21CN - key milestone achievements

BT hits key 21CN milestones - Exchanges serving 10 million UK homes and businesses are now enabled for next generation broadband. Over the last 12 months, BT has succeeded in increasing the footprint of our ADSL2+ service from 5% to 40% of the UK – and rollout continues.

5 March 2009

July 31 2008

BT provides 21CN update as part of its first quarter results to June 30, 2008 – 21CN rollout continued during the quarter with a focus on the implementation of new services ahead of replicating legacy services.

BT introduced next generation broadband to the wholesale market on April 30, 2008 from 21CN enabled exchanges, supporting an addressable market of some one million UK homes. Availability will rise progressively to reach an addressable market of 10 million homes by April 2009.

BT also launched 21CN Ethernet which is available from over 100 nodes across the UK. This footprint will rise progressively to over 600 nodes by April 2009, providing BT with the widest national Ethernet footprint in the UK.

The national infrastructure rebuild of metro and core sites in the UK is now complete. The focus will be on the completion of the necessary UK transmission infrastructure.

July 29 2008

BT acquires Ribbit a Silicon Valley-based "Telco 2.0" platform company - BT announced the acquisition of Ribbit Corporation, a software development company based in the US, for $105 million. The acquisition supports BT’s transformational strategy and will accelerate the evolution of our industry-leading 21CN software development kits by providing an established, easy-to-use network based platform that allows third party developers to create new and innovative voice-enabled applications and services.

July 15 2008

BT plans UK's largest ever investment in Super-Fast Broadband - BT announced its plans to roll out fibre-based broadband to as many as 10 million UK homes by December 2012 subject to satisfactory regulatory conditions. BT’s next generation access strategy is consistent with 21CN.

June 3 2008

May 15 2008

BT provides 21CN update as part of its preliminary results - year to March 31, 2008 - Following input from end users and communications providers involved in our South Wales pilot, we have evolved our deployment strategy from one focused on mass migrating customers onto the new network, with new services becoming available later, to one that delivers new services to customers from the outset.

As a result we introduced next generation Ethernet in January and will introduce a next generation broadband product in April this year. The footprint and functionality of both services will be expanded over the next year. The new services will be offered to customers during periods of voluntary take-up, after which customers will be mass migrated, enabling the closure and decommissioning of certain legacy platforms.

This means we will be able to deliver new services more quickly, with the associated benefits of increased revenue potential and improved customer experience. To date, 21CN has already delivered some £600 million in cost savings, relating to operating efficiencies and reduced spend on legacy networks, and we expect to deliver more savings in the future taking the total annualised savings to at least £1 billion.

April 30 2008

April 10 2008

March 12 2008

February 7 2008

BT provides 21CN update as part of its third quarter and nine months results to December 31, 2007 - Responding to feedback, BT is focusing its activity on delivering tangible customer benefits that will drive voluntary migration onto the new platform. Only after a period of voluntary upgrades will BT implement a programme of legacy platform and service decommissioning. This will not impact the overall targets of 21CN.

The 21CN programme will deliver four new strategic next generation services during the current calendar year namely - next generation ethernet; Wholesale Broadband Connect, a new open Innovation Platform and next generation converged broadband and voice services.

November 8 2007

BT provides 21CN update as part of its second quarter and half year ended September 30, 2007BT will launch next generation broadband services, offering end users broadband at speeds of up to 24Mb during 2008. End user trials of the new service began in the West Midlands with the participation of three communications providers on November 1, 2007. The trials will extend further, leading to a roll out beginning in spring 2008.

Next generation Ethernet services, offering cost-efficient and enhanced high speed data connectivity, will launch later this financial year. In-life service evaluation of 21CN voice services among end users continues in South Wales, part of BT’s preparation to bring 21CN capability to all customers across the UK over the coming years.

Global 21CN expansion aids BT Global Services to be cited as a leader in the global WAN services market - 'The Forrester Wave: Global WAN Services, Q2 2007' report ranked BT Global Services as number one in the strategy category and number one in the market presence category.

