We want to be a personal guide – helping our customers navigate the complex world of technology, devices, platforms, subscriptions and services.

We’re also walking hand in hand with some of the most exciting tech companies in the world to bring our customers the best experiences possible and connect them to new products and services. Today, we’ve unveiled the latest example of that: our partnership with NVIDIA on its cloud gaming service, GeForce NOW.

With the cloud gaming bundles that our teams have worked so hard to put together, we’re able to not only provide customers with membership for one of the best streaming platforms – but also offer them the hardware and data too, helping to make high-level gaming even more accessible and affordable to customers across the UK.

It’s another part of EE’s ongoing ambition to become the number 1 destination for gamers in the UK. But that’s just one piece of the puzzle, and what we’re doing with New EE that we’re bringing to life this summer.

Reinventing retail with our new stores

The networks, platforms and partnerships – such as the one we have with NVIDIA – mean we are pioneers in so many technologies. As a business, we invest billions in technology every year. But we also know that millions of customers still value that personal touch. That’s what our brand is all about. We want EE to be a personal brand that makes sense of the world of technology for our customers.

So, we’re big believers in retail.

Our new EE Studio store in London’s White City is another glimpse into the world of New EE we're building. The space that we've created really says something about our new brand, what it stands for and how we will play a much bigger role in our customers' lives.

Our Studio store brings to life what we’re doing with New EE. It’s designed to help customers build their connected life and home with trusted advice from our guides, and also features one of the UK’s largest dedicated community gaming hubs and a Digital Spa to support digital wellbeing. We’re even selling smart fridges there!

It’s also a hub for the local community to work, learn and play. And I can’t wait to see what our teams have built for the communities in our Experience stores we'll soon be launching in Cardiff, Manchester and Bluewater.

A new standard for home broadband

On the same day we told the world about our new store last month, we also revealed our plans to launch a Full Fibre 1.6Gbps service and a new range of in-home hardware – featuring back-up from EE’s award-winning mobile network. This will be supported by best-in-class Wi-Fi controls designed to help improve experiences in and around the home.

Our new supercharged home broadband services will set the standard for broadband for years to come. The new speeds, hardware and controls have been developed using the experience and expertise of the world-leading BT R&D teams at Adastral Park, and are designed to help customers manage their increasingly busy households.

This will see us bring customers not just the UK’s best mobile network, but the best in-home connectivity too, and marks the next step by EE as lead consumer brand for the BT Group.

A new cloud gaming partnership, new stores and the best Full Fibre home broadband. This is just the start of the new products, services and experiences we will bring our customers. And it really shows how momentum is building for the New EE that we’re creating as we become a new brand and service that does more.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @marcallera

It was great to be back in person at the Enders Media and Telecoms 2022 & Beyond conference last week.

I talked about how this must be the most volatile but fascinating time I’ve seen in my 21 years in the telco industry. It's a really challenging time for anyone running a consumer business, with consumer behaviour changing faster than ever and significant numbers of people in really challenging situations right now. We know we have a responsibility to help every customer.

While costs are going up hugely on pretty much everything in every business everywhere, I believe our industry offers outstanding value relative to other sectors, consumers are getting and using loads more data on faster more reliable Fibre and 5G networks whilst telco is one of the lowest basket spends in the household and we have the lowest prices and highest competitive intensity of any country in Europe.

Our world revolves around networks and connectivity – we are at the crossroads between hardware, services, media and content. It’s a fast-changing world for our customers: the way they work, the way they watch their favourite films and TV shows, the way they keep in touch with the people they love. 

Changes in technology and market structures are happening right now, and happening at pace. The expectations of what our networks can deliver is rising all the time. Across the industry, the UK's networks have stood up to a surge of pressure from customers for whom connectivity was a lifeline during the pandemic. 

We were able to manage the demand on our network partly because we saw a lot of the data growth happen during the day thanks to remote working and home learning. But the traffic peaks – the times when our network is tested by streaming at the same time as major downloads for things like new game patches – have continued to grow.

Reaching new peaks

In December streaming of Premier League football drove another massive peak of internet traffic on our broadband network – a new high peak of 25.5Tbps. That’s about 12% higher than the previous peak we saw around the same time the year before. 

