BT opens Asia Pacific Security Centre in India

£375,000 investment part of BT’s ‘Follow-the-Sun’ customer service model

Bangalore, April 14, 2009: BT India, the local operation of BT, one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services, today announced the opening of its first ever BT Asia Pacific Security Operations centre (SOC) in India. The new SOC will initially employ over 30 highly skilled specialists, with a focus on both Asia Pacific and global customers. The SOC will provide security device management services involving critical customer components including firewalls, intrusion detection devices and Bluecoat Proxy devices used for securing networked-IT environments.
The new BT SOC centre will manage customers’ security environments, 24 hours a day, every day of the year for a number of customers within finance, retail, and manufacturing sectors delivering incident, change, configuration and problem management services working alongside BT’s European and Americas Security Operations Centres. This will create a BT global “Follow-the-Sun” SOC customer service platform.

Speaking on the announcement, Mr Sudhir Narang, Managing Director BT India said “The BT SOC centre is another measure of BT’s support and service to customers globally. We want customers to be able to change configuration and tackle problem management services which are engineered to BT’s legendary quality standards.”

Implementing a “follow-the-sun” customer service model, customer support will now be passed seamlessly between Security Operations Centres in the new location of Noida, and similar operation centers in the UK and USA. The centre is located in a BT dedicated building at Noida. It has space for 100+ engineers in the first phase, comprising a segregated area with secure access control via tight security (barrier, x-ray machine) and then 2-factor authentication for room access. The facility is further toughened through additional electrical power back-up to survive the usual Delhi power outages.

Speaking on the announcement, Mr Kevin Taylor, COO BTGS said, “This is a significant step in the direction of addressing customers’ requirements for high availability networks. We will continue to invest in the SOC to ensure customers have the best environment to change or configure the latest available services from BT.

BT’s current resourcing plan is to expand the number of SOC analysts from the current 30+ number by the end of 2009 to support a growing number of customers as well as an expansion in the types of service offered from the BT India SOC.

About BT

BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the year ended 31 March 2008, BT Group plc’s revenue was £20,704 million with profit before taxation and specific items of £2,506 million.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt

For further information, please contact:

Richard Wright, Director, Corporate Communications and PR, Asia Pacific

Tel: +852 2532 3652; Fax: +852 2810 0164

Email: richard.j.wright {at} bt(.)com

Murali R on 9945511831