BT Global Services to boost revenues and cut costs

UK incumbent BT Group has set out its business plan for its Global Services division for the next two years, saying it intends to deliver annualised cost savings of GBP400 million (USD752 million) by fiscal year 2008/09. The unit provides IT network services worldwide and is the company’s fastest growing division, whose major multinational clients include consumer goods giant Unilever, electronics group Philips, media company Reuters and the UK’s National Health Service. BT said it was aiming to double divisional revenues in the US, Japan, India and China by March 2009, and for its businesses in Italy and Germany to both reach EUR1 billion annual turnover by that date.

Meanwhile, BT has announced that it is teaming up with Chinese vendor ZTE Corp to develop a mobile handset capable of running multiple mobile TV formats, including its own recently launched DAB-IP service BT Movio. The company says by developing a phone that offers both DAB and 3G streaming TV formats, consumers will not be forced to choose between competing technologies when choosing a handset. BT said the handset would be released in the UK in 2007. Financial details were not disclosed.