British Telecoms (BT) is looking for a black economic empowerment (BEE) partner for its South African operations.
The company says it would like to make a decision by the end of the year, allowing it to become fully empowered by the end of its fiscal year, in March.
Olivier Campenon, BT Global Services Europe, Middle East and Africa president, says BT has not yet decided whether to do an equity deal or acquire an already empowered organisation.
However, the company is in discussions with a number of interested parties. BT would also welcome discussions with new parties, he says.
Campenon says BT is looking for complementary expertise that will enable the company to get closer to the customer.
Potential empowerment partners' areas of expertise include security, customer relationship management, call centres, and application management or IT transformation, he says. IT transformation experts look at trends in a specific industry and are able to provide input as to how the trends affect the organisation's IT needs.
He acknowledges BT has set a tight schedule to bed down its BEE transaction. "However, given that we are more and more focused on the South African market, it is important that we improve our BEE credentials," he explains.
BT has had a presence in SA for 15 years, with the local operations focused on fulfilling the business needs of 400 corporate clients in the southern African region, rather than looking for new business. However, earlier this year BT SA announced plans to make a more aggressive play for the local ICT market.
Doubling revenue
Brian Armstrong, BT's GM of Middle East and Africa, says the company is ahead of schedule to double its South African revenue and staff within two years.
BT concluded 12 to 13 significant deals, which are valued at a minimum of R5 million each, he says. "More importantly, we have five to six big deals that we are optimistic about," he says.
Armstrong says plans are also in the works to ensure South African and African clients get the full benefit of BT's $20 billion next-generation network, which it calls the "21st century network".
To make the full power of the network investment available to South African clients, BT SA is investing in initiatives that will allow the company to gain increased bandwidth capacity and set up points of presence where needed, he says.
Investments include participating in the East African Submarine Cable System and setting up direct satellite backhaul to SA with partners, he says. Individually, the investments are small, but their impact will be considerable, concludes Armstrong.
Related story:
BT appoints new EMEA president
Share