BT provides 21CN update as part of its first quarter results to June 30, 2007 During the quarter, BT continued the process of migrating customers to its 21st Century Network (21CN) in South Wales and equipment has now been installed to support the completion of the first phase of customer migrations this year.

Following the successful migration of the first live customers onto BT's 21CN, BT completed its pioneering 21CN voice trials which carried the world's first phone calls over an all IP next generation infrastructure in 2005.

The preparation for national rollout is also underway with equipment installed at hundreds of sites across the country.

The rebuild of BT's core national network is also continuing and we are on track to launch next generation broadband services delivering up to 24Mb nationally in early 2008. Field trials started during the quarter with the participation of a range of internet service providers (ISPs). This follows the initial successful pilot of next generation broadband services in Cardiff earlier this year.

End to landmark 21CN voice trial - Following the successful migration of the first live customers onto BT's 21st Century Network (21CN) in South Wales, BT is to close the pioneering 21CN voice trial network which made communications history in 2005 when it carried the world's first phone calls over an all IP next generation infrastructure. The trial network, linking BT exchanges in central London, Woolwich and Cambridge, has carried over 160 million calls and provided valuable testing and learning that is now being deployed with live customers. Handling around 500,000 calls per day, the trial consistently showed that customers enjoyed the same, if not better, levels of call quality using an all IP network as they would using the existing PSTN network.

BT sets course for growth in Turkey - BT currently services some 250 customers across Turkey, of which more than 100 are Fortune 500 companies. BT is targeting customers in the finance, pharmaceuticals and logistics sectors with , for example, core service offers such as IP infrastructure, convergence services, customer relationship management, conferencing and outsourcing.

All services are based on BT's global multi-service, 21st Century Network platform, which is designed to deliver the next generation of converged intelligent communications services.

BT strengthens African position as global 21CN reaches Nigeria BT announces the extension of its global 21CN platform into Nigeria, with a new multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) node in Lagos.

BT's global 21CN platform is the back bone for international business communications with a global IP based Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution capable of carrying all types of traffic such as voice, data, and video to over 100 countries across the world.

BT undertook a rigorous selection process before choosing a local company, 21st Century Technologies, as its partner in Lagos. The partnership with 21st Century Technologies will enable customers with sites in Nigeria to access BT's global network.

BT provides 21CN update as part of its preliminary results - year to March 31, 2007 - During the quarter, BT continued the process of migrating customers to its 21st Century Network (21CN) in South Wales and achieved further milestones.

Unique online software supermarket for UK businesses powered by Web21C - BT Business, in partnership with Microsoft, is bringing together specialist software developers and small business customers with the launch of the BT Applications Marketplace. It enables Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to publish and promote their software to small businesses via the dedicated Applications Marketplace web site, a part of BT Tradespace.

BT is empowering developers by providing a set of web service Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and a series of Software Development Kits (SDKs) with a wide range of interfaces, including .NET. API functionality that is currently available includes SMS, voice call, conference call, presence, authentication, user profile, and location. To date, more than 1,700 developers have already registered for BT's Web21C SDKs.

The Applications Marketplace allows ISVs to quickly and easily build a sales site or Tradespace that provides a way to promote their applications to the small business market. It includes rating and comment features to allow ISVs to receive user feedback on their application and those offered by other vendors. It also offers a way to interact and exchange information with other members of the Marketplace.

BT Business will actively monitor the feedback and ratings generated by end-users and identify ISV partners whose applications could become part of Ideas Lab its software incubator programme.

BT unveils new structure to keep ahead of the game - BT announces a new structure that will deliver faster, more resilient and cost effective services to customers wherever they are. The move is designed to accelerate BT's transformation into a networked IT services company, delivering software driven products over broadband. It builds on the success of the past five years, keeping BT ahead of the game.

Andy Green will lead two new business units that will design and operate services across the world to meet the needs of BT Retail, BT Global Services, BT Wholesale, Openreach and the wider communications industry. BT Design will be responsible for the design and development of new services. BT Operate will be responsible for their deployment and operation.

