IRVING, Texas, March 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- BT has agreed a
multi-year strategic technology partnership with the Williams
Martini Racing Formula One team.
The Williams Martini Racing team will use BT's high performance
network services globally, facilitating secure and high speed
communication as well as effective collaboration. The team's fixed
and mobile voice needs will be brought together by BT into a single
service, hosted in the cloud and delivered globally on a wide range
of devices.
BT will also be bringing its suite of technologies and
consulting services to Williams' Advanced Engineering division that
takes Formula One derived technology and knowhow into the
automotive, motorsport, energy, civil aerospace and defence
sectors.
The two organisations worked together on an innovative pilot
scheme towards the end of the 2014 season, which demonstrated some
of the tangible competitive benefits that could be achieved with
higher performance network services for Williams. Those benefits
included improved car performance due to additional strategic
capability, quicker pitstop practice and race video analysis,
improved performance and reliability of demanding big data
computing processes, including applications relying on video,
telemetry and voice. The deal signed in principle is subject
to final agreement.
Gavin Patterson, chief executive,
BT, said: "It's really exciting to be joining forces with Williams.
They are one of the most successful and well known Formula One
teams in the world. Both BT and Williams have an illustrious
history of competing successfully at the top with cutting edge
technology. This is the beginning of a real partnership with two
great British brands determined to win as a team on the world
stage."
Sir Frank Williams, team
principal, Williams Martini Racing, said: "Williams and BT share a
number of synergies that have been the driver for establishing a
formal partnership. We rely on technology innovation to stay ahead
of the competition, have a love of data, are quintessentially
British but with a global perspective, and place a premium on
strong communication for business success. BT excel in these areas
and with their products powering our communications and data
networks, we are well placed to make important strategic decisions
in a faster and more collaborative way. An independent team like
Williams relies on creating a stable of loyal partners to go racing
and in BT we have a new high profile addition who we look forward
to working with in the years ahead."
Claire Williams, deputy team
principal and commercial director, Williams Martini Racing added:
"We are delighted to welcome a company of BT's pedigree and stature
as a new partner of the team. This relationship will include a
technical collaboration that will ensure that our employees are
fully connected and can work seamlessly together regardless of
where they are in the world. BT will also be using the power of
Formula One and the Williams brand to showcase their products and
services to a global marketplace and we look forward to working
with them on exciting marketing campaigns for 2015 and beyond."
Pat Symonds, chief technical
officer, Williams Martini Racing, said: "Vastly increased network
speed can totally alter the way we work. The benefits for our
routine operations are self-evident and witnessed by an enormous
increase in our 'off site' analytical ability. The less obvious
benefits include the ability to gain higher speed access to our
crucial information sources, independently of where we are racing.
This includes, for example, the ability to interrogate remotely our
CAD system back at base, build new assemblies and then export the
required information for use on the racetrack in a matter of
minutes."
From the F1 season opener in Australia, March
13-15, BT branding will appear on the headrests of the
Williams Mercedes FW37 car, as well as being seen within the team
hospitality and garage environment. This year's 2015 FIA
Formula One World Championship consists of 20 races starting with
the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne next weekend and ending in
Abu Dhabi on November 27-29.
Williams is one of the most successful and well known Formula
One teams in the world. It is recognised as one of the most
enduring and successful organisations in sport and has been
synonymous with top-level motorsport since the 1960s.
Williams has won 16 FIA Formula One World Championships (nine
Constructors' Championships, in partnership with Cosworth, Honda
and Renault, and seven Drivers' Championships, with Alan Jones, Keke
Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel
Mansell, Alain Prost,
Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve). The team has scored 114
victories, 306 podiums and 128 pole positions.
The Williams team has grown exponentially since 1977. What
started out as a group of 17 people has mushroomed into a company
that now employs more than 600 people at its technology campus in
Grove, Oxfordshire.
All news releases can be accessed at our web site:
http://www.btplc.com/News
Notes to editors
About Williams
Williams is a leading Formula One team and advanced engineering
company. Formed in 1977 by Sir Frank
Williams and Patrick Head,
the company has secured 16 FIA Formula One World Championship
titles since its foundation. The company's core competencies are
the design and manufacture of Formula One race cars, and the
deployment of this expertise in running the team's entries into the
Grands Prix each season.
Williams Advanced Engineering is the division of Williams that
harnesses Formula One derived technology, development pace and
knowledge to deliver highly innovative products and services to the
motorsport, automotive, energy, civil aerospace and defence
sectors.
Working in close collaboration, Williams Advanced Engineering
helps its customers meet the sustainability challenges of the
21st century and improve their performance, market
position and brand image.
About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications
services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170
countries. Its principal activities include the provision of
networked IT services globally; local, national and international
telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at
work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and
services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT
consists principally of five lines of business: BT Global Services,
BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2014,
BT Group's reported revenue was £18,287m with reported profit
before taxation of £2,312m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary
of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets
of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in
London and New York.
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SOURCE BT