BT has taken a significant step towards the delivery of its 21st Century Network (21CN) in the UK by confirming its preferred suppliers for the key elements of the programme.
The 21st Century Network is the world’s most radical next generation network transformation programme. BT will migrate its existing service-specific UK networks to a single converged multi-service IP based network, and expects to invest up to £10 billion over the next five years. This ongoing investment is a crucial part of the infrastructure BT is building for more effective communication and collaboration in the digital networked economy.
“The capability that BT is putting in place through this investment in 21CN is unequalled anywhere in the world,” said Matt Bross, BT Group’s chief technology officer. “It will enable us to introduce new services at a speed that is simply impossible today.”
Strategic suppliers
Eight preferred suppliers will work with BT in five strategic domains:
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Fujitsu and Huawei have been chosen in the access domain, which will link BT’s existing access network with the new 21CN.
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Alcatel, Cisco and Siemens have been selected as preferred suppliers for metro nodes, which provide routing and signalling for 21CN’s voice, data and video services.
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Cisco and Lucent will be 21CN’s preferred suppliers for core nodes, providing high capacity and cost efficient connections between metro nodes.
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Ericsson has been selected in the i-node domain – in essence the intelligence that controls the services.
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Ciena and Huawei have been chosen in the transmission domain to supply the optical electronics that will convert the signals carried at high capacity over the cables connecting the metro and core nodes.
Large-scale procurement programme
The decision follows two years of discussion and negotiation with over 300 potential technology suppliers around the world - one of the largest single procurement programmes ever undertaken in the communications industry. The commercial agreements, which BT expects to conclude over the summer, will include open standards and a focus on whole life costs.
With the major suppliers in place, the potential is there for dozens of smaller subcontractors to become involved in the delivery of 21CN. The programme should attract significant new investment and employment to the UK.
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