BT and Microsoft team up to make Telco 2.0 reality

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Industry giants BT and Microsoft have joined forces to launch a competition aimed at encouraging the development of solutions that blend the old world of telecommunications with the new and emerging Web 2.0 phenomenon.

The Connected Services Sandbox competition series, which kicked off this week, is asking developers to create managed network 'mash ups' that merge traditional communication mediums, such as voice or data, with new and emerging Web 2.0 applications like mapping or search.

Cash prizes ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 are up for grabs for the winners - who will be judged on their applications' meeting a range of usage scenarios - of each competition, the first of which will be announced in June.

"The web world and the telecommunications industry have the potential to complement each other in powerful ways," said Michael O'Hara, general manager for the communications sector at Microsoft.

"By embracing the principles of Web 2.0 and leveraging the significant customer relationships and assets they already have in place, operators have the opportunity to redefine the models for doing business. In the new Telco 2.0 environment, operators will be able to offer hundreds, if not thousands, of new services that enable them to target specific customer segments, reduce 'churn' and drive new revenues. We believe the Connected Services Sandbox will play a critical role in making Telco 2.0 a reality."

The launch of the competition series follows the initial success of a one-off Connected Services Sandbox last December, which was created to bring together developers, independent software vendors (ISVs), system integrators (SIs) and network and telco players so that they could leverage one another's assets.

The idea isn't just to create applications that are innovative in theory. Both BT and Microsoft are hoping that the applications will prove their worth in reality too.

"With the Sandbox environment, we have the ability to see new services created and developed from concept to market," said Bill Murphy, managing director at BT Business.

"We anticipate that the Sandbox competitions will provide us with compelling business opportunities that we can ultimately deliver to our customers. For example, we will be looking at services targeted at the small-to-midsize business market, where a unified communications solution can benefit a company with one to 10 employees."

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