These peaks will continue to grow in frequency and size. And this requires a very different network to the ones designed today. 

This isn’t a complaint about content. We love our partnerships and services that drive a need for better connectivity - I’m not here to complain! 

But I do believe we need to change some things. It shouldn’t be assumed that networks will just ‘cope’ with these increasing peaks driven by the distribution shift in TV streaming and gaming. 

I just can’t see how this is sustainable. 

We’re having to think very hard about how we are going to be able to deliver the necessary step-change in investment that will soon be needed to handle Web 3.0, the Metaverse, explosions in online gaming, TV’s shift to all IP and other services we haven’t seen yet 

Because make no mistake, traffic growth will explode as traditional broadcast migrates across to IP. 

IP networks can step up and be the replacement – and we will. But to do so, we need to shift from ‘best efforts’ delivery – with content providers fighting it out at busy times – to guaranteed service levels, even greater reach than we see today, and with improved resilience. 

It’s not ‘a bit more of the same’. It’s a whole different ball game. And our current, one-sided economic models are not designed to manage this. So, we need some real debates about how we can drive network investment and innovation for UK consumers, and support government in delivering key policy goals. 

Closing the digital divide, future of TV and transformation of public services all depend on a bigger, more resilient digital infrastructure. 

Three questions I’ve already asked: how could we work more closely with companies whose platforms drive the increasing costs on networks? And how can we work together on more efficient delivery of content to consumers? And how can they play a bigger role in achieving the investment needed to drive these big policy goals? 

It’s not just me that’s asking. 

There are also a number of global voices calling for a change. The internet has evolved beyond all recognition since the principals of net neutrality were set and I don’t think it has all evolved as people thought it would! So those arguing nothing needs to change or evolve don’t have a strong argument in my view. 

Many more stakeholders now recognise the growing power of digital platforms; voices that realise connectivity is a shared endeavour. And voices that want to protect the fundamental rules of parity on networks. 

I believe if we want to close the digital divide, we have to look beyond that debate being framed solely around whether somebody can get online or not. 

We also have to think about the quality of their experience once they are online. Digital equity. 

We need to ensure policy makers are awake to this challenge, because the world will continue to move on at pace. We must all have the courage to evolve and change for the better, to deliver a better service for our customers. 

If we do this right, then we all have a braver, brighter future ahead – wherever you stand at the crossroads of networks, services, platforms and devices.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @marcallera

Photo credit: Philipp Katzenberger, Unsplash

AriSports has been crowned the winner of Innovate 21, BT Sport’s search for exciting new sports broadcast experiences from entrepreneurs, creatives and start-ups.

AriSports impressed the judges with its digital prediction platform, the brainchild of co-founders Rassim and Djewed Hariz. It allows football fans to predict on-pitch events, earning points in the process and competing against friends. It includes a fantasy trading element, where fans can collect and own unique digital cards of their favourite football players. The cards can increase in value, depending on the player’s real-life performances and correct predictions from the owner of the card. As the winner of Innovate 21, AriSports will now have the opportunity to work with BT Sport to develop its technology for future use.

This is the third time BT Sport has backed a search for new viewer innovations in recent years from small businesses. Since winning a 2018 BT competition, Sceenic worked with BT Sport to support last year’s launch of Watch Together service on the BT Sport App. Meanwhile, the winner of a 2016 BT competition, Seenit, enabled fans to send in video reports from stadia around the country as part of BT Sport’s Premier League Tonight show.

AriSports was one of four companies to make it to a final where it presented its innovation to a panel of experts led by Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer, BT Sport. Those involved in identifying both a shortlist and winner included journalist and technology expert Lucy Hedges, Matt Stagg, BT Sport director of mobile strategy, plus BT Sport presenters Brian O’Driscoll, Suzi Perry and Robbie Savage.

Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer, BT Sport, said: “We were extremely impressed by the quality and ingenuity of the innovations on display at the Innovate 21 final. I would like to congratulate AriSports on being crowned worthy winners. Its proposal is an ambitious platform that will offer fans an immersive experience and we look forward to working with them in helping harness its potential.”

