Get to know:
Nick Wootten

At BT Wholesale, we’re proud of the incredible individuals we work with.

In our ‘Get to Know’ blog series we spotlight one of our team and find out more about who they are both inside and outside of work.

In our latest blog, we talk to Nick Wootten, Director of MVNO at BT Wholesale, about the future of the industry, why IoT provides a huge opportunity for growth and how his surfing lessons are going.  

What is your role at BT?

As Director of BT Wholesale, I lead a team that enables other companies to bring mobile propositions to market under their own brand using wholesale access to EE, the UK’s No 1 network.

I have my own team of six people who focus on winning deals and working with our partners to grow value for both them and BT, as well as a wider virtual team across product, finance, commercial, technology and product management. Ultimately, everyone is tasked with delivering a high quality MVNO service to our customers and ensuring we continue to meet their needs as the market evolves.

What projects is the team focused on at the moment?

We’re growing our business with both existing and new partnerships. We have long term partnerships spanning many years such as our relationship with UW, which continues to provide great growth after over 20 years. It’s great to watch our partners flourish in their own markets.

We also have several more recent partners, including Lyca Mobile, where we have recently completed the migration of almost two million Lyca customers to the EE network. Following on from the initial migration, we’re continuing to work on a number of news services that will future proof the business and provide an even better experience for Lyca customers.

We have launched new propositions to the market with several other MVNOs including spusu, a consumer MVNO based in Austria and Italy. We’re also working with companies like plan.com, Transatel, Cubic, TATA and Wireless Logic in the Enterprise market providing innovative propositions and first-class connectivity to SME, Enterprise and IoT customers across the UK.

Recently, we hosted Spitfire at a partner seminar at the BT Tower, where it launched its new MVNO solutions. It was great to see engagement from so many of its channel partners and we’re excited to see where EE’s unrivalled connectivity can take Spitfire next. 

What is the best thing about your job?

It’s great working with so many different types of partners, who all have their own cultures and markets they work in. It’s exciting seeing the different propositions each customer brings to their own clients and how they navigate new challenges.

I love the variety of my job. My team and I are always busy with new developments, partners, and projects, which allows us to constantly learn and evolve with the MVNO industry.

What has been your proudest moment at work?

There have been lots of individual successes within the team, and the Lyca Mobile migration in particular was a huge achievement delivered in record time. However, my proudest moments are helping the team develop, grow and achieve things they didn’t think were possible. I am fascinated about people and how to help bring a team of individuals together into a high performing team. So, whilst we’ve had great wins and are working with some great partners, I have to give credit to the brilliant people that I work with every day.

As mobile connectivity advances, what are the opportunities for MVNOs?

Whilst traditional voice and data packages for consumers will always remain a significant part of our business, it’s not easy in a saturated market. However, there are additional growth opportunities in the enterprise space, with resellers who have the brand and capability to bring their own propositions to market.

A big growth area for MVNO will be IoT. IoT is continuing to grow as more industries and companies build solutions that rely on mobile connectivity and take advantage of the evolution of 5G.

For example, some of the core network advancements we are going to see in the coming years will enable companies to finetune specific solutions and differentiate based on particular customer or enterprise solution needs. 5G standalone and networking slicing can play a huge role in such bespoke solutions, creating even more opportunities in the market where MVNOs are well placed to meet the challenge.

A great example of the opportunities made possible by IoT is connected cars. Every new car generates significant volumes of data and insights that have value to the driver and the car manufacturer, requiring a reliable and best in class mobile network to enable the full range of smart and connected features.

What do you do outside work?

I like to keep busy and am guilty of rarely saying “no” when asked to do something, whether it’s work or social. Outside of the office, most of my time is spent either consuming calories or burning them. I love food and wine so enjoy eating out, but I’m a good cook too.

Being active is also really important to me, and I try to get outdoors as much as I can. My favourite types of exercise are running, cycling and swimming and I’ve taken part in a few triathlons in the past. Now, you’ll most likely find me taking part in something a bit less strenuous, like trying to find my ball on the golf course.

One of my goals for next summer is to learn how to surf. I love the sea and it’s early days but I am determined I will crack it. I also try to share my desire to stay active at work and have previously taken the team both surfing and mountain biking. I think they are worried about what’s coming next…