BT is planning to unite its Business and Public Sector arm with its Wholesale and Ventures Division, as the operator announced an air traffic management deal worth €50 million.
The new BT Enterprise division will launch on 1 May and offer solutions to the SME, corporate and public sectors as well as services to the operator’s roughly 1,400 CSP wholesale customers. It will report as a single business group from 1 October.
Gerry McQuade, currently Head of Wholesale and Ventures, will be responsible for the unit. McQuade formerly worked for EE as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Business and Wholesale until the MNO’s acquisition by BT.
Graham Sutherland, who has led the Business and Public Sector unit since it was formed in 2016, will be leaving the business.
Gavin Patterson, BT CEO: “Having brought together our Consumer and EE businesses, this is the next step in the simplification of BT’s operating model.
“Combining our enterprise businesses will allow us to strengthen the services and products we offer to businesses and sharpen our focus on customer service, through clear accountabilities and by introducing efficiencies.
“Together, our senior management team will ensure that BT realises its full potential, connecting customers in the UK and beyond to next-generation digital communications services, content and networks.”
The Business and Public Sector arm saw a five percent drop in revenues to £1.13 billion in the three months to December due to the declining fixed voice market and lower equipment sales. Wholesale and ventures, BT’s smallest division, saw revenues fall four percent to £506 million due to a decline in managed solutions, data and broadband revenues.
Meanwhile, BT is set to provide a Europe-wide network for air traffic management after winning a 10 year contract with international air traffic control organisation Eurocontrol.
The operator’s IP services will underpin the Eurocontrol’s New Pan-European Network Service (NewPENS).
The network will connect around 100 locations across 47 countries, replacing the previous generation PENS which was launched in 2009.
BT said the network will be future-proofed to cope with technological developments and offer high flexibility, safety, security and availability. It includes a service desk and a range of performance tiers for different user requirements.
The governance and strategy of the network will be determined by multiple managers including input from the sector.
BT will begin building the network this month and begin to move users to the network between October 2018 and the end of November 2019.
The deal is worth over €50 million.
Bas Burger, CEO Global Services at BT, said: “With air traffic expected to double in the years ahead, the need for secure and highly reliable communications has never been greater and of more importance.
“Many leading multinationals, such as members of the BT Radianz Cloud, the world’s largest secure networked financial markets community, already rely on BT to connect their critical global operations, people and data.
“The networking infrastructure we will put in place for the NewPENS community will ensure ultra-high levels of resilience and security for air traffic controllers to help them guide planes safely to their destinations.”
Eamonn Brennan, Director General of Eurocontrol and Vice-Chairman of the New PENS Top Management Board, said: “NewPENS is an unparalleled common procurement contract in pan-European air traffic management.
“With air traffic on the rise, NewPENS will provide solid support to European aviation, securing cross-border network connections and underpinning safety-critical applications.”