Today, BT’s UK network comprises some 17 discrete but related network platforms, each designed support a service. This is a network that reflects numerous technology waves. As new technologies and product opportunities emerged, it was usually more straightforward to deploy a new platform or overlay.
It comprises tens of thousands of network elements, including switches, routers, concentrators, and transmission terminals. Maintaining this type of network, with the associated services, support and training it requires, is expensive and a significant part of BT’s operating costs.
As an end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP)-based network, 21CN will consolidate BT’s 17 separate network platforms into one. It will replace the complex network and systems infrastructure with a physically simpler and more reliable network, to ensure the delivery of the next generation of converged services faster, more efficiently and more cost-effectively than ever before.
In the UK, 21CN transformation involves gargantuan investment, logistical and regulatory challenges. Delivering 21CN requires BT to replace the equipment infrastructure in our telephone exchanges across the country.