This is the second phase of BT's transformation. The first phase saw BT shift its focus from narrowband to broadband. This next stage is equally important. It will see BT advance from a 20th century hardware-based company to a 21st century software-based services company. In a software driven world, services will be available in real time and around the globe, harnessing the potential of BT's 21st Century Network. These changes will drive new standards of excellence and shift power and choice decisively to customers.

BT activates new 21CN node in Chennai - BT activates a new multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) node in Chennai, India. As part of BT's 21st Century Network (21CN) programme, the new node establishes BT's IP backbone in India. Chennai's importance as a core landing point for sub sea cables enhances BT's diversity into and out of India from Asia, thus improving the availability of applications and multimedia services to BT's corporate clients. An additional node in Bangalore and a new node in Hyderabad are also scheduled to go live this month, with other new nodes due for launch this year in Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata.

BT is investing in new nodes to provide our customers in India with enhanced global connectivity. Customers in India will benefit from improved performance and increased resiliency at the same time.

BT provides 21CN update as part of its third quarter and nine months results reporting - BT successfully upgraded the first end user customers to its 21CN infrastructure in the village of Wick in South Wales on November 28, 2006 as planned. The upgrade, which took place without the need for an engineer visit, new telephone or a new telephone number, is part of the first phase of the national roll-out of 21CN.

To reach this important milestone BT had re-built around 10 per cent of the UK’s core national communications infrastructure, installed 21CN equipment at over 100 sites across the UK, and laid more than 2,300 kilometres of new fibre optic cable in South Wales and invested more than 1,500 man years in developing new IT systems to support the new network.

Reaching this major milestone has also been the result of pan-industry collaboration through Consult21, a forum which provides a regular open platform for all communications providers to understand and influence BT’s plans for 21CN.

On January 15, 2007 BT signed frame contract agreements with both Nortel and Siemens for the supply of carrier class Ethernet technology for implementation in BT’s 21CN infrastructure. The implementation of Ethernet complements BT’s existing 21CN strategy of deploying MPLS in its new network.

During this quarter, BT will continue the process of migrating customers to its 21CN infrastructure in South Wales.

Groundbreaking videoconferencing service - BT announces 'BT Unified Communications Video', a managed videoconferencing service providing unprecedented quality for virtual meetings. Participants see each other as life-size images and feel as if they are all sitting at the same table.

This service will be offered as a fully managed service via BT's MPLS network. This will guarantee voice, data and image transmission of the highest quality, so that the viewer perceives no difference compared with a real presentation.

BT Fusion now available with Wi-Fi for small businesses - BT launches BT Fusion Wi-Fi for business, bringing together the benefits of fixed and mobile convergence on one mobile device, with seamless two-way handover between Wi-Fi and GSM.

Channel 4 goes simulcast on BT Movio -   The Channel 4 TV schedule is now available on BT Movio, the UK's only wholesale service for UK mobile operators to combine live TV and digital radio content onto mobile phones.

BT launches 21C Global Venture - Bringing together the unique experiences BT has gained in developing 21CN, the venture seeks to help other operators around the world implement and accelerate their own next generation network plans. The first customer is Turk Telekom and - based on a market study carried out by Mercer Management Consulting for BT Global Services - the addressable market for these services is estimated to be in excess of €38Bn over the next five years.

BT Vision launched - BT's next generation television service puts the viewer in control by combining the appeal of TV with the interactivity of broadband. Customers will be able to watch what they want when they want and not be tied to TV schedules. Customers will have access to live FA premier football from next season with others including Walt Disney Company, MTV, Paramount Comedy, Nickelodeon, EMI Music UK and Warner Bros providing content too.

First customers go live on 21CN - BT made communications history when the transfer of the first customer lines to its new next generation network began at Wick in the Vale of Glamorgan.   Laura Wess, pupil at Wick and Church Marcross in Wales primary school, made the inaugural call across 21CN.  

