head of music Ben Drury said: "Over the last two years since we first started looking at a mass market online music service, things have come a long way but an unlimited package has always been the holy grail.

"We've worked very hard to get to this point where we can offer a truly compelling legal service and are very proud to be the first to do so."

New research released yesterday by Jupiter discovered that 37% of European digital music users are prepared to pay for online music services.

Outperforming sector and market as we head for close

BT 'not responsible' for suspended FreeDial service
By Tim Richardson
Posted: 06/03/2003 at 15:17 GMT


BT has said it will "vigorously" defend any legal action brought against it by ISP FreeDial.biz.

The telco's resolute stand follows reports that FreeDial has been "forced to suspend" all of its broadband operations following an alleged dispute with BT Wholesale.

In an email to customers published on ADSLGuide FreeDial reports that it suspended the service "due to BT reneging on our agreement".

The ISP said that the current situation has arisen "through absolutely no fault of FreeDial" and claims to be preparing a dossier on the matter "pending legal action".

But BT has denied that it is responsible for the problems experienced by Fredial customers.

A spokesman for the telco told The Register: "BT has no involvement in any cancellation arrangements between FreeDial.biz and its customers.

"In view of FreeDial.biz's indication that it intends legal action we cannot comment further. Any legal action will be vigorously defended by BT," he said.

FreeDial caused a flurry of attention last September when it announced that it was offering a 512k ADSL service from just 12.99 a month.

At the time the ISP said it could offer the service at well below cost because its strings-attached "budget" service would be subsidised by its "premium" services.

In a statement on its site it denied that it was a "fly-by-night" operation insisting that it was in it for "for the long haul" with the "finances, resources and background to be able to carry out our commitments to the full".

BT opens Indian call centres BBC NEWS


Call centre work can easily be done from remote locations
Telecoms giant BT has confirmed it is to join the growing band of UK firms transferring call centre operations to India.
The firm has said it is to open two Indian call centres - in Bangalore and New Delhi - employing 2,200 people by 2004.

The move risks angers UK unions, who have threatened strike action to defend UK jobs.

BT said no permanent UK employees would be made redundant as a result of the move, with every effort made to ensure reducations in agency posts were met through natural wastage.

03/07 09:10
BT Will Open Two Customer Contact Centers in India (Update1)
By Dex McLuskey


London, March 7 (Bloomberg) -- BT Group Plc, the U.K.'s biggest phone company, will open two directory assistance centers in India, where costs are about 30 percent lower than in its home market, to boost its competitiveness, an executive said.

The sites, in Bangalore and New Delhi, will employ 500 by the end of March, Pierre Danon, head of BT's BT Retail unit, said on a conference call. The number of workers will rise to about 2,200 by March next year and the centers will be managed by BT workers.

``I'm not cutting jobs'' in the U.K., Danon said. ``My commitment of maintaining jobs in the U.K. remains absolutely unchanged.'' Nor will any temporary workers' contracts be canceled, he said.

BT is battling to retain market share in the U.K., where it lost a monopoly to provide directory inquiry services in December. Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe's biggest phone company, lost 40 percent of its directory assistance business in the first six months after Germany opened up for competition, Danon said.

The BT Directories unit's U.K. workforce will shrink to 14,000 people by next March from 16,000 a year ago, Danon said. About 1,000 of the U.K.'s 6,000 temporary jobs will eventually be transferred to India, he said. BT, which has 31 U.K. centers, has no plans to open more call centers in the Asian country, he added.

The company will invest a further 8 million pounds ($12.8 million) in software to handle directory inquiries, bringing the total to 108 million pounds. It has reached its target of saving 86 million pounds a year after beginning to reorganize the unit. BT plans to save 150 million pounds over two years, Danon said.

Shares of BT, which have lost 21 percent of their value this year, fell as much as 1.8 percent, or 2.75 pence, to 154p and were trading at 154.25p as of 9:06 a.m. in London.

I see this as good news in the longer term - the peeps who set it up say the Indians are all well educated - very enthused - want long term jobs and earn around 2K .....


ains


LONDON (AFX) - BT Retail said it would open two new call centres in Bangalore and New Delhi in India, but reassured its UK staff this would not mean any compulsory job losses.
The two centres in India will initially handle parts of BT's directories and conferencing work.

The company said it expects the 2 sites will employ 500 people by the end of the month, rising to about 2,200 by March 2004.

"I have also said that we do not aim to cut jobs in the UK only to recreate them in India," said Pierre Danon, head of BT Retail.

"This is demonstrated by our commitment that no single permanent BT job will be cut as a result of setting up centres in India. For the agency people working on directory enquiries, we have also pledged that none of their contracts will be terminated.