Rassim Hariz, chairman, AriSports, said: “Special thanks to BT Sport for this great award, we look forward to working with their team. The process was very competitive and we are honoured to be the winners of Innovate 21. For us, it has been two years in the making and I would like to thank all our technical, product development and business development team. Working with BT Sport, and knowing their innovation track record, is fully aligned with our identity and ambitions in applying our world-first technology for immersive fantasy gaming on live content.”

BT has been at the heart of sports broadcasting innovation over recent years, details of which can be seen at btsport.com/innovates:

• Last season, BT Sport and EE teamed up to launched Matchday Experience on the BT Sport App, offering fans the most immersive sports viewing experience anywhere in the UK, powered by EE’s number one 5G network. Features include Watch Together - the only service in the UK allowing fans to watch, see and chat with three other friends, alongside any BT Sport broadcast, thanks to a split-screen interface.
• BT Sport was the first broadcaster to show live content in 4K and UHD in 2015 and the first to adopt Dolby Atmos in 2016. BT Sport has also embraced social media, being the first to show the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals on YouTube and showing content such as BT Sport Score live for free on Twitter and Facebook.
• In 2019, BT Sport collaborated with BT’s Media & Broadcast arm to broadcast the world’s first live 8K test broadcast, into the IBC exhibition in Amsterdam.
• In 2018 BT Sport and EE successfully carried out the world’s first live broadcast over 5G using remote production, delivering a two-way transmission from Wembley Stadium to London’s ExCeL exhibition centre.

BT today announced it’s become the first European distribution partner for Stadia, Google’s new cloud gaming platform. The partnership will see BT and Google deliver cloud gaming via this new-generation platform to more UK consumers as well as see the two companies work together on initiatives designed to build awareness, access and availability of it in the UK.

Changing the way that gamers access, play and enjoy their favourite games, Stadia is a cloud-based platform that enables consumers to play the world’s best video games across virtually any type of screen instantly - whether it’s a TV, laptop, desktop, tablet or mobile phone. The partnership between BT and Google will take full advantage of BT’s Superfast Broadband 2 service available in over 80% of the UK with speeds 6x faster than the average speed of standard UK broadband. When combined with Stadia’s infrastructure, it will help deliver the best cloud gaming experience.

BT is launching a unique Google Stadia offer to celebrate the partnership. Customers taking out either BT’s Superfast Fibre 2, Ultrafast Fibre 100 or Ultrafast Fibre 250, with prices starting from just £39.99 per month, can choose to receive a free Google Stadia Premiere Edition. The Stadia Premiere Edition includes a Stadia controller, Chromecast Ultra and three months access to Stadia Pro, which offers the ability to play in up to 4K/60FPS with HDR and 5.1 surround sound, as well as claim games, and discounts on a la carte purchases.

The offer is available from today until 30th January. Then from the 7^th February, BT will offer a range of Superfast Stadia gaming plans with Superfast fibre 2, Ultrafast Fibre 100 or Ultrafast Fibre 250 which will come with a free Stadia Premiere Edition when they sign-up. BT will be running an advertising campaign across print, TV and digital to highlight the new plans.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer Division, said: “We continually look to provide our customers with the most exciting products and experiences, and by partnering with Google on Stadia, we’re able to help them push the limits of gaming. We’re also investing in the UK’s fastest 4G, 5G and fibre networks, so our superfast home broadband service is the perfect accompaniment for those wanting to make the most from this innovative streaming gaming platform”.

Michiel van Eldik, General Manager & VP, Devices & Services, EMEA, said: “We’re excited to continue our cross-product partnership with BT in the UK to further drive the cloud gaming industry forward. BT has an established track record of leading the industry in delivering next-generation services and products to their customers. Through today’s announcement, we are able to make the best gaming content even more accessible, and to continue to change the way people access, play and enjoy their favourite games”.

The move follows BT’s announcement last week that it had signed a new multi-year contract with major esports team Excel Esports, to become their exclusive lead partner and will see BT branding prominent on all kit worn by Excel’s League of Legends European Championship (LEC) and UK League Championship (UKLC) teams. BT will also provide world class connectivity to Excel to help them train and perform at the highest levels.

For more information on the new plans, and full terms and conditions, customers should visit www.bt.com