International telecoms Week (ITW) 2012 was one of the busiest ever, with more than 5,000 delegates in one of the largest hotels in the United States.

The strongest BT delegation in years attended with 15 executives. The hottest topic in their meetings?  Many different types of service providers in different stages of development talked to us about interconnection to the BT Global IP Exchange.

New carriers all seem to want a safe, secure internet connection and like the idea of the BT sandbox process, involving as many as 43 tests. This thorough testing takes some time but once connected to BT’s live platform, providers experience few trouble tickets. Another requirement high on their list is 100% CLI for their enterprise customers, which we can offer thanks to BT’s direct routes and no unforeseen tricks to blending CLI.

Other customers we met included mobile operators and Wi-Fi operators with home-grown traffic, and ISPs of various sizes, from 2.6 up to 30 million customers on several continents.

Start-ups, some by professionals with many years of telecoms experience, are setting up their own niche operations in particular geographical markets.  They want an experienced wholesale partner who can match the requirements of their calling card customers with PIN-less dialling or with mobile-enabled software clients. They are looking for a long-term relationship with a partner who has been delivering premium voice for many years in a consistent and professional manner.

Some who have been active in their markets for a long time are now managing someone else’s international gateway in another country, looking for an experienced partner to deliver their premium calls reliably. Some want return traffic, not on a traditional wholesale A-to-Z basis, but via specific directs in a niche market. Quite a few of these successful companies – even though small (less than 50 employees) – have servers and functions spread over many countries for network operations, account management, and contracting/billing.

They show how complexity increases as telecoms businesses large and small spread out regionally and globally. Location of markets, appropriate tax rates and the right expertise at the right price are determining factors when they select their centres of operation. Some operators only wish to buy in a niche market of Western Europe or fixed termination, where absolute margin is more important than revenue.  Pre-pay is acceptable to some, post-pay is a must for others.

Customers also showed interest in exploring SMS, Conferencing and BT’s large portfolio of toll-free and DID numbers to support their smaller enterprise customers.  They asked, too, about voice, data, and help seeking MVNO licences in countries where liberalisation permits.

We were proud to be able to offer the right solutions to so many kinds of customers in so many segments of our market.

For information on how BT can help you and your business, please contact your account manager and see our website.

You may also be interested in news about the expansion of our Global IP Exchange into Asia in “Business insights from Beatriz” from the desk of our managing director.

And see Spotlight on BT products and services to learn how you can “Seize the SMS revenue and margin opportunity with SMS Hubbing”.

Mike Bygate

Business development manager
BT Global Telecom Markets (GTM)

Mike has 25 years experience in international carrier telecoms, especially with the commercial, product and technical aspects of voice services.