"And, for any future work moved to India, we will make every effort to meet any necessary reductions in agency posts through natural wastage," he added.
Of the 2,200 total, there will be 700 Directories posts in India, which will be achieved through natural wastage among agency workers in the UK.
BT said it was moving work to India following a decision by the UK authorities last year to allow new entrants to provide directory inquiries.


tf/rn

ceo on working lunch talking call centres

Its a real pity that this site with its impressive graphics and layout is not more widely used.

It is clear that a number of potential users are deterred by Ainsoph using it as his personal fifedom to ramp his dog portfolio

About time he was banned from here as well to make his hat-trick of bans and he could keep the virtual web-ball and play with himself.

09 Mar 2003 08:26

BT to cut costs with Delhi, Bangalore call centres
By Santosh Menon

LONDON (Reuters) - BT Group Plc, Britain's largest fixed-line telecoms provider, said on Friday its BT retail unit would set up two call centres in India, joining a long list of firms moving there to cut costs.

Pierre Danon, chief executive of BT Retail, told reporters the two Indian call centres would not cost UK jobs, and said BT would still spend over 97 percent of its planned 108 million pound ($173 million) investment in call centres in Britain.

"None of BT's permanent employees in the UK will be made redundant as a result of the new centres opening. BT has also made the commitment that no agency people who work for BT Directories in the UK will have their contracts terminated," a BT statement said.

The opening of the Indian centres -- where salary costs of around 1.25 pounds an hour compare with 5-10 pounds in the UK -- is part of BT Retail's strategy to consolidate its 104 UK locations into 33 centres in a bid to achieve annual cost savings of 150 million pounds.

The two Indian centres, one in New Delhi and the second in the country's technology capital Bangalore, will initially handle parts of BT's directories and phone conferencing work.

The centres, which will start with 500 employees by the end of March, rising to around 2,200 by March 2004, will have BT's systems and will be managed by its staff, but will be owned by units of Indian firms HCL Technologies and Infosys Technologies.

BT plans to invest three million pounds in the three centres and have three of its employees initially manage them.


SORE POINT

Moving jobs to countries like India, where salaries are far lower, is a sore point with trade unions in Britain. However, Danon defended the move, saying BT owed it to its shareholders to explore cost-effective options and said the company had not resorted to compulsory redundancies.

He said BT was redeploying and retraining employees to do new jobs and said BT had no plans to further increase the number of centres in India.

Transferring work to India is part of BT's plan to retain market share in UK directory inquiry services, a 700 million calls a year business where it lost a monopoly last December.

Danon said established providers had lost up to 40 percent market share in Ireland and Germany after deregulation.

"We will not allow that to happen to us," Danon said.

Many overseas companies have outsourced back-office functions to Indian firms, or set up their own units to service global clients from India which is a cheaper location with large technically skilled workforce.

Britain's largest insurance group Aviva Plc said last month it plans to set up a call and claims processing centre in India, employing about 1,000 by the end of 2003.

Other firms which have shifted their back-office and call centre functions to India include General Electric, HSBC and Citigroup.

BT floats airship idea to help Scottish broadband access

DOUGLAS FRIEDLI


AIRSHIPS could be deployed above Scottish cities in the next 10 years to answer the nations broadband access problems, according to BTs satellite guru.

The phone group is monitoring advances in technology which could see blimps replace or supplement communications satellites by 2013.

The cigar-shaped balloons are more readily associated with the war years, when the US navy used them as cheap radar platforms.

Ian Rose, head of BTs satellite systems team, said so-called high altitude platforms (HAPs) had a number of advantages over satellites in space.

He said: "One of the advantages is that you could lay down fairly high-capacity networks fairly quickly. And because they can be brought back down easily, you can alter the payload to deal with new technology."

Satellites tend to stay up for 10 to 15 years, by which time their equipment may be out of date. But blimps could be altered to handle advances such as fourth generation phone networks.

Rose said: "Because satellites give broad area coverage, they are likely to continue being used for continents. But HAPs could be used at a regional level. Its a trade-off between the two different technologies."

The cost of launching an airship could be a fraction of that of launching a satellite system into space, communications experts believe.

BT already uses satellites to provide broadband phone services to thinly populated areas of the UK such as the Highlands and Islands.

A number of companies are working on telecommunications balloons, including Sky Station International, which is backed by General Alexander Haig, the former US secretary of state.

SSI hopes to set up 250 balloons at an altitude of 13 miles above the worlds largest metropolitan areas.

The Washington DC-based company is expected to announce a launch site for a test flight of its balloon system later this month. Possible locations include Australia, Ghana, Panama, South Korea, Turkey and the south-western US.

