SOUTHAMPTON businesses have been told that BT is no longer a telephone company but an international information-moving organisation.

The company's principal consultant Dr Graham Whitehead said that more than £300 million was now being spent by BT on looking into the future.

"The normal business ghetto in which we currently operate is now disappearing and it will not be very long before we operate tele bureaux and systems which mean we can work from anywhere we wish without the restriction of staying in an office," he said.

Also at the breakfast briefing was Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead, who spoke about the challenges facing the city and the advantages of inner city development.

"A city like Southampton is economically and domestically well placed to take advantage of change and is now building one of the largest in-city developments in Europe."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.