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International Issue: November 2006
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Goodbye PSTN, Hello 21CN
In the biggest project of its kind, BT is now starting to migrate PSTN customers onto its 21st Century Network (21CN)
by Ken Wieland
BT is undertaking the biggest network and strategic transformation project by any telco in the world. Over a five-year period, starting from 2004, the UK incumbent is to spend a staggering £10 bn (US$18.7 bn) on moving customers from its legacy infrastructure onto its next-generation 21st Century Network (21CN).
By the end of this decade, the BT plan is for the PSTN to be shut down, along with the majority of its 16 legacy platforms. The more platforms that can be ‘collapsed’ and managed on the 21CN, the greater the cost-savings prize.
Given the enormity of the project, it should come as no surprise that Matt Beal — who is responsible for managing the network transformation — has plenty of things to keep him awake at night. “There is always the question of are we going to be truly ready for our customers to come over onto the 21CN,” he says. “What is it that we don’t know that’s waiting to bite us?”
By the time you read this, Beal — who’s full job title is director of 21CN core convergence and capabilities — may just have a clearer idea of how ready the UK incumbent actually is to move to an all-IP network. When Telecommunications® International had a chat with him in mid-October, BT was only weeks away from migrating its first PSTN customers, based in Cardiff (Wales), onto the 21CN.
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