June, 26th 2007: BT today announced the appointment of Ganesh K Vanapalli as Chief Security Officer (CSO) for the Asia Pacific markets, based in New Delhi. The appointment is effective immediately.

Ganesh will join a global team of security specialists focused on the internal protection of BT’s corporate infrastructure, with Ganesh's attention specifically on the BT’s assets in the region. His appointment comes in the wake on BT’s commitment to the region and its sharp focus on supporting the regional strategy and being part of the strong growth trajectory that Asia is currently riding high on. India is an important geography and BT is committed to the exponential growth story and is armed with substantial expansion plans.

Ganesh will work closely with BT’s regional customer services BCS&G practice (Business Continuity, Security and Governance) headed by General Manager Richard Moss. This will ensure the continued linkage and knowledge transfer with both the internal and external facing parties of BTs security community.

Ganesh comes to BT from IBM Global Services where he was responsible for delivering state of the art turn-key solutions in managing and securing critical information and infrastructure in telecom and government sectors. He brings with him over 27 years of experience in the fields of Information Security and IT. Ganesh has held several key assignments in IT and Information Security domains at various levels before serving as Director (IT and Information Security) in the rank of Captain in the Indian Navy in 2002-4.

Allen Ma, President, BT Asia Pacific, said:  “Ganesh’s presence will be an added impetus to our efforts to enhance security across BT’s operations and infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region. This will ensure business continuity, resilience, compliance and customer security”.

Ganesh’s appointment reiterates BT’s commitment to Security, which is high on BT’s strategy. BT believes security is not just about technology, it's also about people, legal compliance, resilience and continuity.

Allen further adds: “BT has bet big on security and as we move ahead to be the experts it’s important to ensure we walk the talk. Today, most of our customers enquire about how secure they are with BT, with a CSO on board we will be able to magnify our focus on security. ”

Upbeat about his appointment Ganesh Vannapalli says: “Security is the new buzz word in emerging as well as the developed market in the Asia Pacific region and it’s a huge challenge to educate and raise awareness about the importance towards thwarting risks. In BT’s quest to creating a secure digital networked economy lies our responsibility and opportunity.”

In October 2006, BT acquired Counterpane Internet Security Inc. (“Counterpane”), a leading provider of managed networked security services, as part of its strategy to expand and develop its global professional services capabilities. Ever since, BT is keen on leveraging its acquisition of Counterpane Internet Security Inc in order to provide a full range of security services.

Businesses are increasingly conducted on a collaborative level, made possible by internet-based technology.  In this environment the ability to guarantee the integrity and confidentiality of shared data is essential.  Security can therefore add value to a company’s corporate reputation and enhance partner and customer confidence.  It makes companies more attractive to potential partners, particularly where responsibility for security and business continuity cascades down the supply chain.

Finally, adequate security measures ensure that an organisation stays on the right side of numerous pieces of legislation as well as industry specific regulations.

In February 2007, BT was granted international long distance and national long distance licenses by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India.  These licenses enable BT Telecom India Pvt. Ltd., a joint venture company formed with Jubilant Enpro Pvt Ltd in November 2006, to offer services for the first time directly to multi-site corporate customers in India.

In February 2007, BT signed an agreement for the acquisition of i2i Enterprise Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based enterprise services company specialising in internet protocol (IP) communications services for major Indian and global multinational companies. i2i has a significant customer base in the IT, ITES and BFSI segments and has network operating centers and offices in all major commercial cities in India.  .

India is one of the key markets for BT and the company had announced strong growth plans for its Indian operations in September 2006, predicting that its revenues from India will be US$250 million by 2009. BT is looking to increase its Indian employee strength by hiring an additional 6,000 people within the next two years and plans to add additional resources to support its already substantial capabilities in outsourcing and systems integration services.

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries.  Its principal activities include networked IT services; local, national and international telecommunications services; higher-value 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 2007, BT Group plc’s revenue was £20,223 million with profit before taxation of £2,484 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.