BT selling expertise to U.S. cable players

In the global market, BT competes with AT&T and Verizon for multinational enterprise customers. Now a newly revamped arm of BT Global Services is competing in the U.S., offering to show cable companies, CLECs and smaller incumbent telcos how to convert their multiple service networks into a single IP network, as BT has done in its home market in the U.K.

BT Global Telecom Markets is leveraging the expertise the company gained with its 21st Century Network — an aggressive push to an all-IP network — including the ability to develop new services for businesses, something that is particularly appealing to U.S. cable players, said Michael DeVito, vice president of BT Global Telecom Markets.

“The good news for us is that the cable folks are serious about going after business customers,” he said. “We have a common friend there. We don't compete with cable for [small to medium-sized enterprises] or [small to medium-sized businesses] like AT&T and Verizon do. We know a lot about how to acquire small and medium customers. Where today they might be only selling high-speed Internet access, we can help them provide a suite of services beyond that.”

Smaller incumbent telcos are also a major target, as they, like BT in the U.K., have to figure out how to transform their networks without disrupting their current customers.

“It's the proverbial ‘changing the engine at 30,000 feet,’” DeVito said. BT has faced the challenges of doing an IP transformation, even as it continues to ward off competition, keep regulators happy and make a strong financial case for major investment by its board of directors.

BT's 21st Century Network “is one of the most radical, ambitious business transformations ever,” DeVito said. “We've spent $18 billion, and by 2011, it will be in 170 countries. We've been on this journey now for three years, and we've learned a lot. We skinned our knees a few times, and we figured out some things that we can share.”

BT has customers in the U.S. and is in active discussions with other potential customers, but it has not yet publicly announced any signings. DeVito believes that will change within the next six months. Globally, there is a strong response from developing nations looking to leapfrog some currently used TDM technologies and go right to IP, he said.