Another US company, Angel Technologies, plans to use high altitude, long operation (HALO) aircraft to provide communication links.

But airship technology is relatively untried, which could make it difficult to sell to phone companies which have already invested huge amounts in mobile phone networks.

Rose said: "My feeling is that these airship platforms are going to have to prove themselves to telecoms providers."

Another potential problem is that airships could be more vulnerable to attack or accidental damage than space satellites. Routine maintenance could also be much higher.

VNUNET


Council opts for BT joint venture
By Karl Flinders [07-03-2003]
Rotherham improves service to citizens while avoiding the 'hassle of outsourcing'
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council has opted for a joint venture with BT to avoid the upheaval of outsourcing.
The local authority needs to bring its back-end administration and management, as well as its front end services, up to date.

Rotherham said that its decision to set up a limited company, Rotherham Brought Together Connect, with BT will see 150m spent on ICT products and services over the next 12 years.

BT will contribute 30m towards technology and training, with the council predicting 50m in savings over the period.

The partnership was preferred to outsourcing because council staff will remain in place and can use their experience in providing services.

This will maintain the standard of service the council offers to its citizens, while improving efficiency through the use of technology, according to Jonathan Prew, strategic services director at the council.

As well as reducing costs, the new company will become a profit centre in the future by offering its services to others.

Prew explained that the resources acquired through the partnership are essential in helping the council to improve efficiency and services.

"We knew where we wanted to get to and that needed extra investment, skills and expertise," he said. "We did not have all three so the BT partnership brought the IT equipment and training."

Meeting Tony Blair's 2005 online services target will also be more achievable, according to Prew.

Front line services to citizens will be improved through Siebel's E-City CRM system designed for local government use, while BT will re-engineer the front- and back-office systems.

Liverpool City Council has a similar partnership with BT in Liverpool Direct, a joint venture in which the council has a 20 per cent stake.

Rob McVicker, commercial director at the company, said that the system was preferred to outsourcing "because the city council wanted to be part of the solution".

He cited the advantages as local authority influence on policy, worker terms and conditions remaining unchanged, and council staff knowledge and skills ensuring best practice for services.

Some mixed comments on CNBC this morning - best in sector but sector not well perceived at this time .... I think we are around the low

ains



10/03/2003 - 11:06:37 am

Esat BT has launched a new service-driven business model, designed to facilitate a simpler approach to delivering network connectivity solutions to its customers.

The new Connectivity Solutions Matrix business service model is based on five service propositions covering five core offerings related to network connectivity.

The WAN Matrix is the first to be launched into the Irish market and this will be followed in due course by similar propositions related to users of LAN technology, Secure Internet Services, Remote Access Services and IP Telephony.

The WAN Matrix proposition offers a menu of managed services in pre-defined packages or on a 'pick and mix' basis.

For example, customers can select from a set of service options as part of its overall WAN solution.

The elements chosen from Esat BTs service offering can therefore be customised to complement the buyers in-house skills.

The service matrix will be deployed to map a customers site interconnectivity and application needs through a combination of proactively managed network services and routing equipment.

Yes we are not far from 50p at the present rate of decline

this one has been stuck in a downtrend from 15 goodfella, wanna call a bottom for it? Doyou really think it'll stop falling at 50p?

jesus wepped

more like Ainsoph wepped as he keeps losing money on this stock

Not sure there is much to be gained by crowing - anyone can come on and say a share has fallen - after the event ..... so what ..... hardly makes you into a legend


ains

who is claiming to be a legend?

your sincerely

arthur (of camelot)

jesus wepped ......

Markets and the sector are both down lots - its seems probable that BT will follow the trend - no magick or casting of the runes are needed



10 Mar 2003 17:32 GMT



Markets round-up: FTSE 100 slumps to 7-1/2 year low

LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 has ended lower for a fifth straight session, taking the market to a 7-1/2 year closing low as banks slumped and concern grew that a war with Iraq might be days away.
Britain and the United States have said Iraq must disarm by March 17 or face war.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE index ended down 55.6 points, or 1.6 percent, at 3,436.0 points, its lowest level since July 1995. The move also takes the market to less than half of its all-time high of 6,950.6 in December 1999.

"We're so close now to whatever is going to happen with Iraq that the markets are moribund. The high oil price is squeezing economic growth and we're getting poor numbers out of the UK, U.S. and Europe," said Stuart Fraser of fund managers Brewin Dolphin.

However, Fraser said he did not expect the market to fall significantly further, a sentiment echoed by David Franklin, director and fund manager at Christows Stockbrokers.

"I actually find it encouraging in a contrarian way that everyone is bearish at the moment. It means everyone is out of the market. Anyone who is going to sell has gotten out already."