Articles

What is "21CN"? 21CN (21st Century Network) is a Next Generation Network (NGN) being deployed by British Telecom. The core aim of the project is to bring the UKs telecoms network in to the digital age, whilst at the same time allowing BT to save up to £10 billion per year in costs. The total cost of the project is estimated at £10billion.

Many small businesses may find themselves unable to benefit from the faster speeds made available, it has been reported. Internet service providers using BT Wholesale infrastructure to deliver broadband will be able to offer some customers speeds of up to 24Mbps - up from the currently available 8 Mbps. However, many ISPs may resist doing so unless BT offers the new services at a comparable price to the older network. According to BT, a full UK rollout of the 21CN broadband network will be complete by the end of the decade. Up till now no one nows exactly when BT will actually be finished with the roll out.

The following are some of the key changes that 21CN will bring: The national PSTN phone network will be moved on to a digital IP network The retirement of 16 existing legacy networks and the introduction of a single "multi-service" network The national roll-out of ADSL2+, offering services at up to 24Mbps. ADSL2+ Annex M will also be deployed, offering upstream rates of up to 2.5Mbps A complete overhaul of the broadband services offered. A range of new configurable QoS (Quality of Service) products will be made available. DataStream products are being removed completely.

In recent years BT has seen its traditional revenue sources (i.e. phone calls) decline considerably, and its "new wave" products explode in popularity. Ultimately, 21CN should help BT to surf this new wave of demand and reduce their dependence on traditional revenue streams.