Previously, Mr. Verwaayen was Chairman of the Unisource European venture with Telia, Swisscom and Telefonica, and Chairman of AT&T/Unisource. Between 1975 and 1988, he was also with ITT Nederland BV where he became General Manager after positions in business development, HR and public relations.

Mr. Verwaayen is a member of the Advisory Council of ING, a member of the board of Astro All Asia Networks (ASTRO), and a member of the board of HealthCenter Internet Services, Inc..

Q. In your keynote speech at ETRE, you touched on innovation as being central to BT’s strategy moving forward. Could you elaborate further?
We will be incorporating Innovation in all aspects of the company, from incorporating new technologies to improving customer satisfaction to developing talent within the BT group.

Talent is of particular importance. If we don’t empower our employees and put in place appropriate incentive programs, we won’t be able to nurture innovation within our Company. Our people are central to our company.

Q: It seems that one big problem outside companies face is the overwhelming organisational structure within BT. Will you also be innovative in facilitating the process for these companies of finding the suitable person/unit to approach within BT?
Absolutely. We recognise that it may be difficult  for another company to know which organisation or person within BT is the best to approach. So we will be implementing new programs to help them. For instance, we are putting in place a process where a company can submit a proposal and it will be internally routed to the right person.

Q: One of your recent new product offerings is Mobile Sense. Can you tell me more about it?
We are renting airspace from O2 to provide our online customers with a mobile phone service which will allow users to create their own mobile phone packages depending on the number of calls they make and the number of text messages they send.

Users will be able to track all the calls they make through the website and easily alter their calling plan to best suit their needs. This means that users have full flexibility and control of their calling plan, ultimately resulting in greater customer satisfaction. The product is limited to consumers only and is completely internet-based.

Q: Will you be partnering exclusively with O2?
No, we are open to other partners too, if they can provide us with the product and service that we need.

Q: O2 is also present in Europe. Is BT’s strategy for innovation limited to the UK or will it also encompass other parts of Europe?
Mobile Sense is available to online UK consumers only. However, in other parts of the business, such as BT Ignite, we are very much present in Europe, and we will definitely maintain our European activities.

Ariadne Capital is currently working with BT to source new ventures and identify new opportunities for innovation.