When it comes to surviving in the cut-throat telecommunications world, British Telecom - one of the world's oldest communications players - has a tactic different from that of its global rivals chasing the latest mobile technology to provide new services.
BT's strategy has been to aggressively spend to build a national fibre-optic broadband network that supports high-definition video transmission and the high bandwidth needed for the next generation of mobile technology.
Chairman Sir Michael Rake says the company is not interested in bidding for spectrum to own a mobile network. It would rather own the backbone of a high-speed broadband network that will ensure the firm's core competitiveness.
BT competes with more than 400 voice service providers and takes in only 11 per cent of the revenue generated in traditional voice service, a far cry from its dominant fixed-line player status until 1984, when the market was liberalised.
Sir Michael says BT's task was to create broadband for Britain and the next phase is to upgrade the broadband network to a fibre network.
'We are working hard on the fibre roll-out to 12 million people by 2012 ... We will be expanding the fibre network for higher bandwidth to meet the high-definition video demand which will occur in the coming years,' he said. 'I think we will see a great take-off in demand ... Fibre network with super-high speed broadband is critical. I think these changes are similar to the ones from the tape to CDs, or VHS to DVD.'