These products will be managed and maintained completely by BT Wholesale, leaving communications providers free to focus on the sales and marketing of products.
White Label Managed Services will remove the need for communications providers to build, support and maintain their own networks, products, back office systems and customer support facilities. Communications providers of all sizes, including companies looking to diversify into communications, will be able to enter the market for bundled broadband, voice and converged services significantly faster, at lower costs and with greatly reduced implementation risk. Vodafone UK became the first customer for the service to support the launch of its consumer fixed-line broadband services, Vodafone At Home, earlier this year.
BT says the UK has more than 700 communications providers, making it one of the most competitive markets in the world. Offering bundled services is increasingly viewed as a means for communications providers to differentiate and attract and retain more customers in this highly competitive environment. One in five consumers in the UK now take broadband as part of a bundled package of communications services. This demonstrates that a growing number of consumers are attracted by the option of having one supplier for all of their communications requirements and the benefits that this delivers, including better value, single billing and one point of contact for customer services.
Brian Fitzpatrick, managing director, BT Wholesale Markets, said, “Consumers and businesses are increasingly drawn to communications providers that can make their lives simpler by combining their broadband, telephony and IT into one package. For communications providers to gain competitive advantage by moving into the market for multi-play services, they must move quickly and find a way to reduce the risks and costs associated with entering a new market nationally. White Label Managed Services from BT Wholesale can help them to achieve this and plan their business with certainty. In effect, BT Wholesale can create new integrated service providers in just a matter of weeks.”
By providing an off the shelf, flexible solution, BT Wholesale can help communications providers to reduce the time to market for new products to as little as two months, depending on the product or service.
In addition to providing and maintaining the network infrastructure, BT Wholesale will manage the delivery of products, from set-up and web based customer ordering through to customer billing. BT Wholesale will also provide fully managed support services including customer contact centres, the installation of end-customer equipment and ongoing technical support.
Communications providers will be able to place orders for their customers for their own customised services via a web portal provided by BT Wholesale, where they can also obtain a detailed picture of an individual customer’s accounts. End customers will also be able to access a web portal under their chosen communications provider’s brand, where they can sign up for services, track the status of their order and request changes to their account. The service also includes the provision of online billing.
Initial products included in the White Label Managed Services offering include broadband; wholesale calls; wholesale line rental; customer equipment and applications such as web-based email and virus protection. Further products are planned during the coming year.