Philip Jansen, Chief Executive Officer of BT Group

In this episode of Talks at GS, BT Group CEO Philip Jansen discusses leading the global telecommunications company through COVID-19, the impact that COVID-19 is having on the telecommunications industry, and the future of global connectivity.

On the state of BT’s connectivity during the crisis: “We are linked into so many parts of the UK economy and infrastructure. So, we've had to play a big role in helping the government and all these customers that we have stay connected, and, therefore, the nature of what's been asked of us has changed dramatically… You've got an increased demand on the speeds; you’ve got an increased demand for capacity and you've got a different profile of when it's happening in time of day, and also call lengths have gone through the roof… And looking forward, I think life's going to change dramatically. I think we're not going back to what it was like before.”

On the future of digital infrastructure: “I think that the network has been tested in a way that no one would have anticipated before... I think the good news is the network has held up pretty well, but it’s also underlined that people do need and will want faster speeds and more capacity.”