BT Group, HP sign $1.5 b deal

Santosh Menon

LONDON: BT Group Plc and Hewlett-Packard unveiled an alliance that will see the UK phone company and the world's No. 2 computer maker pool their strengths to target global corporate spending on telecom and technology.

To start with, the two firms have signed a $1.5 billion deal under which BT will manage the U.S. firm's voice and data networks and call centres across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while Hewlett-Packard (HP) will manage BT's information technology (IT) infrastructure in the UK.

BT's technology chief and chief executive of its BT Global Services unit, Andy Green, said that revenue from the seven-year, non-exclusive deal would be split almost equally between the two companies.

"We hope that over the next few years, that will be dwarfed by the amount of revenues we get from the market place. That's our aim by working together we would be able to produce much bigger revenues for each other," Green said in an interview.

Britain's top fixed-line phone company has been looking to boost revenue at its BT Global Services corporate arm by managing companies' IT and telecom networks in a bid to offset falling revenue at its core telecom service business.

For HP, the world's top printer maker, the alliance could help boost its service revenue and, together with BT, take on larger rival International Business Machines in this business.

© Reuters