Arun Seth, chairman, British Telecom India, is responsible for driving the IT and BPO global resourcing activities of BT in India.

He is also a member of the executive committee of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), and the founding chairman of Nasscom's BPO Forum.

An IIT Kanpur and IIM Calcutta alumus, he is now a board member of the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow, and the charter member and trustee of the Delhi chapter of The indUS Entrepreneurs (TiE).

In this interview with Senior Contributing Editor Shobha Warrier, he talks about BT plans for India.

The British Telecom Web site says the company's interests lie in developing a completely digitally networked economy. How far have you succeeded in the endeavour? And where does India stand in the larger picture?

As far as where we are in the digitally networked economy is concerned, BT is committed and India is also a part of our plans. BT today is one of the world's largest global telecom players which is fundamentally redefining the scope and skill of the digitally networked economy.

As a telecom company with global reach, we want to give the same level of service that we give anywhere in the world, to India. It's like McDonlad's giving the same service throughout the world.

To make the world digitally networked -- for the 21st century -- we are now investing $20 billion. This is to relay the whole fabric of BT's network. Major investment will be in the central system and our investment in a country depends on the demand. What we have in India is only the edges of the network.

Ours will be a 100 per cent IP-based network. . . while today, all the networks are a mix of old world (TDM) and new world (IP). We believe that in order to take full advantage of the digitally networked economy, you need a platform that is end to end IP. Then only you can have all the benefits that IP gives you.

We are doing this for the future generation, the consumers who form the next generation. I call it creating a global panchayat.

What we will be delivering in India will be something which will be very localised but meant for Indian markets.

How different is it going to be from what you are doing in the other countries?

Our main focus in India today is the IT, BPO industry which has the biggest requirement of global communications. That is our core area. You have brilliant and bright people and a reliable network to connect! We also will focus on the banking sector, insurance sector, financial sector, the manufacturing sector, for that matter, any sector that will go global.

Our focus is the Indian companies that are going global. I call them Indian multinationals.

Our strategy is different outside the United Kingdom. Outside the UK, wherever we have a consumer presence, we work currently with enterprises which have a global presence.

In India, we want to serve those enterprises which are delivering these services. We connect them because their clients are outside of India. Out of the $35 billion revenue, only $3 billion is generated within India.

As far as BT is concerned, we work with companies which have a global requirement. And we are one of the largest providers of that segment in India.

How long do you think the rise and rise of the IT, BPO industry go? The criticism now is that labour is no longer that cheap in India.

Yes, they came here first for cheap labour or less cost but what they got was quality. Now, you even have legal outsourcing! It is happening because it is all digitised. So, very high value-added work is happening here. It is the digitised economy that is allowing you to source talent.

Do you think the companies that have come to India for cheap labour will migrate to China for even cheaper labour?

No, they will not migrate to China. Because of the sheer talent and the requirement of English language, outsourcing will remain in India. Salaries are going up but you must remember that it is only the tenth of the western cost.

Instead of saving 50%, they may end up saving 44% or 40% or even 35% which is a huge margin. That difference will remain for some more time.

How would you describe the connectivity in India?

Connectivity is very good in the top Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. It is high time the BPO industry goes to the Tier 3 cities, and once they go there, we will follow them. We are there in seven locations in India and, as our customers go, we also keep following. We don't have any restrictions.

Your presence is there in 170 countries.

You know why we are there in 170 countries? A couple of our customers -- like Reuters -- want us to be there in 170 countries.

How do you compare India with other countries?

In Asia, India is a very major portion of our Asian operations. The high growth potential is what is attractive about India for people like us to come and invest in India. We serve our customers in connecting and moving upwards. India is very important to us. We have 20,000 people working directly or indirectly for us.

You said if your customer wants to go to Bolivia, you go there. How challenging is working in the developing and the underdeveloped countries?

We go everywhere but one of our aims is collaboration. We can't go to 170 countries and dig roads and work. We work with partners all over. For example, in India, we don't go and dig the roads; we partner with someone like Bharti.

Similarly, in South America, it will be a local partner. So, the challenges are almost the same in all the places. The key is to find the right partner.

BT India is working in rural India. Is it a social commitment on your part?

Yes, it is our social commitment. The programme is called Lifeline. The issue is how the farmer accesses information. Accessing information in rural India is quite different from accessing information in the urban India. Our effort is to use technology to reduce the digital divide.

We have developed a device after we found that the farmers are scared of using the computers in the kiosks.

We asked ourselves, what is he familiar with? Then, we found that he is familiar with the mobile phone. So, we went offline. We give a phone to a person in the village and he goes to the farmers and makes them talk to the phone about his problems.

There is no live person on the other end. The call gets recorded and the answers are made by the group of experts and then they call back the farmer and solve his problem. We are working in two states -- Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. We plan to take this to all parts of the world.

Where do you see India in the world map five to ten years from now?

I think we have some challenges in front. The 7-8% growth is definitely going to happen but the challenge is making it an inclusive growth. The challenge in front of the country will be to reduce the great divide!

Arun Seth, chairman, British Telecom India.

Photo: Sreeram Selvaraj