ITN's 24 hour news channel on BT Movio - The 24 hour made-for-mobile news channel, ITN News joins the line-up of popular TV channels on its wholesale mobile broadcast entertainment service, BT Movio.

BT provides 21CN update as part of its second quarter results reporting - 21CN made significant progress during the quarter. The construction of 10 per cent of the UK's core communications infrastructure is fully operational.  Site planning and preparation has been completed in all core and metro nodes in South Wales, and at a further 100 sites across the country.  Nine new fibre rings have been installed in South Wales and 1,500 man years of IT systems development work has been carried out.  All of this preparatory work is required to support the migration of the first end user customers to 21CN, scheduled to take place near Cardiff at the end of November.

Readiness testing of the network, systems, services and customer premises equipment (CPE) is well advanced. A communications providers' test facility in Swansea opened in October 2006. Live voice calls have already been carried over 21CN in South Wales.

Launched in October, under a single independent brand "Switched-On" - BT and   industry representatives have agreed a communications programme to help consumers and SMEs.

BT REVEALS ITS 21CN UK ROLLOUT PLANS - BT confirms that Scotland, Wales and each of the English regions will benefit from £100s of millions of direct 21CN investment providing every area of the UK - including customers in remote parts of the country - with a world-leading communications network designed to carry both today’s and tomorrow’s voice, data, video-on-demand and broadband services.

BT to launch converged fixed-mobile service for corporates: BT announces BT Corporate Fusion, a ground breaking premise based fixed-mobile convergence service for large organisations. The new service will enable organisations to take advantage of fixed-mobile convergence and their increasing deployment of IP Telephony and WiFi coverage to potentially deliver greater productivity, the possibility of reduced GSM call costs and to result in improved quality of service to their customers.

BT announces details of first live customer upgrades to 21st century network in Cardiff:  BT announces details of the first steps it will take to transition customers in the UK to its 21st century network (21CN). This is a new secure and intelligent communications infrastructure that will deliver existing and future services designed to make people’s lives more productive and businesses more efficient.

21CN is just under 90 days away:  In November 2006, BT - in close collaboration with our wholesale customers - will be switching on the first customers in the UK to the 21st Century Network in Cardiff and the surrounding area in November 2006.
That’s when years of planning, testing and development will come to fruition in South Wales, when BT begins to put our words and plans into action and start to bring the world’s most advanced national communications infrastructure to everyone the UK.

BT provides 21CN update as part of its first quarter results reporting: In response to industry feedback, BT presented a detailed 21st Century Network (21CN) proposal in May 2006, and since then has been actively consulting with industry and Ofcom on these revised proposals.  These consultation streams are due to close over the coming weeks.

Upon conclusion, BT expects to have an industry-agreed rollout plan for 21CN.  This will cover the migration of existing voice and IPStream broadband services and the introduction of next generation wholesale broadband services in a planned national upgrade. These new services, including backhaul support for LLU, next generation IP Connect and up to 24 Mbit/s broadband, are scheduled to be offered from January 2008 as part of the 21CN UK national rollout programme.

The delivery of 21CN will make BT the first incumbent operator in the world to switch off the PSTN and migrate all of its voice customers onto an all-IP network.

The exchange preparation programme, to ensure readiness for all premises required for the delivery of the first stage of the 21CN migration plan, is nearing completion in 90 locations across the country and the build of the IP/MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) core network is also underway. 

An estimated 3,000 people within BT are working full time on the programme and this number is expected to rise as the programme moves towards national migration.

BT’s 21st century network racks up 23 million calls: BT's transformation of its network to deliver the next generation of communications services takes a major step forward with more than 23 million customer calls successfully carried over the IP based trial network.

Paul Reynolds wins icon award:  The US’s largest communications conference Globalcomm honours, BT Wholesale chief executive and board sponsor of 21CN,   Paul Reynolds with the first ever Globalcomm Icon Award. It is for industry leaders that have made a significant and lasting contributions to the global communications industry. Globalcomm stated that Paul Reynolds was given the award for his pioneering leadership of BT’s 21CN programme.

