241 Pizza

Gavin Patterson, who stepped into Mr Livingston’s shoes as the head of BT Retail on May 1, admitted: "BT Fusion didn't take off as we'd hoped among consumers. It has been better in the business market. It is probably not a mass market proposition but we think this is."

The ToGo is aimed at the consumer rather than the business market and has so far “tested very well”, according to Mr Patterson.

"We've been testing it for about a year now,” he said. “We've had a beta trial for the last two months with around 10,000 people."

Asked if he expects customers to use the handset instead of their regular mobile phone, he said: "I would expect it to be a mixture. Some customers like to use two devices. Ian is a one-device man. I like two so I can talk and check email or my diary at the same time. If you want to be a one device person it's ideal for you."

However, BT shy away from suggestions they are taking on the UK's mobile providers.

Mr Petter said: "We're not going head to head with O2 and the other networks."

He said they were in talks with other handset manufacturers to extend the selection of devices on offer, admitting the ToGo might not be the most fashionable offering on the market.

"If you want the coolest most cutting edge phone, this might not be the one for you." But he said the rubber-backed, solid handset "won't embarrass you either" and had had good responses from trials.

Mr Petter said: “There are some similarities with the BlackBerry for sure. The BlackBerry works well with the corporate market space because they offer corporate email. We offer an integrated service with BT Total Broadband.”

But he added: “I wouldn’t rule out working with BlackBerry in the future.”

He said BT was moving towards an increasing use of VoIP.

BT appears to be laying down a challenge to internet telephone provider Skype as well.

“On Skype a call to Pakistan is 9p per minute,” Mr Petter said. “Using VoIP on ToGo it is 6p per minute.”

BT Broadband Anywhere packages start from £23.99 for the first three months. Up to five ToGo handsets can be used on the same tariff.

Analysts are yet to be convinced BT has come up with a winner this time.

One telecoms analyst said: “The market was not ready for BT Fusion. This offering will require a lot of marketing muscle to re-educate the market to what it can do. People aren’t quite ready for it.

“I’d be sceptical of it generating material revenues for BT in the near term.”

Rob Barnes, head of broadband and mobiles at moneysupermarket.com, is unsure of the new package's appeal to new customers.

He said: "The free smartphone offers great functionality, but will only be an attraction to current BT customers looking for an upgrade or that something extra.

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