W2B-034 Technology matters 2-1.txt
Making the breakthrough

The technological changes taking place in the telecom industry are so rapid and imaginative that the business community can very often feel confused.

Yet for Northern Ireland companies located on the periphery of the UK which is in turn at the outward limit of the European Union, access to the best communications systems is essential for competitiveness.

In a global market the sharpest competitive edge comes from information and the ability to transfer information between customers and suppliers. We are beginning to see the convergence of IT, and telecommunications is opening up huge opportunities both for the operators and customers that they serve.

But what are these opportunities? For a start corporations are increasingly on the look-out for innovative ways of doing business. Telecommunications has helped to fulfil this need by delivering real business gains at a strategic level.

This sounds obvious to us now, but only a few years ago the saving in telecoms were regarded as those which a company might lop off its annual telephone bill. Now we can communicate face to face via videoconferencing, or instantly exchange all types of information with suppliers, customers and colleagues through a single electronic mail system. We have voice networks that offer incredible flexibility, and a local cost call can open up the Internet. To further stimulate change operators must understand the changing needs of their customers. At Mercury, the new structure that we are building is allowing us to focus more clearly in these markets. Only through genuine appreciation of the business pressures in other markets will we be able to offer the kind of bespoke solutions that the customers need.

Marrying the worlds of commerce and telecommunications is the name of our game. We are moving towards true integration which allows us to break free from the traditional boundaries which have constrained commerce for so long.