BT provides 21CN update as part of its full year reporting: Contracts have been signed with the eight 21CN preferred suppliers and the first equipment orders have been placed against these contracts. 
Building on the successful conclusion to the second phase of 21CN voice transformation trials on strategic equipment in December 2005, the next phase, the trial of telephone services over the IP network is scheduled to start before the end of May 2006.
Operational planning to migrate customers to the 21CN in Cardiff, which will see the first live operation of 21CN in November 2006, is well advanced.  Following successful implementation in Cardiff, and following a comprehensive industry review, BT will proceed to a national migration programme. Through the communication forum Consult 21, BT, in close consultation with industry and Ofcom, is agreeing detailed migration plans for the entirety of the migration period.

BT announces new Fixed - Mobile Convergence service for large businesses and awards contract to Alcatel:  Following the successful launch of BT Fusion, the intelligent fixed - mobile phone for consumers and small businesses, BT has  announces its plans for a groundbreaking new Fixed-Mobile Converged service for large businesses and multi-national corporates both in and outside the UK. This new solution will utilise Wi-Fi as the interface to the fixed network in key locations such as the office, home, and BT Openzone hotspots

BT announces remaining suppliers for 21CN: BT announces the signing of contracts with the four remaining suppliers for the 21CN programme.  The contracts have been signed with Alcatel, Cisco, Ericsson and Fujitsu. The supplier contracts now totals eight, with Ciena, Huawei, Lucent and Siemens already announced in December.

BT deploys global IP-based platform:  BT announces a £12 million  investment in a global IP-based voice platform -  the first of its  kind.  The project, which is part of the overall  regeneration, will see the existing legacy TDM network replaced with an MPLS-based network across more than 30 countries worldwide. This will allow for greatly enhanced voice capabilities for BT’s global network, offering far larger capacity than previously.  The project is due to be completed in March 2008. The new network has a distributed packet-based architecture that provides many advanced multimedia features with traditional voice quality.  It also enables voice and multimedia applications, hosted or premises based, to be seamlessly integrated with data services.  This is an important landmark for call centres, video conferencing and fixed to mobile applications.  The first phase of the program has already been successfully delivered, offering services over the new platform in 12 countries.  The new platform will be rolled out to three new countries per quarter while the legacy platform will be withdrawn in 2008.

BT provides 21CN update as part of its third quarter results reporting: BT continues to make good progress on its 21CN programme. Following the successful conclusion to the second phase of 21CN voice transformation trials on strategic equipment in December 2005, the next phase, the trial of telephone services over the IP network, will begin in the spring.
Operational planning to migrate customers to the 21CN in Cardiff, which will see the first live operation of 21CN, is well advanced.  Following successful implementation in Cardiff, BT will proceed to a planned national migration programme. Through the communication forum, Consult 21, BT, in close consultation with industry and Ofcom, has made good progress in agreeing the detailed voice migration plans for the entirety of the migration period.

BT signs contracts with 21st century network suppliers: BT issues a press release announcing that it has concluded negotiations and signed contracts with four of the preferred suppliers for 21CN. Contracts have been signed with Ciena, Huawei, Lucent and Siemens. BT expects to conclude negotiations with the remaining four preferred suppliers early in the New Year. BT confirms that it is making good progress. Six million customer calls have been successfully carried in the latest phase of our 21CN trials, and we have more than 2000 people working on the programme. We have been working closely with the entire telecommunications industry to agree the schedule for roll-out across the UK.

"Golden Ear" experts play a key role in ensuring call quality: BT highlights the key role that its team of voice quality specialists - known affectionately as the "Golden Ears" - are playing in BT's plans for Britain's new 21st Century Network

21CN wins InfoWorld award:  BT wins an InfoWorld 100 award for 2005 which honour the most creative and cutting-edge implementations of enterprise technology.  BT is recognised for 21CN, one of the most ambitious network transformation projects in the communications world today and one of the largest single procurement programs ever in the communications industry. 

FT World Telecommunications Conference, LondonPaul Reynolds, BT Wholesale's chief executive officer, delivers the key note conference speech called 'IP goes mainstream'. Paul reaffirms BT's commitment to 21CN stating the company is sticking closely to its rollout schedule. He told this industry-wide audience - 'I believe we'll know that IP has gone truly mainstream when we start to see ourselves as integrated communications companies with a mission to provide our customers with the service and experience they want on their terms and our customers start to see us in the same way'

Three million calls carried over BT'S 21st century network in latest trials: BT announces that three million customer calls have been successfully carried over an Internet Protocol (IP) link in the latest phase of its 21CN trials. The calls, diverted from BT's PSTN network between exchanges in Cambridge and Woolwich, are being carried over a next generation link using IP technology. The trials have been conducted over the last six weeks using equipment from BT's preferred suppliers for 21CN. The majority of calls carried are live customer calls and to date the peak level of simultaneous calls carried has been 2,500

BT award for the leading the way with 21CN: BT Wholesale wins a major award recognising its vision in being the first incumbent in the world to move to an all-internet protocol (IP) network with its 21CN. The award - for the best market strategy - was presented by Capacity magazine at its fifth annual European telecomms congress - Capacity Europe 2005

BT provides 21CN update as part of its second quarter and half year results reporting: BT's work on preparing for the implementation of the 21st Century Network progressed during the quarter. BT is working on concluding the contractual agreements with eight preferred suppliers to build a converged core network. BT is auditing sites nationally, and is working to put in place a world class inventory management system to prepare for the installation of equipment from preferred suppliers. This process has already been completed in the Cardiff area, which will see the first live implementation of 21CN in the second half of 2006. The plan for national rollout is being discussed with industry through the communication forum, Consult21, and agreement is expected around the end of the current financial year. Trials for delivery of services over 21CN are continuing using equipment from BT's preferred suppliers

Global telecoms business: BT Group'sMeryl Bushell, chief procurement officer, and Matt Bross, chief technology officer, deliver key note presentations at the GBT executive summit. Meryl tracks BT's 21CN procurement process while Matt speaks about the 21CN ecosystem. Matt delivers a second presentation at the main conference looking at 'Change, innovation and the real challenges of the future'

Carriers World, LondonIn his key note address, Paul Reynolds, BT Wholesale's chief executive relates 21CN to the theme 'Making the customer king - the importance of putting the end users at the centre of your business strategy'. Pointing out that 21CN is not about BT or the telecommunications industry, Paul says it's about helping create better societies, more competitive economies and better lives for people

21CN global activity: At a series of internal and external briefings, BT sets out its global 21CN vision demonstrating BT's commitment to ensure that customers throughout the markets we serve benefit from the advantages that this radical vision promises. Activity includes a BT people roadshow in Amsterdam and media briefings in the Netherlands, Germany. and Paris

VoIP forum Berlin: BT Wholesale operations managing director Deb Covey addresses the voice over internet protocol international conference in Berlin

First phase of customer migration is announced: BT announces that Cardiff and the surrounding area will be the first region in the UK. to transition to its 21st Century network. Expected to begin in the second half of 2006, BT will migrate around 350,000 customer lines in the area, including many served by other telephone and internet service providers and mobile operators. The experience and customer feedback will help BT finalise its plans to roll out 21CN to customers across the UK by the end of the decade

Ethernet strategy is announced: BT announces its strategy to put Ethernet at the heart of its 21CN - to represent one of the largest installations of Ethernet in any carrier's network anywhere in the world

London 2012 event at 21CN showcase: In a final push to fulfil London's ambitions of hosting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, two former UK gold medal winners - Sally Gunnell and Denise Lewis - join BT's director for London Clive Ansell, to highlight the communication and technology innovations underpinned by 21CN that set London's 2012 bid apart from rival candidate cities

Supercomm 2005: As global interest increases around 21CN, Paul Reynolds - BT Wholesale CEO - and Matt Bross - BT Group CTO - give keynote speeches on the key factors driving 21CN to an international audience at Supercomm in Chicago.

Consult21 flagship event is hosted by Paul Reynolds, CEO, BT Wholesale.

BT confirms preferred suppliers: BT announces preferred suppliers for its 21 Century Network programme. The announcement is the culmination of two years of discussions and negotiations with over 300 potential technology suppliers from all corners of the world. The extremely competitive process is one of the largest single procurement programmes ever undertaken in the communications industry.

The eight strategic suppliers chosen to work with BT in five strategic domains are:

FTTP trial progress: The first 600 Fibre to the premises (FTTP) trialists are connected.  1CN access fibre trials are being carried out to test the technical and commercial issues involved in deploying fibre optic cable in the local access network. BT is providing access fibre   more than 600 businesses and residential premises, the latter are receiving a 10Mbit/s service. The trials are in London's docklands;  Milton Keynes and Martlesham Heath, near Ipswich.

Asia Pacific investment in tune with 21CN: BT announces further investment in Asia Pacific of approximately US$48 million. Expected to be completed this year, it will provide a single interface to customers, with high quality voice capabilities over the dedicated IP infrastructure. The strategy is in tune with BT's 21st century network (21CN) implementation and timetable, and will allow the integration of domestic and international voice capacity across nine countries in this region

BT sponsors 21st Century Communications World Forum: At the BT sponsored, IEC 21st Century Communications World Forum in London, Paul Reynolds declares the beginning of the 'fourth wave of innovation - the IP revolution' and urges the telecommunications industry to respond to the challenges of a radically different communications landscape dominated by convergence and IP.

Voice transformation trial progress: More than 250 BT employees participated in the 21CN voice transformation trials.

Pathfinder location confirmed with industry: Cardiff confirmed as the Pathfinder location following the recommendation made to Consult21 on 11 January 2005.

Industry representation on Consult21 steering board: The Consult21 industry steering board meets for the first time. It is co-chaired by Huw Saunders, Kingston Communications, and Jo Upward, BT Wholesale director of industry development

First IP call made across the trial 21CN network: The first IP call between Bexleyheath and Woolwich MSANs is successfully made across the trial 21CN network

First IP call made: The first live trialist call via the Bexleyheath MSAN was successfully made (IP to PSTN)

FTTP trial progress: More than 100 BT people are participating in the fibre to the premise trial designed to test the technical and commercial issues involved in deploying fibre optic cable in the local access network.

Pathfinder industry consultation: BT publishes industry consultation paper to confirm the scope of 'Pathfinder' the first phase of mass customer migration to 21CN

BT hosts 21st Century Network Symposium: BT initiates an extensive review of market and technology trends world-wide to ensure it is as informed as it can be about the best thinking and the best design work currently underway in the industry in relation to next generation network development. Discussions are held with new and established operators; new and established suppliers; consultants; academics and desk research undertaken. BT shares its findings - with those that participated in this review and other interested parties including regulators and UK. government

21CN timetable is announced: BT set out its five-year timetable for the transformation of its UK. networks. Mass migration of customers onto the new network is expected to begin in 2006 with the majority of customers' PSTN services on the IP-based network by 2008

• Procurement process is launched: BT formally launches its procurement process to select long term suppliers for 21CN

• Consult21 is launched: BT announces its plans to consult openly and transparently with its wholesale customers through Consult21 giving them an understanding, an insight and a say on 21CN - a critically important programme for the industry and for all its customers

First IP call flows between trial metro nodes:  The first customer calls are diverted off the public switched telephone network (PSTN) on to a dedicated internet protocol link. This is the first time that BT carries voice calls on a single IP network where the calls are transmitted as data packages. Call flows are directed between the Cambridge and Woolwich network nodes on the 21CN voice transformation trial network.

Three significant 21CN milestones are passed: BT confirmed this week that:

• The first homes are connected up in BT's fibre to the premises trial

• Trials to divert the first customer calls off the public switched telephone network (PSTN) onto a dedicated internet protocol (IP) link have gone live

• The third 21CN network node is commissioned

First Consult21 flagship event is hosted by Paul Reynolds, CEO BT Wholesale